F-15EX Eagle IIs Conducted First Bomb Drop Test, Air Force Confirmed

US Air Force crews drop 36 practice bombs to test F-15EX strike role

The US Air Force’s 142nd Wing has completed its first live bomb-dropping exercise with the F-15EX Eagle II, marking a key milestone in expanding the aircraft’s operational capabilities. In early May, pilots, maintainers, and munitions specialists traveled to Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho to carry out the training mission. During the exercise, crews loaded 500-pound BDU-50 and 2,000-pound BDU-56 practice bombs onto the aircraft before rel…

F-15EX Eagle IIs Conducted First Bomb Drop Test, Air Force Confirmed

Pilots with the 123d Fighter Squadron, 142nd Fighter Wing dropped 500-pound BDU-50s and 2,000-pound BDU-56s test munitions in May at Mountain Home Air Force Base.

F-15EX Eagle II completes first bomb-drop training with Oregon Air Guard's 142nd Wing

The munitions themselves, 500-pound BDU-50s and 2,000-pound BDU-56s, were built to mimic the size, weight and handling characteristics of live bombs without the risk, allowing crews to rehearse the full sequence of loading and dropping ordnance under realistic conditions. Previously, this kind of testing on the F-15EX had been confined to the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida; Mountain Home marked the first tim…