An F-15E Strike Eagle fighter-bomber from the US Air Force's 85th Test Test Squadron (85th TES) was loaded with five AGM-158 JASSM (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile) missiles in a test called Project Strike Rodeo.

The proof of concept held this Tuesday (11) at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, lays the foundation for the flight tests that will be carried out subsequently. If successful, the trials could more than double the current JASSM missile payload capacity on the F-15E. 

According to Lieutenant Colonel Mike Benitez, director of personnel for the 53rd Wing, the initiative began in January of this year with a working group from the WEPTAC (Weapons and Tactics Conference), where a team of specialists was working on a specific scenario that had the ability to escort a bomber loaded with standoff ordnance to a launch point in a highly contested environment.

Developed by Lockheed Martin for the US Armed Forces, the AGM-158 JASSM is a cruise missile with low-observability (stealth) characteristics in service with the USAF since 2009.

The armament has a range of 370km and has a warhead of 450kg of explosives, reinforced for penetrating targets such as reinforced hangars and bunkers. Its newest variant, JASSM-ER, entered service in 2014, has a range of 925km and is also the base for the AGM-158C LRASM, a new long-range anti-ship missile for the US Navy, currently under development.

Some militaries have hypothesized that using a formation of fighters rather than a single bomber to deploy a salvo of JASSM missiles might not only reduce the size and complexity of the strike package needed to execute the mission, but also distribute the mission risk across the force.

Unfortunately, the maximum number of JASSM any fighter can currently carry is two, meaning that while the idea is viable, it wasn't feasible based on the number of fighters needed, unless a fighter could carry more missiles.

With that idea in mind, the F-15E Strike Eagle was the platform considered to take on the task of transporting more than two AGM-158s, giving rise to Project Strike Rodeo. Unfortunately, the munitions would not fit in the F-15E's conformal fuel tank weapon stations, as the JASSM was designed to be loaded directly from the base of its shipping containers, which are too large to fit under the F-15E without hit the main landing gear.

At Eglin, a joint team between the 96th Test Wing and the Air Force Lifecycle Management Center was formed within the 53rd Wing itself to seek a solution.

Using the unit's innovation funds, the team designed and manufactured a special loading tool and wrote new weapons loading procedures. Project Strike Rodeo attracted interest from the Office of F-15 Systems Programs, which provided the funding to run this load test.

“Nobody told us to do this”, said Lieutenant Colonel Benitez.

“We saw the need and the opportunity, so we executed. This contagious attitude boosted every unit or office with which we coordinated. Everyone wanted to see if we could do this, and no one ever backed down and asked for a higher formal requirement or task at headquarters.”

With the successful execution of this load test, Project Strike Rodeo went from idea to execution in five months.

“This is a squadron innovation effort with operational and strategic implications,” Benitez said. “Project Strike Rodeo is all about creating options for military commanders, which ultimately can be used to create various dilemmas for the adversary.” 

The Strike Rodeo is yet another example of the investments the USAF has been making to increase the capabilities of the F-15E. In February, the 85th TES conducted a rehearsal where a Strike Eagle was loaded with 15 JDAM bombs, in a proof of concept of the Agile Combat Employment doctrine, known by the acronym ACE. 

In this way, the plane can be used to transport the bombs to be loaded onto other fighters, eliminating the need for more transport planes and increasing the dynamics and speed of deployment, developing a rapid deployment capacity of several units, operating in a lean manner. and with little logistical support.

In the Strike Rodeo test, the F-15E was also loaded with AIM-9 Sidewinder and AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles and navigation pods. AN / AAQ-13 and AN/AAQ-33 Sniper marksmanship. In addition to the F-15E, the AGM-158 can also be used by the F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters, the F/A-18 Hornet and the B-1B Lancer, B-2 Spirit and B-52 Stratofortress bombers. 

With 53rd Wing