Jul. 21—Several dozen F-15E fighter jets are getting new life with high-tech radar systems being installed by Boeing in San Antonio.
The aerospace giant is adding the technology to help pilots better detect threats and remain unseen by enemy radar in combat zones. The work at Port San Antonio is the continuation of a $189 million Department of Defense contract Boeing won in late 2020.
Known as EPAWSS — short for Eagle Passive Active Warning and Survivability System — the technology is intended to bring the F-15E into the digital era, said Col. Matthew Schorr, a Housont native who's assistant deputy director of plans, programs and requirements at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia.
"You have this aircraft that was designed in the 1970s, so they've had to rewire it, (add) fiber-optic cables and things like that — new processing capabilities," Schorr said. "None of this existed in the '70s. We're talking 8-tracks."
About 200 employees are involved in the project, which was rolled out at an event Thursday that gave Mayor Ron Nirenberg an opportunity to remind San Antonio it's known as Military City USA. Boeing must complete the work on 43 F-15Es by the end of 2026. No new hiring is anticipated.
The U.S. Air Force has 428 active F-15 fighter jets, according to FlightGlobal. The Air Force has a bigger fleet of just one other aircraft: the smaller F-16 fighter jet. It operates 780 of those.
The EPAWSS system will provide "advanced capabilities to detect and counter ground and airborne threats while also improving battlefield situational awareness," Boeing said.
It does that by "scrambling" radar signals to ensure jets go unnoticed, Schorr said.
"It confuses the enemy radar, and it provides (pilots) a little bit more cover," he said. "The theory is that by scrambling that electronic signature, it allows the F-15 to operate a little bit closer to where the threat might be."
Boeing said the system was "developed, produced and integrated by the strong partnership" between the company and London-based defense contractor BAE Systems.
The Air Force began looking to develop a new "electronic warfare system" in 2012, said Col. Jesse Warren, F-15 system program manager.
"It has taken a little longer than expected, and we've overcome several hurdles along the way," he said. "But 10 years later, we've achieved that mission."
Boeing is "optimizing the skills and technologies that exist right here at Port San Antonio," Nirenberg said as he stood near a black F-15 to speak to a crowd of employees and officials assembled in a Boeing hangar. "The growth that Boeing is leading in this important sector positions San Antonio as a center of excellence for aerospace work."
Boeing's announcement of the F-15 work comes after the Air Force earlier this week said the new Air Force One presidential jets Boeing is building won't delivered for another four years. Boeing originally won a contract to develop the new Air Force One in 2018. The planes are being outfitted in San Antonio.
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