The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force selected McDonnell Douglas's design in 1967 to meet the service's need for a dedicated air superiority fighter. The Eagle first flew in July 1972, and entered service in 1976. It is among the most successful modern fighters, with over 100 victories and no losses in aerial combat, with the majority of the kills by the Israeli Air Force.

The Eagle has been exported to Israel, Japan, and Saudi Arabia. The F-15 was originally envisioned as a pure air-superiority aircraft. Its design included a secondary ground-attack capability that was largely unused. The aircraft design proved flexible enough that an all-weather strike derivative, the F-15E Strike Eagle, an improved and enhanced version which was later developed, entered service in 1989 and has been exported to several nations. As of 2017, the aircraft is being produced in different variants.

While some of the F-15C/Ds have been replaced by the F-22 Raptor, there is no slated replacement for the F-15E in its primary "deep strike" mission profile. The Strike Eagle is a more recent variant of the F-15, and has a sturdier airframe rated for twice the lifetime of earlier variants. The F-15Es are expected to remain in service past 2025. The USAF has pursued the Next-Generation Bomber, a medium bomber concept which could take over the Strike Eagle's "deep strike" profile. The F-35A Lightning II is projected to eventually replace many other attack aircraft such as the F-16 Fighting Falcon and A-10 Thunderbolt II, and may also take over much of the F-15E's role; however, the F-15E has better combat range under payload.

Pictured here is a stunning 1:72 scale diecast replica of a USAF Boeing F-15C Eagle Multi-Role Fighter known as "Demo Eagle," that was attached to the 71st Fighter Squadron "The Ironmen", from May 2004 - June 2005. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 7-inches
Length: 10-1/2-inches

Release Date: January 2017

Historical Account: "The Ironmen" - The 71st Fighter Training Squadron is a squadron of the United States Air Force, and part of the 1st Operations Group in the 1st Fighter Wing. The 71 FTS is stationed at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. The squadron is equipped with the T-38B, it was also the last squadron of the 1st Fighter Wing to fly the F-15, with the 27th and 94th now flying the F-22 Raptor. The squadron is known as "The Ironmen".

Since the first Gulf War, the 71st successfully supported the UN-sanctioned Operation Southern Watch and Operation Northern Watch in Iraq with many deployments to Saudi Arabia and Turkey. 71 FS pilots defeated dozens of Iraqi surface-to-air missiles (SAM) attacks, and hundreds of anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) attacks while enforcing UN sanctions, without loss or damage to a single aircraft. In 1992, the 71st FS set the all time flying safety record for the F-15 with 124,790 hours of accident free flying.

Minutes after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, the 71st launched its F-15s to patrol the skies of the US east coast, intercepting and escorting dozens of airliners to safe landings at airports around the country. The 71st also had aircraft deployed to Nellis AFB, Nevada at the time of the attacks, and were the first fighters to take to the skies to patrol Las Vegas and southern California.

During the second Gulf War in 2003, Operation Iraqi Freedom, the 71 FS deployed to Tabuk, KSA and flew Combat Air Patrols for the first part of the war, and helped to gain total air superiority for the duration of the conflict.

In 2006, the 71st Fighter Squadron was awarded the coveted Hughes/Raytheon Trophy for Outstanding Aerial Achievement for a record 5th time.On September 1st, 2010, the last F-15s assigned to the 71st departed Langley AFB (slightly ahead of schedule) as a prelude to unit inactivation programmed for the end of September 2010, ending the association of the F-15 at Langley AFB. On September 30th, 2010, the 71st Fighter Squadron was inactivated in a ceremony held in the 71st Fighter Squadron/AMU Hangar at Langley AFB Virginia.

The 71st was renamed the 71st Fighter Training Squadron and reactivated in August 2015, flying the Northrop T-38 Talon. Its mission is to conduct adversarial air training for the F-22s flown by the other squadrons of the 1st Fighter Wing. This training was previously performed by F-22s of the 27th Fighter Squadron at substantially more expense.