Flying

A pair of operational F-15EX Eagle II fighters assigned to the Oregon Air National Guard’s 142nd Wing are now flying with conformal fuel tanks (CFT). While F-15EX test jets have been flying with surplus CFTs for years, the U.S. Air Force did not originally feel that combat-coded jets needed them to perform their primary air-to-air missions. For the Eagle II, CFTs offer boosts in range and capacity to carry stores, especially air-to-ground munitions, and are another sign of how the jet’s mission requirements are evolving.

Photographer Bill Shemley brought the CFT-equipped F-15EX Eagle IIs to our attention after spotting them operating recently at Portland International Airport. The airport is collocated with Portland Air National Guard Base, the home of the 142nd Wing. One of the jets in question is serial number 20-0012, part of the first batch of production Eagle IIs, which started being delivered to the 142nd in 2024. As of September, the Air Force had received 22 F-15EXs, including test jets, out of a planned fleet of 267 Eagle IIs. The service revealed earlier this year that the target fleet size had roughly doubled, up from the previously stated program of record of 129 aircraft.

“We are currently using conformals that we received from ACC [Air Combat Command] on two F-15EX Eagle IIs,” SMSgt. Steve Conklin, a public affairs officer with the Oregon Air National Guard, told TWZ when asked for more information. “We were given the opportunity from ACC and have flown the approved configuration for the last two weeks.”

We are still seeking additional details. The CFT that is visible in Shemley’s picture notably has the insignia of the 366th Fighter Wing, which flies F-15E Strike Eagles from Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho. In the past year or so, the 142nd has been sending Eagle IIs, pilots, and ground personnel to Mountain Home to conduct air-to-ground mission training.

The F-15EX is designed to use the same CFTs that are standard on the F-15E, as well as all other members of the extended Strike Eagle family. This includes the F-15QA for Qatar, on which the Eagle II was directly based. Each CFT can hold some 750 gallons of fuel and adds six additional pylons.

As mentioned, the Air Force did not originally plan to equip operational F-15EXs with CFTs. This decision was made despite the aircraft having the necessary provisions and initial testing having been done using jets fitted with them. Instead, the Eagle IIs were expected to fly with external drop tanks under their wings, just like the F-15C/D Eagles they were slated to replace.

“The F-15EX program as funded from FY20-FY23 is a direct replacement for the F-15C/D in the air-to-air and homeland defense role,” an Air Force spokesperson explained to TWZ back in 2023. “The F-15C/D does not typically operate with CFTs, and the first operational F-15EX aircraft do not have CFTs funded.”

A number of Air Force F-15C/Ds did fly with CFTs, also known as “FAST Packs,” during the twilight of the Cold War and its immediate aftermath. Those aircraft operated primarily from bases in Alaska and Iceland where long-range patrols and quick-reaction alert (QRA) missions were the norm.

“The DAF [Department of the Air Force] is exploring options to resource a number of advanced capabilities for the F-15EX fleet, including both new and refurbished CFTs, in current and future budget submissions,” the spokesperson added at that time.

Where things currently stand when it comes to equipping all operational F-15EXs with CFTs, including on Eagle IIs destined for forward-deployment in Japan, is still not entirely clear. The service’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget proposal, released earlier this year, did include an explicit request for funding for CFTs to go with all 24 Eagle IIs in the eighth production batch, or Lot 8.

Back in 2023, TWZ did acknowledge the logic, at least up front, of eschewing CFTs on the F-15EX given the air-to-air mission focus for those jets. At the same time, we pointed out then that the omission of conformal tanks could still impact Eagle IIs operating in those roles. A 600-gallon underwing drop tank holds 150 gallons less fuel than a CFT and takes up a hardpoint that could be used to carry other stores. Drop tanks also impart far greater drag, reducing fuel economy and range in certain flight profiles.

CFTs do still have their own effects on speed and maneuverability. Unlike drop tanks, they cannot be jettisoned in flight, either. F-15C/D pilots that TWZ has spoken with in the past have talked about the benefits of being able to get an immediate boost in performance and instantly optimize their jets for air-to-air combat by dropping their underwing tanks.

A CFT-equipped F-15EX would still be able to carry underwing drop tanks, as well, if desired. Doing so would give the jets an impressive loadout of weapons and other stores while even further increasing their unrefueled reach.

Even just within the context of air-to-air missions, CFT-equipped F-15EXs would be particularly beneficial for supporting future operations in the Pacific. The inherent geography of the region means access to bases on the ground and tanker support could easily be limited. With CFTs, Eagle IIs would be able to operate further forward of tankers and be able to do so for longer periods of time, helping to extend patrol distances and total on-station time. Not having to carry drop tanks would also translate to more ordnance capacity on those sorties.

Since 2023, the operational landscape for the F-15EX has changed even further as the air-to-ground mission set has started creeping more and more into the jet’s repertoire. As noted earlier, the CFT seen on 20-0012 itself has a clear link to Mountain Home Air Force Base, where the 142nd has been honing its air-to-ground skills. In July, the Oregon Air National Guard announced that one of its F-15EXs had dropped training bombs for the first time ever while operating from Mountain Home. The first release of a live bomb from one of the 142nd’s Eagle IIs came during training out of Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada in September.

This has all been entirely unsurprising given the F-15EX’s inherently large payload capacity and ability to carry it over very long distances, all of which is only increased by the use of CFTs. The Eagle II, like the other members of the extended Strike Eagle family, can also accommodate outsized stores that it is simply not feasible for many other tactical jets to lug around. Prime contractor Boeing and the Air Force have been touting these capabilities as core features of the F-15EX for years now. These are the same attributes that make the F-15E one of the Air Force’s most heavily in-demand platforms today.

CFTs are not the only way in which the F-15EX design continues to evolve, either. The Air Force is also now moving toward adding a missile approach warning system (MAWS) to the Eagle IIs. This is another feature the aircraft was designed to accommodate from the outset, but that was skimped on. Its absence, however, has been more and more glaring, especially in light of recent combat experiences over Iran.

Furthermore, the future of the Air Force’s Strike Eagle fleet is only becoming more and more inseparable from plans for the Eagle II. The service has said explicitly that the doubling of the planned F-15EX fleet size is intended to help “begin to recapitalize the aging F-15E fleet.”

In recent years, the Air Force has moved to retire all of the older F-100-PW-220-powered Strike Eagles, which represent roughly half of F-15Es currently in inventory. The service has argued this will also help free up resources for new and improved capabilities as part of larger modernization efforts.

For the Air Force’s F-15EX fleets, the two 142nd Wing jets flying now with CFTs underscore the continued evolution of these aircraft and their expected roles.

Special thanks again to Bill Shemley for sharing his picture of F-15EX 20-0012 equipped with CFTs.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

A NEW set of rules is coming into play from tomorrow for anyone heading to the States.

It comes as the Democratic Republic of the Congo faces the second-largest Ebola outbreak on record.

Brits travelling to or through the States will have to sign a waiver to confirm they have not recently been to the Congo as a form of prevention.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said anyone ‘willfully providing false or misleading information may lead to criminal fines and imprisonment’.

Brits need to either physically or digitally sign a statement stating that they have not been in the Congo within 21 days of flying into the US.

Taking a connecting flight through an airport in the Congo still counts as being present in the country.

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This is the case even for those who don’t leave the airport or even the plane during this time.

The order only applies to air travel, not land or sea travel.

The waiver can be completed by printing and signing the PDF from the CDC and handing it to the airline at check in.

Some airlines may have the declaration electronically for those who check in online.

For example, Delta said that passengers may complete the form upon check in via the app.

The rules look to vary airline to airline, so it’s advised to check the individual website and contact them for clarification if necessary.

As of October 27, the CDC said there havebeen moree than 10,200 Ebola cases in the Congo and nearly 5,000 deaths.

According to local news, there are currently no reports of an outbreak in the US.

It also adds that the chance of it spreading to the US is low, but that prevention is still necessary.

The new waiver rules will come into play from November 3 – there are more details on the CDC website.

General Atomics says it is working on a new hybrid-electric-powered flying-wing-type strike/reconnaissance drone called NextGen that could be able to stay aloft for more than 60 hours. Work on NextGen will also feed into one of the designs within the company’s Gambit family of drones, which are also based around a common modular core ‘chassis’ concept. Separate progress is being made on the newest member of that family, the air-to-surface optimized Gambit 6, with plans now for a live-fire air-to-ground ordnance demonstration early next year.

C. Mark Brinkley, a spokesperson for General Atomics, shared these and other details with TWZ as part of an update on the status of the entire Gambit effort.

“When we announced the Gambit Series in 2022, we knew that it was an ambitious, multi-stage concept that would require many years before its full power would be realized across all variants,” Brinkley said. “It’s not complicated to understand, but it is revolutionary, and revolutions take time.”

Gambit Series: The Future of Air Dominance

When the Gambit family was first rolled out four years ago, General Atomics presented four distinct design concepts. These were the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) focused Gambit 1, the air-to-air combat-optimized Gambit 2, an uncrewed ‘red air’ aggressor called Gambit 3, and the stealthy flying wing Gambit 4. Since then, the company has also added the Gambit 5, intended for carrier-based operations, and the aforementioned Gambit 6.

All of the Gambit concepts are designed to leverage a common ‘chassis’ that includes landing gear, baseline avionics, and other core hardware. General Atomics touts this as helping to reduce costs and accelerate the development of very different drone designs.

General Atomics’ Brinkley provided brief updates on all six existing Gambit design concepts, as well as the common core.

• “Gambit Core: First, I think you saw the recent update on our partnership with Spirit Defense. They have been partnered with us for a long time, and they’re bought in on the Gambit concept. As a teaming arrangement, it really buys down manufacturing risk and also allows General Atomics to pursue many other projects simultaneously, whether that’s MQ-9B or Wildfire or other things.”

• “Gambit 1 is out there flying today. The first example is the XQ-67 Off-Board Sensing Station [OBSS], built in collaboration with Air Force Research Laboratory [AFRL]. They’re a great partner and really have a vision for this as a new warfighting concept for the future.”

Developed under the secretive OBSS program, the XQ-67A was unveiled to the public in 2024, as TWZ was the first to report. Experimentation using this one-off drone fed into General Atomics’ development of what is now called the FQ-42A Vengeance, which we will come back to in a moment, as well as the U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program. Last year, AFRL announced that the XQ-67A would receive modifications and upgrades to support further advanced autonomy and related developments under a new program called Demonstration of Autonomous Collaborative Platform Performance and Effectiveness (abbreviated as Demon Ape).

XQ-67A: First Flight

On Tuesday, AFRL announced in a press release that it “demonstrated integration of several advanced mission systems including state-of-the-art sensors, mission computers and power and thermal management hardware, all designed to work collaboratively in demanding combat environments,” on the XQ-67A during a recent test flight over the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) as part of Demon Ape.

“Additionally, the integration of Beyond Line-of-Sight datalinks and live, virtual and constructive simulations during the flight demonstrated management of uncrewed platforms across distributed theaters, bolstering deterrence through resilient, layered command and control,” AFRL’s release added.

Demon APE

• “Gambit 2 is also flying today. Our first example is the FQ-42A Vengeance with the U.S. Air Force. Upcoming milestones include our first missile live-fire later this year, and participation in [Exercise] Emerald Flag. We’ll be at [the] International Fighter Conference next week with the full-scale model.”

The FQ-42A is one of two designs the Air Force has now ordered into production under the first phase, or Increment 1, of its CCA program. The other is Anduril’s FQ-44A Fury. In September, the Air Force announced a goal of having at least 500 Increment 1 CCAs in inventory by 2032.

• “Gambit 3 is a red-air trainer concept. We all know this is coming. It’s a critical must-have for the future. But right now, we live in a world filled with critical needs, so where does this fit in? Because of the way we have designed the Gambit Series, everything feeds everything else. You can pursue a tactical variant first, then walk back to this later. Eventually, manned aircraft will need to fight against these autonomous jets and train like they fight, but you don’t need them actually loaded with weapons. You’ll be simulating all of that anyway. So with Gambit 3, you can alter the design without starting from scratch and probably remove some fighter components from the trainers to add overall value. Considering that we have Gambits 1 and 2 flying now, we probably don’t need a pure trainer prototype unless the buyer wanted different engines and other changes.”

Gambit 3 is by far the concept within this larger family that has been discussed the least to date, so it is particularly interesting to get an update on General Atomics’ current thinking here. There continues to be a degree of interest in this kind of capability within the U.S. military, especially to help provide greater volumes of platforms capable of representing more advanced aerial threats during large-scale exercises. However, despite several past efforts, there has been no significant acquisition of next-generation unmanned aggressors that we are aware of. As an aside, Anduril’s Fury was originally developed by a company called Blue Force Technologies for the ‘red air’ role.

• “Gambit 4 is a flying wing. This is where things get interesting. General Atomics is currently working on a much larger flying wing we call NextGen. It’s not a CCA. We’re talking novel hybrid-electric propulsion on a fully armed, fully outfitted, ISR/Strike wing. Our engine team has promised 60+ hours unrefueled. That work is happening in parallel with everything else we’re working on. I don’t think people realize how deep GA-ASI’s bandwidth is, or how much we dedicate to R&D. We have things I’m talking about here, and things I’m not talking about here, and five million square feet of manufacturing plus multiple flight test facilities. We’ve built and delivered more than 1,600 aircraft in 34 years. We’ve invented a lot of things, and we’re inventing other things. NextGen is coming, and the work we’re doing on that flying wing program will funnel into Gambit 4 so that when customers are ready for this, we’re not starting from scratch here either.”

From the beginning, Gambit 4 has been something of an outlier that is completely different from the other concepts in the family. This is only reinforced by the new details Brinkley has shared here about the NextGen design. The mention of “novel hybrid-electric propulsion” is particularly eye-catching. In general, this kind of propulsion arrangement offers improved fuel economy, and the potential for other benefits, like reduced infrared and acoustic signatures, through the combination of fuel-powered engines and electric motors.

General Atomics has talked in the past about hybrid electric propulsion technology helping to achieve a 60-hour-endurance target in the context of an earlier stealthy flying wing drone concept called MQ-Next. Last year, AFRL also awarded the company a contract for what it described as a “hybrid-electric propulsion ducted fan next-generation intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance/strike unmanned aerial system,” or GHOST.

“We’ve been promising something impressive related to hybrid-electric propulsion, and now I can’t talk about it anymore,” Brinkley told TWZ at the time when asked for more information about GHOST. It remains unclear how that program may be intertwined with the previous MQ-Next concept, as well as work now on NextGen and future plans for Gambit 4.

• “Gambit 5 is basically a Gambit 2 or Gambit 6, or a hybrid of those, optimized for shipboard use with global navies. So again we’re showing how the novelty of the Gambit design pairs with our other projects and programs to buy down risk to success. You need to address landing gear, catapults, arresting cables, salt air that eats everything, all kinds of things. But Gambit 5 is an easy reach. General Atomics has a lot of carrier expertise, and we have been experimenting with shipboard operations for more than a decade.”

The Gambit 5 concept made its public debut in 2024 at the Farnborough International Airshow in the United Kingdom with a rendering depicting the drones embarked on a Queen Elizabeth class carrier refitted with an electromagnetic catapult. General Atomics has since shown additional renderings of Gambit 5s on the decks of the U.S. Navy’s supercarrier USS Gerald R. Ford and a Japanese Izumo class ‘multifunctional destroyer.’ General Atomics also makes electromagnetic catapults for carriers, including the ones on the Ford class, and has put ideas for installing them on a variety of other naval vessels, as well as deploying them on land.

Last year, the Navy announced that it had awarded contracts to General Atomics, as well as Anduril, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman, to develop conceptual designs for carrier-based drones under its CCA program. General Atomics used a rendering of Gambit 5 to illustrate a subsequent press release regarding this selection.

• “Gambit 6 takes the Gambit 2 fighter and optimizes it for ground attack. We started talking about Gambit 6 last year, and the conversations around the world have really taken off. People really understand the Gambit concept and are beginning to see how different it is from the mostly concept jets being discussed. The next step is to demonstrate the capability, so we are planning a company live-fire event for early 2027 using a ground-attack munition from a company-owned Gambit 6. I’ve said this a few times, but every Gambit variant feeds expertise into the other variants by default. So the work ongoing now for live-fire on FQ-42 Vengeance, coupled with years of internal air-to-ground launches from MQ-20 Avenger, allows us to rapidly reconfigure for Gambit 6. The air-to-ground mission is pivotal for many global militaries evaluating CCAs as a concept, and we’re already seeing others hanging bombs from their wings and talking about future concepts with internal bays. We’ll probably see other companies doing air-to-ground demos like ours. But the next question is survivability. Internal carry and release is such a different beast than firing from the wings, but what comes out for the Gambit Series is a 5^th-generation combat jet optimized for survivability, scalability and flexibility.”

As mentioned, Gambit 6 is the newest entry to the family and was rolled out around last year’s International Fighter Conference. At that time, General Atomics said it was already courting international customers for this particular design, especially in Europe, underscoring a surge in interest globally in CCA-type drones in recent years. The company also subsequently announced plans to develop a derivative of the FQ-42A for the European market through an affiliate in Germany.

Brinkley’s remarks here regarding internal bays versus external carriage of stores notably follow Anduril’s release of pictures showing fit checks of air-to-ground ordnance on the wings of a Fury drone last month. The FQ-42A, as well as General Atomics’ earlier Avenger drone design, both have internal weapons bays. An internal bay is expected to be a key feature on the Gambit 6 design, too.

“General Atomics knew that low-observable with internal weapons was the only way to go for the future. It’s not specifically the fastest way, or the easiest way, but it does yield the very best jet on the back end,” Brinkley also told TWZ today. “You can get a small jet in the air, connect it to the satellite controls we pioneered here, hang weapons from the wings like we pioneered here, use the AI concepts we pioneered here, and call that a CCA. But if it isn’t low-observable, with a functioning internal carry, built for affordable high-rate production from the beginning, then it’s just a little jet.”

“When we rolled out our first four Gambit concepts, we knew that we were onto something novel, but I don’t think any of us recognized how fast it would all move. Now we’re up to six concepts, with two flying and two on track to become flying prototypes,” he added. “That leaves Gambit 3 and Gambit 4, and it would be easy to think those are the least important or least impressive, but I don’t think that’s the case at all.”

It does remain to be seen how many members of the Gambit family beyond the FQ-42A will ultimately be produced in significant numbers. For now, a Gambit 4 design, in particular, is still an ambitious future concept that will rely heavily on success with NextGen and related work.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

This method could reduce the cost of your Ryanair flight

Those planning holidays in the coming months may be looking for ways to keep costs down, with opting for a budget airline being a popular choice for this. But even cheaper airlines including Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz Air can quickly add up when booking flights, choosing seats, and checking luggage.

However, there are ways to keep costs down, and Martin Lewis‘s moneysavingexpert.com has shared a number of tips and tricks for Ryanair customers, including one that involves booking your outbound and return flights separately. Start by searching for your outbound flight as a one-way ticket, and then in a second browser search for your return flight.

When searched this way, the return flight will appear in the currency of the country you are flying from, and will often be cheaper than it is in pounds – although it’s definitely worth double-checking before booking.

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The experts also warn that this likely won’t be cheaper if your bank has a foreign transaction charge, so you’ll need to check this before booking, or you may end up actually paying more for your flights.

You’ll also need to opt out of Ryanair’s guaranteed exchange rate, or you’ll still end up paying in pounds rather than euros or other foreign currencies.

While this method often leads to savings when jetting around Europe, the experts have noted that it can sometimes end up more expensive when purchasing with non-Euro currencies.

To avoid extra charges when at the airport, ensure that your cabin bag and checked luggage fit the airline’s rules, especially when flying on a budget airline, as they are typically stricter when it comes to these rules.

You’ll also need to check-in and download ahead of time when flying with Ryanair, otherwise you may end up having to pay up £40 per person, per flight – setting you back £220 for a family of four before you’ve even boarded your plane.