By
Theresa Hitchens
on April 07, 2021 at 1:37 PM
F-15EX Eagle II naming ceremony at Eglin AFB April 7, 2021
WASHINGTON: The Air Force, somewhat anti-climatically, has named its new F-15EX fighter the Eagle II, Lt. Gen. Duke Richardson, military deputy to the service’s acquisition czar, announced today.
The Air National Guard will be the first to receive an operational aircraft, said director Lt. Gen. Mike Loh at today’s unveiling ceremony at Eglin AFB in Florida. Loh said that the F 15C now used by the Guard “quite frankly, … at the end of its lifecycle.” Therefore, the service plans to “recapitalize all Air National Guard, F-15 Cs and DS with either the F-35 A or the F-15EX.”