Summary and key points: The F-15 Eagle is an iconic aircraft known for its unmatched air combat performance and versatile attack capabilities in its various variants. However, despite its impressive performance, the F-15 cannot operate from aircraft carriers.

– Operations on aircraft carriers require special design features such as reinforced landing gear, arresting hooks for dry landings and the ability to withstand the stresses of catapult launches.

-The F-15 lacks these features and modifying it for carrier operations would significantly impact its performance and functionality.

-The US Navy’s F/A-18 Super Hornet serves as a carrier-based counterpart with similar capabilities and additional advantages suitable for naval aviation.

Can the F-15 land on an aircraft carrier? That is not the issue

The F-15 Eagle is one of the US Air Force’s most capable combat aircraft. With a record of over 200 kills without a combat loss, it is a superior air-to-air fighter. The F-15E Strike Eagle variant is a high-capacity close air support aircraft, while the new F-15EX adds 4.5th generation capabilities to this venerable platform.

But can the F-15 land on an aircraft carrier? This would give it the greater range and flexibility of naval fighters without tying it to shore-based facilities. While it would be an impressive feat, unfortunately F-15s will never be carrier-capable.

The aircraft carrier:

Modern carrier-based aircraft are launched and recovered using either a ski jump or the Catapult Assisted Takeoff/Barrier Arrested Recovery (CATOBAR) method. The ski jump helps aircraft take off by giving them a raised profile as they leave the flight deck.

The biggest disadvantages include significant weight and size limitations for aircraft, as they must rely solely on their own propulsion to avoid crashes. Most jets that launch from ski jump carriers are some type of vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) jet, such as the F-35B, which actually hovers to land.

In contrast, the CATOBAR system uses a catapult – these are usually steam powered, although newer ships such as the USS Gerald Ford have begun using electromagnets – to accelerate aircraft to flight speed before they leave the flight deck.

This allows navies to launch much larger and heavier aircraft than their ski jump counterparts. One disadvantage is the need for a braked landing for these heavier aircraft. Upon touchdown, an arresting hook at the rear of the aircraft catches one of several wires stretched across the deck, rapidly braking the aircraft to a stop.

What about the F-15?

The F-15 is not carrier-capable because it lacks several essential components of such an aircraft. It is far too large and heavy to operate from a ski jump, making CATOBAR the only option. Although it seems perfectly suited for such missions at first glance, it would actually be no match on a carrier.

Launching an aircraft via catapult rather than a conventional runway imposes unique stresses that the F-15 airframe is simply not designed to handle. In addition, one of the F-15’s main advantages is its large payload capacity.

While this is an advantage in combat, each additional weapon increases the weight and therefore the takeoff speed of the aircraft. If the F-15 tried to take off from a carrier, it would probably not even be able to carry its full load. The other major obstacle to using the F-15 on a carrier is landing with an emergency stop.

Although F-15s have arresting hooks, they are designed for emergency situations, such as when the brakes give way during landing. A locking hook in this case would take up much more space and cause far less stress than an arrested landing on an aircraft carrier, where an aircraft must come to a stop at about 300 feet.

In addition to recovery, the process of landing itself is required. Most aircraft begin to stall when landing, gradually transferring the aircraft’s load from the wings to the landing gear. Carrier aircraft do not have this luxury, as stalling often requires several hundred meters of forward movement.

The arresting hook mechanism also prevents angled landings, as aircraft must fly through the air at a specific angle of inclination, called the angle of attack, to successfully engage the arresting gear. This means they land at a vertical speed of approximately 700 feet per minute – this is often referred to as “flying into the ground.” To withstand these forces, the landing gears of carrier-based aircraft are much more robust than those of their land-based counterparts.

F-15 and aircraft carriers: It could happen, but …

In theory, an F-15 could be modified for use on an aircraft carrier, but this would require significant reinforcement of the airframe and landing gear, which would increase weight and reduce performance. Once aboard the aircraft carrier, since it cannot fold its wings like the F-18, it would take up much more space, reducing the number of aircraft the carrier could accommodate.

Overall, the F-15 is simply not carrier-capable, and giving it these capabilities makes no sense. Fortunately, the Navy has a tactical carrier aircraft that is similar to the F-15 and offers some significant advantages: the F/A-18 Super Hornet.

About the author: Maya Carlin, defense expert

Maya CarlinA national security writer for The National Interest, she is an analyst at the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has been featured in numerous publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin.

All images are Creative Commons.