An F-15 like we've never seen it displayed before...

A Qatar Emiri Air Force (QEAF) F-15QA Ababil (similar to the F-15EX Eagle II) is displayed by Boeing test pilot Jason Dotter at the Dubai Airshow 2023. This is the first time an F-15QA/EX has performed at an airshow.

The F-15QA Ababil is an advanced version of the F-15 developed for Qatar, with AESA radar, a powerful anti-jamming suite, additional thrust, a strengthened fuselage and new flight control software (including full fly by wire, for the first time in an F-15), among other improvements. It was later ordered by the USAF, who requested some minor customisations to the avoinics (for example, swapping the Israeli anti-jamming system for an American EW suite) and named their variant the F-15EX Eagle II. First deliveries of both the F-15QA and F-15EX variants began in 2021.

The aforementioned upgrades to the aircraft, combined with the fact it is flying in a low-drag configuration with pylons and CFTs removed, make the manoeuvrability in this video possible. Perhaps most impressive is the exceptional pitch rate and the transitions from low to high speed (and vice-versa), which together allowed for an unusually compact display which barely left the airfield boundaries.

Video by Adam Landau

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