The Drive:

Some of the F-15E Strike Eagles in the U.S. inventory may appear a little thinner as of late. A pioneering initiative is underway that optimizes the F-15E for certain air-to-air mission sets and this includes shedding its staple conformal fuel tanks to achieve higher performance. The move comes as news about the fate of conformal fuel tanks on the Air Force’s new F-15EX has also emerged.

According to the newly released annual report from the Pentagon’s Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, that The War Zone was first to report on, the U.S. Air Force’s first operational Boeing F-15EX Eagle II fighters will not be equipped with conformal fuel tanks, or CFTs. Suffice it to say, CFTs increase fuel capacity and therefore range without giving up precious stores stations. For the F-15, they actually add additional hardpoints for carrying air-to-ground weapons, too.

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