Onkel Neal
05-16-17, 05:23 AM
How America's F-15 Fighter Almost Joined the US Navy (On an Aircraft Carrier)
(http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/how-americas-f-15-fighter-almost-joined-the-us-navy-aircraft-20678)
Was the Sea Eagle a viable concept? The problem is the one that we are seeing with today's F-35: an aircraft that must serve more than one master inevitably sacrifices performance in some area (in fact, the F-14 was born after the Pentagon's abortive attempt to make the ill-fated F-111 a joint Air Force and navy fighter). To turn the F-15 into a carrier-based interceptor like the F-14 would have required so many design changes that the hybrid beast would probably have been inferior to either the F-15 or F-14.
Which points to the real problem: The Air Force and Navy have always had different requirements. In the 1970s, the Air Force wanted a powerful, highly maneuverable dogfighter to prevent a repeat of what happened when its F-4 Phantoms battled more nimble MiGs over Vietnam. Though ironically, the Air Force did at one point consider the F-14 as a replacement for the F-106 interceptor.
More.... (http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/how-americas-f-15-fighter-almost-joined-the-us-navy-aircraft-20678)
http://nationalinterest.org/files/styles/main_image_on_posts/public/main_images/f-15e_strike_eagle_over_afghanistan.jpg?itok=8kO1VPz O
(http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/how-americas-f-15-fighter-almost-joined-the-us-navy-aircraft-20678)
Was the Sea Eagle a viable concept? The problem is the one that we are seeing with today's F-35: an aircraft that must serve more than one master inevitably sacrifices performance in some area (in fact, the F-14 was born after the Pentagon's abortive attempt to make the ill-fated F-111 a joint Air Force and navy fighter). To turn the F-15 into a carrier-based interceptor like the F-14 would have required so many design changes that the hybrid beast would probably have been inferior to either the F-15 or F-14.
Which points to the real problem: The Air Force and Navy have always had different requirements. In the 1970s, the Air Force wanted a powerful, highly maneuverable dogfighter to prevent a repeat of what happened when its F-4 Phantoms battled more nimble MiGs over Vietnam. Though ironically, the Air Force did at one point consider the F-14 as a replacement for the F-106 interceptor.
More.... (http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/how-americas-f-15-fighter-almost-joined-the-us-navy-aircraft-20678)
http://nationalinterest.org/files/styles/main_image_on_posts/public/main_images/f-15e_strike_eagle_over_afghanistan.jpg?itok=8kO1VPz O