Summary and Key Points – The Weapon No Fighter Can Match – The Boeing F-15EX Eagle II, known as the “Mud Hen” sequel, revitalizes a legendary airframe with a digital backbone and 29,500 lbs of payload capacity.
-Unlike the F-35, which is constrained by internal weapons bays, the Eagle II utilizes 23 weapons stations to carry 12 air-to-air missiles or heavy ground-attack ordnance like the GBU-27 Paveway “Hammer.”
-With its Mach 2.5 speed and Advanced Display Core Processor II—capable of 87 billion operations per second—the F-15EX acts as a high-capacity “missile truck.” This allows it to mass firepower alongside stealth fighters, delivering a decisive punch in highly contested environments.
Undefeated Legacy: Why the F-15EX Eagle II Packs 29,500 Lbs of Ordnance
The Strike Eagle is the two-seater “bomb truck” version of the legendary—and still undefeated—F-15 Eagle jet. Now there is a sequel: the Boeing F-15EX Eagle II.
The F-15EX has an impressive fuel capacity of 13,550 pounds, which can be further stretched out to 35,500 pounds with three 600-gallon external tanks and conformal fuel tanks. These provide a combat range of 687 nautical miles and a ferry range of 2,100 nautical miles.
The F-15EX isn’t stealth, but it brings speed and massive payload—built for homeland defense, standoff strikes, and teaming with F-35s and drones.
The Air Force’s newest fighter, the F-15EX Eagle II, was revealed and named during a ceremony April 7 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The aircraft will be the first Air Force aircraft to be tested and fielded from beginning to end, through combined developmental and operational tests. (U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.)
But what truly makes this warbird special is the sheer size of its weapons payload, i.e., the amount of ordnance it can carry.
What’s In a Name: Why the “Mud Hen” for F-15EX
The Eagle II has a curious nickname: the “Mud Hen.” But why does a sleek, supersonic fighter-bomber like the Eagle II have this nickname, when we all know chickens can only fly a very short distance and not terribly high?
Well, as an anonymous author on GiantBomb explains, “It has a much darker grey paint than the air superiority F-15s, which is the source of a few of its nicknames. It is affectionately known as the Mudhen, with Mud in reference to its air to ground role and darker color scheme and hen referencing its fat CFTs. F-15C crews call the F-15E, ‘the dark side’ and pilots that transition to the F-15E are ‘joining the dark side.’”
Bomb Truck Basics of the Eagle II
The Eagle II has a payload capacity factor of 29,500 lbs. Compare that to the 18,000-lb of the F-35 stealth jet.
The Lightning II is renowned for its multirole capabilities, but its stealth limits the payload because of the necessity for internal weapons storage. (External hardpoints would create a larger radar signature and defeat the purpose of the stealth design.)
The difference is even starker when comparing the F-15 EX to the F-22 Raptor, which carries a mere 2,000-lb bomb loadout.
Those 29,500 lbs. of ordnance are spread out across 23 weapons stations.
As Boeing’s official information page proclaims, “Delivering best-in-class payload, range and speed, the F-15EX will serve as a backbone for any tactical fighter fleet – today and into the future. … Building upon a legacy of air dominance, the F-15EX provides digital fly-by-wire flight controls, an all-glass digital cockpit, the latest mission systems and software capabilities, the ability to carry hypersonic weapons, and can leverage existing and future technologies to meet warfighter needs and defeat future threats – head on.”
Now, for a deeper dive into the specific weapons in the Eagle II’s arsenal.
The Vulcan Gun
It all starts with the gun. Some pundits claim that the cannon is obsolete in the age of supersonic jet combat (the Chinese certainly believe so, as can be seen in their non-gunned J-20 stealth fighter jet), but the Ukrainian experiences shooting down Russian cruise missiles with their F-16s’ guns show this belief is wrong.
Accordingly, the Eagle II does indeed still pack a gat, namely the 20-mm M61A1 Vulcan six-barreled Gatling cannon, with 500 rounds of either M-56 High Explosive Incendiary (HEI) or PGU-28A/B semi-armor-piercing high-explosive incendiary (SAPHEI) ammunition. The Vulcan has a mind-numbing rate of fire of 6,000 rounds per minute and a maximum effective range of roughly 9,842 feet.
Air-to-Air Missiles (AAMs)
The Eagle II can hoist the following AAMs:
-AIM-9 Sidewinder: This infrared missile is still going strong, 68 years after it scored its first air-to-air kills. The current version, the AIM-9X, has an estimated maximum range of 22 miles and a max airspeed of Mach 2.5. A Sidewinder launch is announced via the radio brevity code “Fox 2.”
-AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), affectionately nicknamed the “Slammer:” Designated with the radio brevity launch code “Fox 3,” this super deadly active-radar-guided missile attains a speed of up to Mach 4 and a range of 97 nautical miles.
Ground Attack Ordnance for F-15EX Eagle II Fighter
The gun and the AAMs are great, but as we already mentioned, the Eagle II is meant to be a bomb truck, so now we discuss the bread-and-butter of its weapons package.
-AGM-65 Maverick: The “AGM” stands for Air-to-Ground Missile, and the Maverick is an impressive representative of the category.
F-15EX Eagle II Fighter from Boeing.
F-15EX Eagle II from U.S. Air Force
It wields warheads weighing between 125 and 300 pounds and reportedly can reach out to 12 miles and a max speed of 620 knots.
-GBU-27 Paveway III: The F-15EX can carry many bombs, but one of the most impressive of the bunch is the Raytheon Paveway III.
The pilots flying over Iraq during the 1991 Persian Gulf War nicknamed this bomb the “Hammer” for its considerable destructive power and blast radius.
This bunker-busting bomb has a 1-ton mass and an effective range of 12 miles.
MORE – The A-12 Avenger II Stealth Bomber Has A Message for the U.S. Navy
About the Author: Christian D. Orr, Defense Expert
Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He is also the author of the newly published book “Five Decades of a Fabulous Firearm: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Beretta 92 Pistol Series.”
