F-15's Intelligent EW Upgrade: EPAWSS The Key to Electronic Superiority

[@PilotPhotog]

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[@joshcrys]

Upgrades people, Upgrades! If there are still F4s flying, the F15 must still have life to give!

[@PilotPhotog]

This ⬆️ thanks for commenting as always!

[@i20010]

I believe Israel upgraded their F4 fleet (it was called F4 2000), and flew them until not to long ago.

[@PilotPhotog]

@@i20010 Indeed and the F4s served well, I plan a video all about the F-4 thanks for commenting!

[@ravencookie5141]

If Mig-21s and F-5s still serve in a modern combat role then the mighty Eagle can be assured to serve for many more years to come!!

[@teddy.d174]

I love the part of the video showing the Eagles flying over Dubai. (That’s where it looks like but I may be wrong) At any rate, the view is spectacular.

[@xyzaero]

They are flying over Doha. Qatar is the latest export customer of the Eagle.

[@PilotPhotog]

Correct and thanks for the comments!

[@xyzaero]

@@PilotPhotog Well, thanks for your fantastic videos. If they were 45 minutes long, your videos could rival “great planes” and “wings” from the 80s-90s?

[@aboredvi3t]

You are definitely one of the best aviation channels on KZbin: production, content, regular posting, etc. Keep up the great work! Can you do some videos on the SR-71 and SR-72?

[@PilotPhotog]

Thank you! I am actually doing a series on the SR-71...before it was the Blackbird it was the A-12 Oxcart: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a6bRm6dtZp2ggNU

[@craig4867]

F-15EX is what all of us Air Force pilots are looking forward to, which will give us 100 years of F-15s! Incredible!

[@sircommander27]

You should talk about the various modded F15 from the diffrent export countries such as Israel and singapore and Japan

[@appa609]

Israel still operates the last active duty F-15A's. They converted their D's to multirole fighters independent of the strike eagle program. Mostly built in 75-79. The F-15J's are still early C model spec at their core and serve AA missions. Built from 81-97 The I's are basically base model strike eagles with Israeli upgrades. Saudi F-15 S were built concurrently in 96-98 and are similar in capability. K's and SG's are modernized E's and came with APG-82 AESA and JHMCS, among other goodies made from 05 - 12. The saudi SA's are 2017-2020 models and have Fly by Wire among other new things. qatari QA's, American EX's, and israeli IA's are the newest models and have everything above plus the advanced compute and EW suite described in the video. They're just starting to be built now.

[@teddy.d174]

Israel is so very good at tweaking their imports from the 🇺🇸...perfecting different kinds of aircraft, ordnance, systems and other miscellaneous projects. Just in the past few weeks an IAF F-15 was seen carrying missiles that the 🇺🇸 hasn’t used in decades.

[@xyzaero]

The F-15 S/I/K/G models are upgraded Strike Eagle variants with better systems, avionics and GE engines. The F-15SA is a VASTLY upgraded F-15E with FBW, new avionics and a new wing. The F-15QA is based on the SA, but is further upgraded in terms of structure and avionics. The F-15EX is basically a Qatari F-15QA. The SA/SR and QA have a new wing and new forward fuselage design, FBW, DEWS EW systems while the EX has the EPAWSS which will also be installed into the USAF F-15E and Japanese F-15JSI. They SA/QA and EX sport the larger AESA radar antenna (Hence the new forward fuselage design). The F-15J is just a Japanese built F-15A/B (or C/D ??). The Israeli upgrades to the A/B model are mostly classified and there are so many upgrades, that it is impossible to tell what is really going on with them. The F-15 SA, QA and EX can also use wing stations 1 and 9, due to their newsing design and FBW flight controls. Older F-15s could not use stations 1 and 9, due to wing flutter problems. Hope I could help.

[@Carlos-cy4uc]

For sure there is classified diferences between EX and QA.

[@xyzaero]

@@Carlos-cy4uc I agree. The EX is based on the QA and almost the same, but has some additional extras for sure.

[@unknownsniper399]

Great videos. Brings back good memories my dad was a mechanic on these in Lakenheath UK. Used to take me and my brother down to the hangars and check out the night time take offs!!

[@timdodd3897]

Such a badass jet. I love F22 Raptors though.

[@PilotPhotog]

There is a pace for both, thanks for commenting!

[@i20010]

I wish they will re-launch the F22 project.

[@juanarce6900]

Epawss is a smart investment to keep the venerable f-15 in the game.

[@PilotPhotog]

Indeed Juan, thanks again for commenting!

[@sircommander27]

:) finnaly a video on one of my favourite fighters Thanks again tog

[@PilotPhotog]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@franz643]

Something interesting for my morning

[@KernowekTim]

The Eagle has to be the most consequential military attack aircraft ever produced. EPAWSS certainly promotes this ideal. 'Contender Nations' must be perplexed and somewhat infuriated, if they had considered the Eagles to be about to become obsolete, only to be made aware that this is certainly not the case for the foreseeable future. The F15 EX probably makes them groan louder with acceptance of these realities. An altogether deadly package. The U.S Military is no-ones fool, this video proves but one facet, regarding this fact. Great video! ATB my friend. Take care, and " Keep 'em comin' please!"

[@PilotPhotog]

Thank you Tim! I'm going to start working on the 1st of April video - I think you will enjoy it

[@KernowekTim]

@@PilotPhotog Cool. I look forward to it!

[@pottierkurt1702]

If you continue putting out content at this pace we're gonna need a new cold war or you'll run out of planes to cover. But I think politicians got you covered on that one. Jokes aside. Epic content as ever.

[@PilotPhotog]

Thank you as always Savage - I try to get these out as soon as I can

[@appa609]

Lots of Russian stuff left haha

[@andreasleonardo6793]

Too nice video 👍👍👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻its talking about F-15 aircrafts especially C&E versions..with their electronic warfare & EPAWSS characters really it was terrific video with sufficient knowledge about F-15 aircrafts...thanks for sending. 👍👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🙏🏼...yes upgrading the Eagle cognitive electronic warfare &EPAWSS for F- 15 C&E required

[@PilotPhotog]

Agreed, and thank you Andreas!

[@Chuck59ish]

At least the F-15 can mount all the equipment internally and not have the airframe gain large blisters like the F-16s have. The Eagle design is one tough bgird, I don't think the F-22 or F-35 could fly with one wing like the F-15 can. I can remember a few stories I heard while in the RCAF and posted to CFB Comox on Vancouver Island, back in 1989 to 1991, the USAF F-15s would stop over in Comox when they were flying from Joint Base McCord, Washington, to Joint Base Elmendorf in Alaska. Whether it was near miss with real Eagles or real damage from boredom while flying CAP in Alaska. They showed how tough the F-15 airframe is.

[@pottierkurt1702]

It's basically a missile with wings.

[@Chuck59ish]

@@pottierkurt1702 NAW, the was the Lockheed/Canadair F-104 Starfighter with it's 6 foot wings.

[@appa609]

It depends on the fbw implementation. F-22 in particular has huge tail surfaces to make control input and TVC and probably has the physical ability to trim out a partly lost wing. The F-15 IFCS testbed worked on fbw research for this exact purpose: in flight repair. The same plane transferred TVC research to the F-22 so I'd be surprised if IFCS wasn't

[@Chuck59ish]

@@appa609 An Israeli F-15 had a wing blown off by a Syrian missile and it made it back to base intact. There is a You Tube video on it.

[@floridapatriotsfan9242]

When I worked on the F-15Es we had the AN/ALQ-135 EW system that coupled with the TEWS! We went to the first gulf war and were successful!

[@caleblarsen5490]

CEW is the future. EPAWSS is a good solution for the predicament we have now, but we really need a clean sheet design for future combat. These F-15Cs and Es won't last forever.

[@appa609]

As long as you're outside the enemy's HOJ envelope. EW instantly gives away your direction and isn't necessarily as useful for VLO platforms

[@xyzaero]

Thais problem is already addressed by the EX model.

[@caleblarsen5490]

@@xyzaero yes but they are expensive and the equivalent of the 737 MAX. It's a good design, but its just really freaking old. There has to be something better than a 40 year old design out there. If there's not something better out there, then I guess that's okay, but I think we can do better than the F-15EX.

[@xyzaero]

@@caleblarsen5490 the F-15 EX is a brand new design in most aspects. They kept the systems that worked and everything else is new. No comparison to the MAX.

[@EEEEEEE354]

@@appa609 I assume you probably learned this from DCS or something... but thats not exactly the case with modern jamming capabilities. There is barrage jamming, DRFM jamming, etc etc. Especially with fighters using powerful phased array antennas with LPI modes, jamming doesn't give away your position, and in fact makes your position more unclear. You can still burn through, but modern jamming will do more than take away range information. Look at the ASQ-239 for the most powerful example of this.

[@appa609]

Ooh this EPAWSS thing sounds amazing. Back to its BVR roots! Lose sight lose the fight. It feels like they're using the eagle fleet like airborne testbeds for new systems and that's awesome.

[@PilotPhotog]

Indeed the EPAWSS can be a game changer, thank you as always for commenting!

[@LRRPFco52]

F-15C has been BVR-centered from the start, and incrementally has expanded BVR capes with AIM-7M, some NCTR things, AIM-120A, APG-63(V)1, (V)2, AIM-120C, APG-63(V)3 AESA/JTIDS/AIM-120D. Still gets raped by Raptors and F-35s in BVR, but it's a much different avionics configuration than 1979-1986.

[@patdbean]

As this is a BAE project , will this hardware be finding it's way in to the typhoon?

[@PilotPhotog]

I would imagine so, thanks for commenting!

[@GRNbull98]

Personally, I think the F-15 is still a highly relevant fighter in terms of mechanical engineering and aerodynamics and thanks to its large size, it could definitely remain potent and relevant for an incredibly long time due to upgrades to its avionics and weapon systems. It is like the Air Forces Abrams.

[@EsotericResearcher777]

Pause at 7:52 - Can anyone tell me which nation's air force paint's their F-15's in the exact paint scheme as Thundercracker? The Decepticon air force? Also where do I sign up? Thanks.

[@PilotPhotog]

Starscream would like to know your location 😎

[@xyzaero]

This is the first EX prototype with primer but without paint.

[@joachim2734]

May i ask what the name of the background track at 3:36 is? :) Great vid btw!

[@PilotPhotog]

Thank you! The track is called "Mist" by Odonis Odonis

[@froggothemaniac2180]

Why do vaper trails look so cool

[@PilotPhotog]

Because they are! Thanks for commenting

[@SahanModelbuilding]

cool, great video

[@PilotPhotog]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@artursolinski736]

Another great video your research skills are impeccable .I have a question when jet fighter goes through electronics upgrades like this does weaponry need upgrades to be compatible with the systems or can stay the same as it was

[@PilotPhotog]

Thank you much appreciated. I would assume the fire control systems are upgraded for newer weapons and existing weapons can be used.

[@robertgriffin662]

I had a Combat aircraft magazine 3-5 years ago that showed an F-15 with a scabbed on dorsal blister or pod near the airbrake. I think it had some new ECM gear. Is that CEWS Or epawss? Sorry thats all i remember.

[@PilotPhotog]

Not sure, but it may have been an early test bed for EPAWSS

[@robertgriffin662]

@@PilotPhotog that's what i thought. I'll try and find that mag. I think. Still got it.

[@suokkos]

I started wondering about radar signal. You could use an unpredictable algorithm to generate signal patterns. Example would be signal generated from cruptographically secure pseudo random number generate. Adversary couldn't predict the signal signature for a targeted signal jamming. What would technical down sides to a randomized signal pattern? I found an interesting master thesis. _LPI_ _waveform_ _for_ _AESA_ _radar_ by Andreas Sjöberg. My think would match random noise radar. The issue seem to be poor performance at the long range. Other methods to reduce radar detectibility are interesting too. They seem to have a common issue that enemy guessing the signal has much better chance to detect it. Too bad randomised signal was just mentioned as a potential mitigation without detailed analyses.

[@PilotPhotog]

An interesting topic and if I can find more I will do a future video on it. Thanks for commenting

[@cmac9029]

Cool

[@tbilisicentralv2]

i think all the nifty gadgetry of the 5th gen fighters will be applied to existing 4th gen platforms in the near future, not only with F15 but others also. if military is moving toward increased sit awareness, all platforms need to be brought up to the level.

[@ravencookie5141]

Similar to the Eagle This video came like rapid deployment to hot theaters! Very interesting video! I’m now more curious on some export variant F-15s You mentioned the Saudi F-15SA in your F-15EX video I’d love to hear more about the Saudi F-15S, the Israeli F-15I (and even their locally upgraded F-15A and C), Japan’s F-15J and F-15JD Oh and of course S.Korean and Singaporean F-15E variants

[@xyzaero]

The F-15 S/I/K/G models are upgraded Strike Eagle variants with better systems, avionics and GE engines. The F-15SA is a VASTLY upgraded F-15E with FBW, new avionics and a new wing. The F-15QA is based on the SA, but is further upgraded in terms of structure and avionics. The F-15EX is basically a Qatari F-15QA. The QA and EX have a new wing and new forward fuselage design, FBW, EPAWSS and a larger radar antenna (due to the new forward fuselage design). The F-15J is just a Japanese built F-15A/B (or C/D ??). The Israeli upgrades to the A/B model are mostly classified and there are so many upgrades, that it is impossible to tell what is really going on with them. The F-15 SA, QA and EX can also use wing stations 1 and 9, due to their newsing design and FBW flight controls. Older F-15s could not use stations 1 and 9, due to wing flutter problems. Hope I could help.

[@ravencookie5141]

@@xyzaero very helpful!! Thanks!! I think I know more about the Japanese F-15s at least enough to call them upgraded F-15A (some of which upgraded to the standards of the F-15C) Thanks again!

[@PilotPhotog]

Thank you my friend, I will work on a series of the "export" Eagles

[@ravencookie5141]

@@PilotPhotog YAY!!

[@jonniiinferno9098]

yes - upgrade to epawss and CEW should be implemented... if it makes the pilot and aircraft more effective - it should be done...

[@PilotPhotog]

Agreed, thanks for commenting and thanks for being a long time subscriber!

[@stealth225]

It's primary function is going to be peacetime CAP so do not understand the reason to upgrade C model given it's only a air to air fighter. E ought to be upgraded and the EX already comes with EPAWWS

[@LRRPFco52]

Cs haven't had TEWS for a while now. They have a massive EW system display in its place, the old stores management panel has been replaced with JTIDS/MFD, and radar has been replaced with the biggest fighter AESA in the world. We still have forward-deployed Cs out of Kadena in Japan, and Lakenheath, UK, which should be Raptor squadrons, but that's another topic.

[@stealth225]

@@LRRPFco52 thanks for the clarification

[@xyzaero]

@@LRRPFco52 And the C will do the job for a long tome to come, since at least 50 receive "new" wings.

[@donovannotmyname7306]

At this point why not just pump out new F15s with those upgrades in mind? Like an "F-15F" or something

[@Dagreatdudeman]

Congress. They don't like the idea of constantly buying new planes, so the military just reuses old names. Think of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.

[@LRRPFco52]

F-15's RCS and IR signature makes it unsurvivable even in a low threat environment. Examples include Libya and Yemen. Houthi rebels shot down a Saudi F-15S with a gerry-rigged R-27T IR AAM converted to a SAM, towed by a Toyota truck. Guidance and tracking was provided by a civilian FLIR head. Modern MAWS integrated with digital self protection suites could have allowed them to evade/counter that missile, but new generations of seeker heads are being fielded to try to deal with stealth, since legacy RF and IR spectrum missile seekers are near useless against them. The only real way for Mud Hens and Grey Cs to be survivable in mid-high threat environments is if they are networked with 5th Gen fighters like Raptor and JSF.

[@xyzaero]

New F-15swith all these upgrades are already under construction and are joining the USAF as the F-15EX.

[@xyzaero]

@@LRRPFco52 The EPASS upgrade is exactly intended to make the F-15 fit for medium to high threat environments. The F-15 would not have been totally redesign and put into service as the SA/QA and EX, if it was only viable in low threat environments.

[@Niidea1986]

If Russia can upgrade an old soviet era fighter and pretend it is an all new game changer super duper generation leaping F-35 killer aircraft, then Americans are more than capable of doing the same.

[@xyzaero]

The Russians can't actually do it to this extend.

[@Niidea1986]

@@xyzaero that's why I said Americans are more than capable

[@xyzaero]

@@Niidea1986 and I tried to acknowledge and support your statement. English is not my first language, sometimes I misunderstand things or say things the wrong way. Anyways, what I meant was, that the Americans can do it and that the Russians try, but end up with a mediocre product.

[@Niidea1986]

@@xyzaero no no, its okay, I was just trying to give a response. Sorry if I sounded somewhat rude.

[@xyzaero]

@@Niidea1986 no offense taken buddy 👍🏻

[@jerryrichards8172]

I think this one the smarter things the u.s. airforce has done.

[@spartanx9293]

1:20 your going to Brazil

[@PilotPhotog]

Lol - yep that is the pre Air Force "paint scheme" fresh out of the factory.

[@johnnyboythepilot4098]

You want Yukikaze? Because this is how you get Yukikaze!

[@danielmaloney128]

More F-15s

[@kepalasuku2024]

Kenapa amerika tidak menggunakan thrust vektoring pada F-15 ???

[@kepalasuku2024]

@RYAN JONATHAN MARTIN Pada awalnya f-15 diluncurkan menggunakan thrust vectoring bahkan menggunkan canar

[@appa609]

"Upgrading" ;)

[@unbearifiedbear1885]

Is an F15 just a fixed wing (profile) Tomcat? ..or would that be a disgusting oversimplification?!

[@Komyeta]

Su-47 berkut when?

[@swaghauler8334]

Just posting this to feed the algorithm. Nothing to see here... move along... :)

[@PilotPhotog]

Thank you as always! Moving along :)

[@unbearifiedbear1885]

Favourite fighter of the current era? Gonna cheat and say *F4 Phantom,* considering they're still in service in some places

[@sylvainponchelet646]

what this upgrade of the F15 shows is also the translation of the semi failure of the F35 which does not keep its promises both in terms of capacity and cost

[@chollythecrazycorgihesinsa6505]

They have to build more F15 EX’s because the of insufficient F22’

[@MaryAnnRedmondMusic]

Thanks for posting! If you have a second, I recorded a cover of 'True Colors'. As a fellow music fan, I'd love if you would check it out. It's on my channel. Hope you like it. Don't go too tough on me :)

[@dougsteel7414]

Gripen software fusion is actually superior

[@colonalklink14]

Waste of money. The F-15 EX already has it. Why waste money on an aged platform.

[@xyzaero]

Upgrading existing platforms is the cheapest solution. A new EX costs some 80 or 100 million, while these upgrades might only cost a few millions per airframe.

[@colonalklink14]

@@xyzaero True normally but the airframes are worn out.

[@xyzaero]

@@colonalklink14 the F-15E is still in shape and at least 50 C models receive “new” wings from converted Saudi F-15Ss , wich receive new wings during their SA upgrade. The US just has no money and needs to squeeze every flight hour out of their existing airframes. Apparently the USAF has no real future fighter roadmap, so everything is a mishmash of old and new. Remember, the USAF should be a pure F-22 and F-35 fighter force by now, but the “peace dividend” created the mess they have today.

[@colonalklink14]

@@xyzaero You're probably right.

[@xyzaero]

@@colonalklink14 That is at least my 50 cent interpretation of our world 😋

[@kimarykorlumiose7728]

lol "ugrading"