The Oregon Air National Guard’s 142nd Wing dropped live bombs from its F-15EX Eagle IIs — the first time an operational Eagle II unit has done so, according to official photos and captions released Wednesday. The drops came during a three-week deployment to Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, that ended this month.
The wing said the deployment, in support of the Air Force Weapons Instructor Course, produced “a historical milestone, dropping live bombs from operational F-15EXs for the first time.”
The images show jets on the ramp and in the air on Aug. 27, some carrying a live 500-pound Mk-82 on the centerline station and others carrying an AN/AAQ-33 Sniper targeting pod. The Air Force has not said how many bombs were dropped.
The unit first dropped inert bombs in May at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. The wing announced in July it dropped 24 BDU-50s in the 500-pound class and 12 BDU-56s in the 2,000-pound class, all concrete-filled practice bombs, across 10 missions.
The Mountain Home drops were the first of any kind by an operational F-15EX unit.
The 142nd flew the F-15C, an air-superiority fighter, before receiving the Air Force’s first operational F-15EX in June 2024. Three of the unit’s pilots already had air-to-ground experience and built a compressed syllabus for the rest of the wing’s pilots.
A small group of loaders with prior bomb-loading experience became certified to load bombs on F-15Es at Nellis earlier this year, then trained the loaders who went to Mountain Home.
The wing’s July statement said live-bombing at Nellis would follow as the next step toward the unit becoming air-to-ground mission capable.
“It’s about building a dynamic and versatile organization, and we are just getting started,” Col. Joshua Hovanas, commander of the 142nd Operations Group, said in a statement.
The Eagle II is rated for a 29,500-pound payload and can carry up to a dozen air-to-air missiles. The jets photographed at Nellis flew without conformal fuel tanks, which carry additional weapons stations.
The planned F-15EX fleet has grown since a fiscal 2023 budget request proposed capping the buy at 80 aircraft. In April, the service said it now plans a fleet of 267.
Michael Scanlon is a defense journalist covering air and space warfare. A former U.S. Air Force A-10 crew chief, he has supported land and sea programs for the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.
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