The F-15E Strike Eagle is a two-seat, dual-role aircraft assigned to the strike/interdiction mission while retaining a deadly capability for air-to-air combat.

Developed from the highly successful F-15 Eagle air superiority fighter, the Strike Eagle demonstrated its worth in Operation Desert Storm and is expected to form the backbone of US air power in Great Britain in the 1990s. Additional production, beyond a few airplanes purchased with FY 1992 funds, is unlikely, however, and manufacture of the F-15E Strike Eagle is expected to end in the early 1990s.

The pilot and WSO of the F-15E sit in tandem on ACES II zero-zero ejection seats. As a dual-role warplane, the F-15E has air-to-air capability and the pilot fights in the HOTAS (hands on throttle and stick) mode. Like its air-superiority predecessors, the F-15E has the capability to destroy enemy aircraft BVR (beyond visual range) using the radar-guided AIM-7M Sparrow or AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile). At closer range, the F-15E can engage with AIM-9M Sidewinder infra-red missiles or with its 20-mm M61A1 Vulcan six-barrelled cannon.

The F-15E Strike Eagle introduces redesigned controls, a wide field of vision HUD, and three CRTs which provide multi-purpose displays of navigation, weapons delivery and systems operations. The rear-cockpit WSO (weapon systems officer) employs four multi-purpose CRT terminals for radar, weapon selection and monitoring of enemy tracking systems. The WSO also operates AN/APG-70 synthetic aperture radar and Martin-Marietta LANTIRN (Low-Altitude Navigation and Targeting, Infra-Red, for Night) weapons and targeting pods, and has minimal flight controls.

The primary mission of the F-15E is the air-to-ground strike mission. The F-15E carries up to a maximum of 24,250 lb (11,000 kg) of tactical ordnance, including Mk 20 Rockeye and CBU-87 cluster bombs, Mk 82 and Mk 84 250-lb (113-kg) and 1,000-lb (454-kg) bombs, AGM-65 Maverick missiles, and GBU-10, GBU-15 and GBU-28 guided weapons. The USAF has cancelled the SRAM-T (short-range air-to-ground missile, tactical) which was also slated for the Strike Eagle.

F-15E aircraft carry an additional 21,645 lb (9,818 kg) of external fuel and, like the C and D models, are powered by two 23,450-lb (104.31-kN) thrust Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220 low-bypass turbofans. Plans to deliver F-15Es with the 20 per cent more powerful 29,000-lb (129-kN) thrust F100-PW-229 engine beginning in August 1991 were delayed for a few months, but these more powerful aircraft now serve with units in Alaska and England.

The F-15E has been a kind of second-generation Eagle, introducing a 'mud-moving' role for the first time. Following test work with the second two-seater built (71-0291), the first production F-15E (86-0183) flew on 11 December 1986.

In 1988, the 405th Tactical Training Wing at Luke AFB, Arizona, became the Tactical Air Command's RTU (replacement training unit) for the F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft. Soon thereafter, the first operational F-15Es were delivered to the 4th TFW, Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina, replacing the F-4E Phantom.

Following re-equipment of the Seymour Johnson-based outfit, the F-15E was deployed with elements of PACAF in Alaska; with USAFE in England; and with the first of the so-called composite 'intervention' units, specifically the 366th Wing at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho. In addition, a handful of Strike Eagles are assigned to the Fighter Weapons Center at Nellis AFB, Nevada to assist with the development of tactics.

On 12 August 1990, as the US began Operation Desert Shield in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, F-15E Strike Eagles from the 336th TFS, 4th TFW, at Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina, deployed to Al Kharj air base, Saudi Arabia. F-15Es of the 4th Wing's 335th TFS followed. During Desert Storm, F-15Es were assigned strike missions against a variety of targets, including five- to six-hour sorties in search of 'Scud' missile launch sites. Two F-15E Strike Eagles were lost in combat.

At one time, it looked as though the USAF would acquire a total of 392 examples of the F-15E, but cuts in the budget appropriations resulted in this figure being reduced to little more than half that number, although a limited amount of extra cash did slightly increase the number obtained. Eventually, despite Air Force requests to keep the production line open, the total buy was set at 209 aircraft, with the final few examples being handed over during the course of 1994.