F-15EX fighters vs F-35 fighters

The American military is on track to procure about 2,443 of the new Lockheed-Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter planes to make it the main American fighter aircraft for the next few decades. About 355 have been delivered thus far, with more delivered to some of our allies.  If you haven't been following the debate, there has been a proposal to also buy more F-15 fighters, a new advanced F-15EX version, to replace aging F-15C fighters in some National Guard units.

This has sparked an emotional battle in Congress and among some in the Air Force between those who think it would be a good idea and those who fear it will draw funds away from F-35 procurement. The opponents argue that the F-15, first produced in 1972, is an obsolete, non-stealth design that could never survive in today's highly contested battlefields. The supporters argue that the upgraded F-15EX, which can carry a much larger and more varied ordinance/sensor load than the F-35, would be a good supporting aircraft in F-35 missions, and for air and ground support mission in less contested airspaces.

If this debate interests you, let me suggest an excellent article by Mike Benitez entitled F-15EX: The Strategic Blind Spot in the Air Force's Debate. Besides being an excellent review of the issue, Benitez makes some important points about how to think about military strategy. As he points out, one good measure of whether a proposed military procurement is worthwhile or not is to ask if Russia or China would care; if it is sufficiently disruptive that it would complicate their attack/defense plans. If they wouldn't care than it probably isn't worth pursuing. If they would care than it probably has some strategic value. And there are other similar strategic points worth thinking about in the article.