Boeing officials told Flight International that Air Combat Command is slated in July to complete a long-term upgrade roadmap for the F-15E Strike Eagle. According to the FI report, ACC wants to include approval for avionics and supportability upgrades in its Fiscal 2012 budget submission. The Air Force already is adding a new Raytheon-built advanced electronically steered array radar to the Strike Eagle, which Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz praised last fall for its work in Southwest Asia operations. The service plans to keep it in action until around 2035.
Three B-1B Lancers from the 7th Bomb Wing flew over the Indo-Pacific alongside F-16s from the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force as part of a joint large force exercise. The mission began and ended in the continental U.S. The bombers flew 31 hours and landed Jan. 11.