Operational history OF F-15
F-15D from the 325 Fighter Wing based in Tyndall AFB, releasing flares
The largest operator of the F-15 is the United States Air Force. The first Eagle (F-15B) was delivered November 14, 1974.[22] In January 1976, the first Eagle destined for a combat squadron, the 555th TFS, was delivered.[22] These initial aircraft carried the Hughes Aircraft (now Raytheon) APG-63 radar.
The first kill in an F-15 was by IAF ace Moshe Melnik in 1979.[23] In 1979–81 during Israeli-Lebanese border disputes, F-15As downed 13 Syrian MiG-21 "Fishbeds" and two Syrian MiG-25 "Foxbats", the latter being the aircraft the F-15 was designed to kill. F-15A and B models were used by Israel during the Bekaa Valley operation. During the 1982 Lebanon War, the Israeli F-15s shot down 40 Syrian jet fighters (23 MiG-21 "Fishbeds" and 17 MiG-23 "Floggers") and one Syrian SA.342L Gazelle helicopter.[24]
Royal Saudi Air Force F-15C pilots shot down two F-4E Phantom IIs flown by the Iranian Air Force in a border skirmish in June 1984, and shot down two Iraqi Mirage F1s during the Gulf War.[25][26][27]
A Royal Saudi Air Force F-15 approaches a KC-135 for refueling during Operation Desert Shield.
The USAF deployed F-15C, D and E models to the Persian Gulf in 1991 in support of Operation Desert Storm where they accounted for 36 of the 39 Air Force air-to-air victories. F-15Es were operated mainly at night, hunting modified SCUD missile launchers and artillery sites using the LANTIRN system.[28] According to the USAF, its F-15Cs had 34 confirmed kills of Iraqi aircraft during the 1991 Gulf War, mostly by missile fire: five MiG-29 "Fulcrums", two MiG-25 "Foxbats", eight MiG-23 "Floggers", two MiG-21 "Fishbeds", two Su-25 "Frogfoots", four Su-22 "Fitters", one Su-7, six Mirage F1s, one Il-76 cargo plane, one Pilatus PC-9 trainer, and two Mi-8 helicopters. After air superiority was achieved in the first three days of the conflict, many of the later kills were reportedly of Iraqi aircraft fleeing to Iran, rather than actively trying to engage U.S. aircraft. The single-seat F-15C was used for air superiority, and the F-15E was heavily used in air-to-ground attacks. An F-15E achieved an aerial kill of another Iraqi Mi-8 helicopter using a laser-guided bomb during the air war. The F-15E sustained two losses to ground fire in the Gulf War in 1991.[29] Another one was damaged on the ground by a SCUD strike on Dhahran air base.[30]
They have since been deployed to support Operation Southern Watch, the patrolling of the No-Fly Zone in Southern Iraq; Operation Provide Comfort in Turkey; in support of NATO operations in Bosnia, and recent air expeditionary force deployments. In 1994, two U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawks were downed by USAF F-15Cs who thought they were Iraq Hinds in the Northern no-fly zone of Iraq in a friendly fire incident.[31] USAF F-15Cs shot down four Yugoslav MiG-29s using AIM-120 missiles during NATO's 1999 intervention in Kosovo, Operation Allied Force.[29]
The F-15 in all air forces had an air-to-air combined record of 104 kills to 0 losses in air combat as of February 2008.[32] To date, no air superiority versions of the F-15 (A/B/C/D models) have ever been shot down by enemy forces. Over half of the F-15's kills were made by Israeli Air Force pilots.
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აუ F15 რას დაგვამშვენებდა მითუმეტეს ასეთი ისტორიით იმ ნაგავთან ბრძოლაში რაც ჩვენ გვბომბავდა . . .
This post has been edited by AK-47 on 27 Jan 2009, 16:54
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