142nd Wing conducts first live-bomb drops from operational F-15EXs at Nellis
The Oregon Air National Guard’s 142nd Wing carried out the first live-bomb drops from operational F-15EX Eagle IIs during a roughly three-week deployment to Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, in late August and early September 2026. Photographs released by the Air National Guard show 142nd F-15EXs armed on the flight line and departing Nellis with weapons mounted on the fuselage centerline. Official imagery depicts aircraft carrying a single 500-pound Mk 82 freefall bomb; spotters also photographed airframes with a 2,000-pound Mk 84 freefall bomb in the same position. Weapons technicians from the 142nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron loaded the bombs for the Nellis employment.
How the training pipeline led to live weapons employment
The live drops at Nellis followed an earlier training phase at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, in May 2026. During that deployment the 142nd loaded and released inert training rounds: over 10 missions crews dropped 24 BDU-50s and 12 BDU-56s, which replicate the size and weight of the Mk 82 and Mk 84 series respectively. Three 142nd pilots completed a nine-month course covering air-to-ground weapons science, tactics, and procedures before returning to establish the wing’s new training program. Weapons personnel also traveled to Nellis earlier in 2026 to work with F-15Es assigned to the 59th Test and Evaluation Squadron and become certified in bomb loading procedures.
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End the scrambleF-15EX design, loadouts, and test activity underway
The F-15EX is derived from the F-15E Strike Eagle lineage and is described in the reporting as combining the Strike Eagle’s large payload capacity and long range with substantially modernized avionics and electronic warfare systems. Test and evaluation units have already demonstrated diverse air-to-ground loadouts: an F-15EX from the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron participated in munitions-load training at Kadena Air Base, Japan, where crews practiced loading live GBU-53/B Small Diameter Bomb IIs. The aircraft can also carry up to 12 AIM-120 missiles, and it is capable of accepting conformal fuel tanks used by the F-15E—though the operational F-15EXs delivered to the 142nd have thus far been seen without conformal fuel tanks and the plan to equip the Oregon aircraft with them remains unclear.
Two-seat cockpit, crew concepts, and the Weapons School
The Eagle II retains the F-15E family’s two-seat cockpit, but the Air Force’s initial operational concept has generally involved flying the type with a single pilot. That leaves an unused rear cockpit that the 142nd and the Weapons School have examined as a potential enabler for more complex multirole missions—including adding a weapons systems officer to manage sensors, weapons, communications and electronic warfare functions. The Weapons School’s central role at Nellis and its association with developing two-seat F-15EX operations placed the 142nd’s emerging capability in an environment focused on integrating advanced weapons, tactics and mission planning.
What this means for the 142nd Wing, the Weapons School, and combatant commanders
- 142nd Wing: The unit is building institutional knowledge—pilots, weapons loaders and maintainers have completed specialized courses and certification steps—moving the wing from an air-superiority mission to an operational multirole profile that includes live-bomb employment.
- Weapons School/WIC: Integrating 142nd F-15EXs into the Weapons Instructor Course environment tests tactics and mission planning in one of the Air Force’s principal venues for advanced weapons integration.
- Combatant commanders: The Air Force’s plans envision the F-15EX providing strike packages capable of operating in contested environments while retaining its defensive and counter-air roles, widening options available for planners who require multirole airpower.
Fleet realignments and operational caution
Broader fleet plans cited in reporting show the F-15EX expanding beyond Portland: additional Air National Guard units in California, Louisiana and Michigan are planned to receive the type, two active-duty F-15EX squadrons are slated to replace the former F-15C force at Kadena, and the Air Force plans to base F-15EXs at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, to eventually replace older F-15Es that would move to Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. The first F-15EX intended for permanent assignment at Kadena recently departed Boeing’s St. Louis facility for the 142nd Wing, where it will undergo final preparations before eventual deployment to Okinawa. Still, it would be premature, the reporting argues, to label the F-15EX an operational replacement for the F-15E—the live-bomb drops are a milestone within an ongoing training and development process.
The Nellis employment confirms the F-15EX’s multirole trajectory in practical terms: live Mk 82- and Mk 84-class freefall bombs were loaded and released by an operational Guard unit, and the wing’s training steps—pilot coursework, loader certification and Weapons School integration—chart the path from capability demonstration to operationalization. Remaining open questions stated in the reporting include whether conformal fuel tanks will be fitted to 142nd aircraft and how the Air Force will settle crew concepts when the Eagle II performs more complex strike missions.
Source: TWZ — Operational F-15EXs Drop Live Bombs For The First Time
