The US Air Force (USAF) F-15EX Eagle II -- one of the fastest and most heavily armed fighter jets in the world -- lives up to its nickname, the "Super Eagle."

The all-weather multirole strike fighter is able to fly at Mach 2.5 (2,686 km/hr) and has a combat range of 1,272 km.

Originally designed as an air superiority fighter, the first F-15 reached the USAF in 1974. Over the past 49 years, the jet has become faster, stronger and much more advanced.

The F-15E Strike Eagle, an updated multirole aircraft, first flew in 1986, while the new F-15EX first took to the skies in 2021.

The USAF has 453 F-15s of all variants, according to a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report from 2020. F-15s also are produced for several international customers including Israel, Japan and Saudi Arabia.

The two-seat F-15EX can be operated by a single pilot or, for complex missions, by a pilot and a weapon systems officer.

More advanced aircraft

Based on the most advanced Eagles, the new F-15EX has a stronger airframe and more advanced sensors, processors and flight control systems, the CRS report said.

The USAF version of the F-15EX also has new and exclusive advanced radar and other subsystems, it added.

It is equipped with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, which can spread its signal emissions across a wider range of frequencies, making them more difficult to detect and giving them greater resistance to jamming.

The jets have "a substantially more powerful mission computer, new cockpit displays, a digital backbone and the Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System (EPAWSS)," Air & Space Forces Magazine reported.

EPAWSS is an electronic warfare and threat identification system that "protects US Air Force F-15s with digital electronic warfare technology to maximize mission effectiveness and survivability in highly contested environments."

The F-15EX's stronger airframe has four wing pylons with 23 total hard points, fuselage pylons and bomb racks on conformal fuel tanks, giving the Super Eagle a capacity of 13,400kg of external fuel and ordnance.

'Tremendous' firepower

Other improvements include the Advanced Missile and Bomb Ejector Rack (AMBER) system.

"These new racks, which carry missiles and bombs and provide datalinks between the aircraft and the munition, allow the F-15EX to carry 50% more air-to-air missiles, for a total of 12 in all," Popular Mechanics reported.

With AMBER, the F-15EX has a total of 23 weapon stations, compared to 17 on the F-15E, it noted.

"The F-15EX's fighting load is balanced, allowing it to unleash its JASSM missiles [joint air to surface standoff missiles] at enemy targets and then immediately proceed to take on a totally different mission, like engaging enemy aircraft," it added.

In recent test flights, an F-15EX Eagle II was loaded with three JASSMs, the USAF 53rd Wing said August 30.

"Everything went perfectly, providing us with the data proving the EX could easily employ three JASSMs in combat," a 53rd Wing spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine, clarifying that only one JASSM was actually shot.

The details of the test shot are classified, but the JASSM has a range of about 370km, according to a USAF fact sheet.

Test flights in November 2022 demonstrated the aircraft also can carry up to 12 AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles (AMRAAMs), per Air & Space Forces Magazine.

"Proving the F-15EX capability to employ three JASSMs after witnessing validation of the … air-to-air dominance role it can play with a 12-AMRAAM loadout is incredible," USAF Maj. Calvin Conner said in a statement.

"The firepower a four-ship of F-15EXs brings to a combatant commander is tremendous," said Conner, who commands the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron F-15 division.