US Off the Shelf Equiv to a completed SU-57

[Daryl Hunt]

Here is a fun one. Let's use off the shelf parts and make a better fighter than the projected SU-57 for 2027 and we can have ours within 1 year.

First we start with the F-15

F-15SE
Cost 100 mil per copy
New Engine on the Testing Stands is followon to the F-100-229 with 31,000 lbs thrust

The SE can be put into production almost overnight using the F-15SA or F-15E assembly lines.
The Conformal tanks also houses 4 to 6 missiles along with extra fuel giving it a front aspect Stealth without external stores.
The F-15E already has about the hottest Aesa Radar on the planet
The F-15E without external stores can already do .95 mach without afterburner. The extra 3000lbs of thrust and the conformals will make it even slicker. It should be able to reach Mach 1.5 without afterburner and have enough fuel to get where it needs to be. The F-15 is listed at Mach 2.5 but it has a setting above that that no one uses since it's going to turn your nice shiny PW into whatever the Mig-25 is using to hit those outlandish speeds. The name for that is V-Max. It's just not used because you are probably going to be spitting engine parts out the back end within only a few minutes if you use it.

I hold that thrust vectoring looks real good at an airshow but is it really a good thing in combat when your combat speed will be well above the use of thrust vectoring without turning your pilots brains to mush? Because the F-15 is the fastest of the fighters outside of the F-22 without afterburner, it is used at a higher rate of speed than the others. If you try and fight it slow then he will do some nasty manuevers that will make you wish you hadn't. You end up dipping into your afterburners more than the F-15. Meaning, you have to get the job done fast. And you can't run because you can't outrun the F-15 either. Only the Mig-25 and the Mig-31 can outrun the F-15 and you probably won't see the Russians ever send either of those to go head to head with a bone stock F-15. So I doubt the lack of thrust vectoring would be a real minus if any at all.

Does the new and improved F-15SEI (I is for Improved) need side looking radar? Nope. You need side looking radar when you are working alone. The US doesn't fly that way. You will be facing 2 or 4 or 6 or 8 which will cover all angles.

The new engine is based on the PW100-229 which is one of the most dependable engines ever made. What is grounding the F-15s right now is age. The F-15Cs are just getting old. But make the new F-15SEI and you get the best of all worlds without the horrendous cost of the F-22. Like I said, they already have a working copy on the test beds now. And it can go into production by taking over one of the -229 production lines.

Yes, the projected cost of the SU-57 is supposed to right around 55 mil per copy but I think the Russians are being extremely kind. The Cost of the new F-15SEI would be 100 million or about the cost of a bone stock F-15E or F-15SA. The difference is, the US and it's Allies can have it now with the added dependability of the F-15 which is something that the SU-57 will never have.

 

[DrainBamage]

I'm somewhat skeptical that an F-15SE would be 100 million in 2018, that was the estimated cost by Boeing when they did their press blitz in 2009.

They signed some kind of deal last year with Qatar (or at least they were supposed to) for some upgraded F-15Es, be interesting to figure out unit cost on those.

 

[Daryl Hunt]

I'm somewhat skeptical that an F-15SE would be 100 million in 2018, that was the estimated cost by Boeing when they did their press blitz in 2009.

They signed some kind of deal last year with Qatar (or at least they were supposed to) for some upgraded F-15Es, be interesting to figure out unit cost on those.

If the US Military were to get in on it, the cost would go down, not up. As it is, the other countries are still buying the F-15E but not in great quantities. Just enough to keep the assembly lines open. I don't see the cost going up unless the oil prices go up substantially. And the trade embargo with China really doesn't affect the F-15E that much since most of the parts are made either in the US or Europe.

The projected upgrade to the E to the SE was about 5 mil so it's not a real big cost to produce the SE right out of the factory.

 

[DrainBamage]

The Boeing proposal back in 2009 was for full production cost, nine years of inflation would definitely have an impact.

 

[Daryl Hunt]

The Boeing proposal back in 2009 was for full production cost, nine years of inflation would definitely have an impact.

That would be a lower production if the USAF isn't buying. If USAF is buying it could turn into many hundreds if not a thousand or more which drives price down. If the rest of the world decides to forgo the F-35 or supplements the F-35 with the F-15SEI then the production would be much higher as well. Of course, it might drive the cost of the F-35 up.