Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute says he doesn’t think Boeing’s “stealth” F-15 proposal is aimed at getting the Air Force to buy more F-15s, which are a bit cheaper than F-22s. Rather, the target audience is foreign operators who want stealth in a high-end fighter but “can’t have” the F-22, Thompson told an audience Wednesday at a Mitchell Institute airpower forum in Washington, D.C. (see above). Boeing’s tactic is a good one in that it offers a chance for F-15 operators outside the US to upgrade equipment they already have, Thompson said. As far as Boeing trying to get the Air Force to spend money on new F-15s versus the F-22, Thompson said there’s no logic in it, since “Boeing makes one-third of the F-22.”
Gene Smith, Former POW and AFA Chair, Dies at 91
Jan. 19, 2026
Lt. Col. Richard “Gene” Smith, who overcame five and a half years as a prisoner of war in the notorious Hanoi Hilton from 1967 until 1973, died Jan. 16. He was one day short of his 91st birthday.
