Boeing Pitches F-15EX to Poland for Air Superiority Fighter Requirement.

Capitalizing on the ongoing defense modernization drive in Poland, Boeing has again pitched the latest iteration of its F-15 platform, the F-15EX, to Poland for its requirement of an air superiority fighter. Poland has outlined a requirement for almost 32 air superiority fighters and Boeing feels that the F-15EX with its digital backbone, latest avionics upgrades and increased capacity to carry additional missiles and munitions payload would be a great fit.

Boeing had originally pitched the F-15EX to Poland at the MSPO Defense Conference held in Kielce, Poland in 2023. The Polish Air Force currently operates a fleet of 48 F-16 jets along with the FA-50 Fighting Eagle light attack jets acquired from South Korea in 2022. Additionally, Poland is also slated to receive 32 units of the 5th generation stealthy F-35 Lightning II jets built by Lockheed Martin Corporation.

Additionally, Poland is also seeking around 32 air superiority fighters operating at the top of the spectrum. Boeing feels that the F-15EX would be a great fit considering the relatively economic flyaway unit cost of around $100 million, a combat proven and long airframe lifespan, potential for future upgrades and interoperability with NATO forces.

However, Boeing's landing into Warsaw with the F-15EX is going to be anything but easy given that the Eurofighter Consortium, too, is pitching Poland with its competing Eurofighter Typhoon which, incidentally, has a majority of its industrial base located within Continental Europe, unlike Boeing, and this factor could have a bearing on Poland's decision going forward. Both Typhoon and Eagle-II are excellent dogfighters with their highly superior aerial maneuverability. However, the Eagle-II comparatively has better specs in its favor with a higher top speed of Mach 2.5, a relatively much higher weapons payload capacity, more thrust and a relatively lower acquisition & maintenance costs.

Further, in the meanwhile, another aerial dogfight and sub-battle is building up between two American engine powerhouses and arch-rival within the F-15EX's planned flight plan to Warsaw with the RTX group company, Pratt & Whitney, aggressively pitching its F100 turbofan engines to power the Polish F-15EX jets. Pratt & Whitney, in turn, is using its Polish ID card & credentials to secure the order given the fact that Pratt & Whitney's Polish industrial presence dates back to 1976 and the company employs around 6,200 people currently in Poland, thereby, making the company one of the biggest employer in the nation's aerospace sector. Also, Pratt & Whitney produced all the F100 engines within Poland which power the Polish Air Force's 48 F-16 Jets today as the exclusive powerplant. Using the F100 engines on the latest F-15EX jets will enable the Polish Air Force to harness significant operational, financial & supply chain synergies from a production as well as MRO standpoint and will hugely benefit the Polish Government as well as taxpayers in terms of overall outlay.

Further, the F100 engine has clocked over 30 million flight hours so far since it first powered the first F-15 in 1972 which is almost more than thrice the competing F110 engine from GE which, too, powers the global fleet of F-15s as an engine option. Pratt & Whitney's F100 engine powers almost two-third of the global, in-service F-16 fleet and almost three-fourth of the global F-15 fleet with the USAF's entire F-15 fleet powered exclusively by the F100 engine. However, the F100 will need to undergo certification to be able to power the F-15EX as currently GE's F110 is the sole power plant certified for it and GE has almost 350 engine orders on its order book for the F-15EX.

Let's see as to who wins this High-G dogfight between Eagle II and Typhoon for aerial supremacy going forward and whether Pratt & Whitney is able to break GE's monopoly on the F-15EX program with its legendary F100 engine.

For more, check out our popular book on Amazon, Birds of Fray: World's Top 4.5 and 5th Generation Fighter Jet Programs providing a direct comparison between the F-15EX Eagle II and the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Also, explore our Book, PowerPlay: Engine Wars in Commercial Aviation - GE Aviation, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls Royce, Safran, on Amazon.com

About the Author: Rajat Narang is the Co-Founder & Partner of Noealt Corporate Services apart from being an A&D Industry Researcher & Specialist, Serial Author and Nuclear, Aviation & Cold-War Historian. For his full bio and list of books authored by him, access his author page on Amazon.com