Eight of the F-15s in the 71st Fighter Squadron at JB Langley, Va., have been fitted with Raytheon’s APG-63(V)3 advanced electronically scanned array radar system. But those aircraft will not be at Langley much longer. In fact, the entire 20-aircraft squadron is destined for deactivation later this year as part of the Air Force’s legacy fighter reduction. All of the unit’s F-15s are scheduled to depart the Virginia base by September. Four of the AESA-equipped F-15s will transfer to Kadena AB, Japan, and the other four will move to Nellis AFB, Nev., for use with USAF’s weapons instructor course and for test support, Air Combat Command officials tell the Daily Report. The squadron’s remaining 12 F-15s that don’t carry the AESA are being divided among several Air National Guard units. Some Air Guard F-15s are now being fitted with the new radar. (Includes Langley report by A1C Jason J. Brown)
The United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force has unveiled a new electronic warfare drone designed to fly with fighter jets into contested airspace, including alongside its fleet of F-35s. RAF says it plans to develop models that draw on the U.S. Air Force’s approach of mating unmanned systems with crewed platforms.