Boeing has been awarded a $450.5 million contract by the US Air Force (USAF) to support the F-15 Japan Super Interceptor Program.
Under this contract, facilitated through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, Boeing will acquire the systems needed to upgrade the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) F-15J fleet.
The key components include the Raytheon APG-82(v)1 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, Boeing’s Advanced Display Core Processor II (ADCP II), and the BAE Systems AN/ALQ-250 Eagle Passive Warning Survivability System (EPAWSS). These technologies are also used in the Boeing F-15EX Eagle II fighter newly inducted by the USAF. Work on the program will be conducted in St. Louis, Missouri, with an expected completion date of February 2030.
These upgrades will significantly enhance Japan’s air defense fleet’s operational capabilities and situational awareness. Additionally, the Japan Super Interceptor variant will have the capability to launch Lockheed Martin’s Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM).
The Mitsubishi F-15J, a homegrown version of the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, is the main interceptor of Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force.
Initiated in 2019, the Japan Super Interceptor program briefly came to a halt in 2020 amid rising costs, partly due to the need for a new production line and a switch to a newer electronic warfare system. The Japanese government ultimately included the modernization of 68 F-15Js in the fiscal year 2022 budget.