Polish Air Force Tests Boeing’s F-15EX Fighter as Warsaw Eyes Major Fleet Expansion

High-ranking Polish military officers completed demonstration flights in the twin-engine Eagle II near St. Louis, with Boeing positioning the jet as the ideal complement to Poland’s incoming F-35 stealth fighters.

Three Polish air force officers traveled to Boeing’s fighter delivery center near St. Louis to evaluate the F-15EX Eagle II, the company’s latest multi-role fighter jet that Warsaw is considering for purchase.

The delegation included Maj. Gen. Ireneusz Nowak, a Lockheed Martin F-16 pilot who serves as inspector of the Polish air force and oversees the service’s modernization initiatives. Two Polish pilots flew demonstration sorties in the twin-seat aircraft, reaching speeds above Mach 1.5 and altitudes exceeding 40,000 feet.

Boeing announced the flights Wednesday, saying the visit included briefings on the jet’s operational capabilities, integration with Poland’s fifth-generation fighters, sustainment potential, training opportunities and economic impacts.

“The two Polish pilots experienced air dominance capabilities during their F-15EX familiarization flights,” Boeing said.

Rob Novotny, Boeing’s head of business development for the F-15 line, said on LinkedIn that one flight carried Nowak, who will play a key role in any F-15EX procurement decision by Warsaw.

Poland is replacing its aging F-16C fleet with Lockheed’s F-35A stealth fighter. The first Polish F-35 left Lockheed’s Fort Worth assembly line in January, with pilots starting flight training in February at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Arkansas.

Warsaw plans to field 32 F-35As, which will operate under the local name “Husarz.” That fleet should reach full operational capability by 2030.

But Poland is considering a separate F-15EX acquisition as part of a sweeping military modernization effort.

Boeing has positioned the Eagle II as an ideal partner for the single-engine stealth jet. While the F-15EX lacks the inherent low-observability features of the F-35, it offers distinct advantages.

The twin-engine configuration gives the F-15EX a massive 29,500-pound payload, meaning it can carry 12 air-to-air missiles or three long-range air-to-ground cruise missiles. The F-35A’s weapons payload in stealth configuration tops out at just over 17,600 pounds.

That difference has led Boeing to emphasize the potential for F-15EXs to provide extra firepower backing up F-35s.

“The aircraft is inherently un-stealthy, so for us it has a different mission objective,” Steve Parker, chief executive of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, said at the Paris air show in June. “It’s really about oversized weapons, payload, range and being complementary to a fighter force.”

Parker added that the F-15EX “is very complementary to fifth-generation fighters, and it will be the same for sixth-generation.”

Boeing and BAE Systems developed an advanced electronic warfare system for the F-15EX called the AN/ALQ-250 Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System, giving the aircraft capability against modern air defenses and fifth-generation fighters.

The Pentagon’s 2024 annual report from the Directorate of Operational Test and Evaluation assessed the F-15EX as “operationally effective” in an air-superiority role, even against fifth-generation aircraft.

“The F-15EX was able to detect and track all threats at advantageous ranges, use onboard and off-board systems to identify them, and deliver weapons while surviving,” the report says. That evaluation included flights against “surrogate fifth-generation adversary aircraft” on defensive and offensive counter-air missions.

“We had an amazing scorecard coming through from the test community…which I think caught a lot of people by surprise, but didn’t surprise us,” Parker said following the report’s release.

That performance data will likely prove critical in securing any Polish sale. The country sits on the frontline of any potential conflict between Russia and NATO, facing a full range of air threats from the east.

Nowak has suggested he would like the Polish air force to field up to 160 combat aircraft, equivalent to 10 tactical squadrons.

The service has room to grow if Warsaw moves forward with plans to phase out Soviet-era RAC MiG-29 fighters and Sukhoi Su-22 ground-attack aircraft. Poland currently operates 23 MiG-29s and 32 Su-22s.

With 32 F-35As and 48 Korea Aerospace Industries FA-50 light-attack fighters on order, a substantial gap remains to meet Nowak’s target.

A potential F-15EX acquisition has been discussed at 32 or 48 aircraft, enough to equip two or three combat squadrons.

Boeing is still hunting for its first overseas customer for the Eagle II, with Poland appearing as the strongest contender.

Parker has suggested strong interest in the aircraft from unspecified operators in the Middle East.

Likely candidates include existing operators of earlier F-15 models, such as Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Saudi Arabia operates 232 F-15s. While 86 of those are relatively new F-15SAs with an average age of only eight years, Riyadh’s 80 F-15C/D fighters likely need replacement, averaging 41 years old. The country also has 66 F-15Ss averaging 25 years.

Israel operates 87 F-15s, most of which are older F-15A/Bs and C/Ds. The country has reportedly issued a formal request for 25 F-15EXs, though no sale has been finalized.

Qatar operates 36 new F-15QA variants, upon which the F-15EX is based.

Indonesia signed a memorandum of understanding with Boeing in 2023 covering a non-binding commitment for up to 24 F-15EXs.