Admiring this fighter jet up close, its shocking effect is extremely powerful.

After World War II, the US Air Force became one of the most powerful air forces in the world. The only one that could compete with the US Air Force was the former Soviet Air Force.

As the absolute main fighter of the US Air Force from the 1970s to the first five years of the new century, the F15 plays a vital role in the US Air Force.

In the 1960s, the Cold War between the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, became increasingly fierce, and the importance of air supremacy became increasingly prominent.

Aircraft designers of that era generally believed that the maximum flight speed and the highest flight altitude were the magic weapons for fighter jets to win. In future air battles, the use of long-range missiles would make close-range combat a thing of the past.

However, this idea was ruthlessly overturned on the battlefield in Vietnam, because the American F-4 "Phantom" fighters with these characteristics were repeatedly shot down by the "backward" MiG-21 or even MiG-17 on the battlefield in Vietnam. So the United States began to reflect on this design concept and turned to a design concept that emphasized both long-range interception and close-range air combat capabilities.

Guided by this new design concept, the US military ordered the development of a new generation of heavy fighter jets. McDonnell Douglas, which was later acquired by Boeing, won the US military's bid in 1969 and began to develop a new generation of heavy fighter jets.

According to the naming habits of the US Air Force, this newly developed heavy fighter was named F-15, codenamed Eagle. Therefore, this fighter is called F-15 "Eagle" and nicknamed "American Eagle".

In July 1972, this two-seat, twin-engine, swept-wing jet supersonic, all-weather, highly maneuverable air tactical fighter began its maiden flight. The maiden flight was very successful and the US military was extremely satisfied with the aircraft. Therefore, a year and a half later in 1974, the first mass-produced F15 was delivered to the US military, marking the beginning of this aircraft's 40-year service journey to dominate the earth's skies.

The emergence of the F15 made the Soviets panic. Although the Soviets also began to develop a new generation of heavy fighters in 1969, the development speed and production speed were far behind the F15. It was not until the F15 had been in service in the US military for three years that the Soviet Union's new generation of heavy fighter Su-27 began its first flight. It was not until 1979 that the Su-27 was finalized. In 1985, the Su-27, the only heavy fighter that could compete with the F15 at the time, began to be equipped in the former Soviet Air Force.

However, even though the Su-27 entered service ten years later than the F15, this pair of old rivals were the world's most watched rivals at the end of the last century.

But unfortunately, these two famous heavy fighters have never officially fought against each other. At least in the official records, these two classic heavy fighters have never had a record of fighting against each other. As for whether the two fighters have fought privately, it is unknown.

Up to now, the F15 has been in service for more than 50 years. Although the F22 and F35 have begun to be equipped to the US Air Force more and more, the F15 is still the most numerous main heavy fighter in the US Air Force.

After all, the cost of F22 and F35 is too high. The cost of a single F22 is as high as 150 million US dollars, and the cost of a single F35 is not much worse than this figure. But don't forget that the F35 is a light fighter.

The performance of the new fighter is certainly better, but the high cost is a pain even for the wealthy Americans, so the main fighter of the US Air Force is still the F15. After all, the funds for building one F22 are enough to build five F15s. No matter how powerful the F22 is, it is impossible for it to fight five F15s alone in the air.

In comparison, the F15 fighter jet has a very high cost-effectiveness.

Looking at this huge aircraft in front of him that is nearly 20 meters long and has a wingspan of more than 13 meters, it would be a lie to say that he is not shocked. Although this aircraft is only a small one compared to a civilian airliner, and there are no weapons on the weapon racks under the wings, it is undeniable that the shape of this aircraft is really murderous. Even if it is just parked on the ground, Yang Jing can feel the huge lethality of this aircraft.

This is a real heavy fighter!

In fact, the most fundamental feature that distinguishes heavy fighters from light fighters is the number of engines. Generally speaking, twin-engine fighters are heavy fighters, and single-engine fighters are light fighters.

This is also the fundamental reason why the F35 Lightning is greater than the F15 in terms of both empty weight and maximum take-off weight, but the F35 can still only be classified as a light fighter.

Another feature is the cockpit. Before the emergence of the fourth-generation fighter, the two-seat model was one of the hallmarks of heavy fighters. Since the third-generation light fighters are mainly used for single air combat missions, most of them are single-seat. The third-generation heavy fighters or attack aircraft generally use two seats. This is because heavy fighters are responsible for both air and ground combat missions. The pilots not only have to complete flight control, but also have to attack air and ground targets.

A two-seat fighter jet can undertake more tasks because it has one more person on board. Therefore, a two-seat fighter jet can perform some tasks that a single-seat fighter jet cannot perform or is difficult to perform alone, such as air command, electromagnetic suppression, and guided weapon projection.

Of course, as electronic technology becomes more and more advanced, most of the fourth-generation heavy fighters have changed the cockpit into a slave seat, because the advanced electronic technology can already replace a pilot. For example, the cockpits of heavy twin-engine fighters such as the F22 and MiG-1.44 are all single-seat.

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