The American twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter aircraft known as the McDonnell Douglas F-15

Eagle was developed by McDonnell Douglas, which is now a part of Boeing. In 1969, the United States
Air Force selected McDonnell Douglas's design after reviewing proposals to fulfill the service's
requirement for an air superiority fighter. The Eagle went into service in 1976 and flew for the first time
in July 1972. With over 100 victories and no losses in aerial combat, the Israeli Air Force is one of the
most successful modern fighters.[2][3] The Eagle has been exported to Israel, Japan, and Saudi Arabia.
The F-15 was originally intended to be an aircraft with only air superiority. It had a secondary ground-
attack capability in its design that was largely ignored[4]. The aircraft's design was so adaptable that an
improved all-weather strike derivative, the F-15E Strike Eagle, was developed later, entered service in
1989, and has since been exported to a number of countries. There have been a number of F-15 variants
produced.

The U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy fought over future tactical aircraft during the early Vietnam War, which
is where the F-15 came from. Even if it meant sacrificing performance, Defense Secretary Robert
McNamara insisted that both services use as many common aircraft as possible. In January 1965,
Secretary McNamara asked the Air Force to consider a new low-cost tactical fighter design for short-
range roles and close air support to replace several types like the F-100 Super Sabre and various light
bombers that were in service at the time. The USAF and Navy had begun the TFX (F-111) program as
part of this policy, with the goal of delivering a medium-range interdiction aircraft for the Air Force that
would also serve as a long-range interceptor aircraft for the This role could be filled by a number of
existing designs; the Naval force leaned toward the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk and LTV A-7 Corsair II, which
were unadulterated assault airplane, while the Flying corps was more inspired by the Northrop F-5
contender with an optional assault capacity. The F-5 was less effective in the attack role but could
defend itself, while the A-4 and A-7 were more effective. A new aircraft would prioritize maintaining air
superiority if the Air Force decided on a pure attack design. The following month, a report on light
strategic airplane recommended the Aviation based armed forces buy the F-5 or A-7, and consider
another better presentation airplane to guarantee its air prevalence. In April 1965, the Department of
Defense Research and Engineering's then-director Harold Brown stated that the preferred position was
to consider the F-5 and begin studies of an "F-X."[N 1] These early studies envisioned a production run of
800 to 1,000 aircraft and stressed maneuverability over speed.[5] This point was reinforced after the loss
of two Republic F-105 Thunderchief aircraft to obsolete MiG-17s on April 4, 1965.[5] In addition, it
stated that the aircraft would not be considered without some level of ground-attack capability.[6] On
August 1, General Gabriel Disosway assumed command of Tactical Air Command and reiterated calls for
the F-X. However, in order to reduce costs, he lowered the required performance from Mach 3.0 to 2.5.
[7] An official requirements document for an air superiority fighter was finished in October 1965, and it
was distributed to 13 companies as a request for proposals on December 8. In the interim, the Flying
corps picked the A-7 over the F-5 for the help job on 5 November 1965,[8] giving further catalyst for an
air prevalence plan as the A-7 coming up short on believable aerial capacity.

Eight businesses submitted proposals in response. Four businesses were asked to provide further
developments following a downselection. They created approximately 500 design concepts all together.
When the proposals were studied in July 1966, the aircraft were roughly the same size and weight as the
TFX F-111 and, like that aircraft, were designs that could not be considered an air-superiority fighter[10].
Common designs featured variable-sweep wings, weighed more than 60,000 pounds (27,000 kilograms),
had a top speed of Mach 2.7, and had a thrust-to-weight ratio of 0.75.[9]