Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle: All-Weather Attack Aircraft

by Steve Davies

The F-15E looks set to remain in USAF service beyond 2030. It has proved to be the safest tactical fighter ever procured by the Air Force, and its 16,000-hr service life could well see it in use beyond 2030. It is arguably the best all-round combat aircraft in the world and has a magnificent operational record gained in combat during Desert Storm, Balkan operations and the war against Terrorism. This book traces the history and development of the Strike Eagle from its conception as a replacement for the F-111 in 1984 to the present day. Every aspect of the aircraft and its operation are examined including airframe, powerplant, avionics and weapon systems. Design plans, photographs and color profiles give graphic portrayal of this meanest of mean machines.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published December 18, 2003

About the author

Steve Davies is a military and commercial aviation photojournalist based in Cambridge, England. He began writing in 2001, and has since authored eight critically acclaimed books and co-authored four more. His freelance writing includes a plethora of articles penned for the world's leading monthly and quarterly aviation publications, and he has also worked on a range of aviation supplements that have sold millions of copies globally. He has worked as a subject matter expert for a range of military aviation documentaries commissioned by terrestrial television channels in the UK and North America, and by the History Channel. His photography has been used not only by the aviation press, but also by leading defense contractors and aviation corporations.

Reviews

[Paul Belanger · Rating 4 out of 5]

From websites online, this book is touted as the best place to get the most information on the F-15E Strike Eagle. I'd have to agree with them. There is so much information that sometimes I found myself bogged down in acronyms, having to look in the back to figure out what he was talking about. This book takes you from aircraft conception, through testing and training, and into combat. There's also a chapter about where this aircraft will go in the future.

I would like to have seen a page in the appendix concerning weapons. Even a brief description would have been nice. How am I supposed to remember the differences between a GBU-10 and GBU-12? Even something as simple as; weight, seeker type, etc. Luckily I already knew the more common bombs so I wasn't slowed down too much in the read.

On an editing note, ugh. I've seen books edited worse than this, but I still find some of the errors annoying (especially for a $40 book!). Using the wrong words, for instance. Like using "of" instead of "or", or "thought" instead of "though". Even some missing words in sentences. This book also has one footnote repeated inside another footnote. Probably the biggest error is with the pictures. There are many b&w and color pics in the book. On several of the b&w pictures the description notes the color of a particular tail marking. Um, okay. I also found at least one b&w picture, that I can remember, that was backwards! Overall the errors totaled less than a dozen and the content more than makes up for the lapse of an editor's attention.