zedboy Posted November 2, 2005 Posted November 2, 2005 What's the correct placement of missiles for the F-15C on its pylons? What does the USAF use? I was looking at photos on this website (http://www.af.mil/photos/index.asp) and did a search for "F-15" to bring up some pictures. Lots of amazing photos came up and in some of them you can see a few Eagles with different missile placements. For instance, if you look at this photo you can see that an AIM-120 is on the outside wing pylon and an AIM-9 is on the inside wing pylon (closest to the plane). Now, in this photo and this photo you can see an AIM-9 on the outside pylon and an AIM-120 on the inside one. Which one is the official placement for these missiles on the wings? Is there an official placement? I know LOMAC has the former placement, where the AIM-120s on the wings are always on the outside, but I don't think I've seen a loadout where they had an AIM-9 on the inside and an AIM-120 on the outside when making a mission. How about for the belly of the F-15C? Say that I'm flying a real Eagle, and I want a loadout of four AIM-120s, two AIM-7s, and two AIM-9s. On the belly, would I put the two AIM-7s on the front and the two AIM-120s on the back, or would the reversed way be official? I'm taking the missile placements from this photo here (look familiar? :D). It looks like he has two AIM-7s in the front and two AIM-120s in the back. I came to this conclusion because the missile in the back looks a tad bit skinnier than the AIM-7 in the front. See, the reason I'm asking is because I made a custom loadout with the last picture in the previous paragraph in mind. But then I saw the photos of the F-15Cs with the AIM-9s on the outside and AIM-120s on the inside wing pylons and it threw me off completely. It seems that it all comes down to the pilot's choice, but does it? If anyone knows I'd appreciate it ten-fold. It's nothing major, but something interesting ... to me, at least.
D-Scythe Posted November 2, 2005 Posted November 2, 2005 For the AIM-120*4, AIM-7*2, AIM-9*2 config, on the fuselage, AIM-7 always occupy the forward fuselage stations, the ones hugging the corner of the intakes. Two AIM-120s take the rear two stations. In Allied Force, AIM-120Cs were carried on the outboard wing stations, with AIM-9Ms inboard, for both F-15Cs and F-15Es. The AIM-9Ms on the outside seems to be a peace-time thing, although I'm not certain. Nothing official, just what I observed. Usual combat loadouts are the 4,2,2 AIM-120/7/9 configuration, or 6 and 2 AIM-120/9s.
Yellonet Posted November 2, 2005 Posted November 2, 2005 Wether the 9's or the 120's are on the inner side of the pylon doesn't seem to matter that much.. even from a wheight distribution perspective as they are so close together anyway. i7-2600k@4GHz, 8GB, R9 280X 3GB, SSD, HOTAS WH, Pro Flight Combat Pedals, TIR5
Cobra360 Posted November 3, 2005 Posted November 3, 2005 Pilots prefare the AIM-9s on the out side and the 120s inside because when the AIM-9s are on the inside the seeker FOV is slightly blocked by the F-15s airframe. But for weapon loaders it is easier, so they say to put the 9s inside and the 120s outside, especially on the F-15E because of the CFTs give lees room to position the 120 even though the missile is held in place on a jack until its fixed to the rail. While three people are needed to lift and fit a winder.
sixer Posted November 4, 2005 Posted November 4, 2005 ya i think i depends on the sargent on duty of loading the plane and the pilot. thay do not have a placement of missiles thing for the u.s its not like ww2 when it makes a dif thare is not much of a chance of a us pilot geting shot down bye eney thing other than a sam thes days. a lot of the u.s planes do not even have pylons eney more. do not run fly!
The Beast Posted November 4, 2005 Posted November 4, 2005 ok to anwser your question a standard combat loadout on a -15c model is 4 -120s 2 -9 and 2 -7 however the aim-7 is going away so it will probably turn into 4 and 4 how ever the config for the 4 2 2 is -120s on the outside of the pylons and the -9s on the inside as for the 4 lau-106 stations on the fuselage of the a/c 1 -120 goes in the front and 1 goes in the back and same for the -7s This is the standard air force combat config for F-15c's oh yeah forgot tank placements 2 tanks one on each wing pylon NOTHING on the center pylon So thats 2 tanks not 3
Cobra360 Posted November 5, 2005 Posted November 5, 2005 I think once the AIM-7 is gone it will 6 120s and 2 9s that will become the standard. US tactics is to destroy the enemy at BVR first, and a dogfight is a last resort option. And as far as I am aware, the current standard is 120s on the outside, 9s on the inside, 2 7s up front and 2 120s in the rear. That's the most common config that I see F-15Cs in.
The Beast Posted November 5, 2005 Posted November 5, 2005 I think once the AIM-7 is gone it will 6 120s and 2 9s that will become the standard. US tactics is to destroy the enemy at BVR first, and a dogfight is a last resort option. And as far as I am aware, the current standard is 120s on the outside, 9s on the inside, 2 7s up front and 2 120s in the rear. That's the most common config that I see F-15Cs in. you could be right about the 6 and 2 but with the aim-9x just coming in to service i still see a 4 4 config and as far as the 120s up front i dont think i have seen that config on any of our planes
Cobra360 Posted November 5, 2005 Posted November 5, 2005 Look again, I said 7s up front and not 120s. I have never seen a config with the 120s in front and 7s in the rear except in Lockon.:D
The Beast Posted November 5, 2005 Posted November 5, 2005 Look again, I said 7s up front and not 120s. I have never seen a config with the 120s in front and 7s in the rear except in Lockon.:D what i meant was one 7 up front and one 120 up front now you my have never seen this but i have seen it on many occassians for our combat missions
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