The US Department of the Air Force has awarded Boeing a USD 2.38 billion (EUR 2.12 billion) Lot 7 contract to manufacture 22 more F-15EX Eagle II aircraft, the US Air Force (USAF) announced on 29 September 2026.

The USAF stated that the Lot agreement “accounts for current programmatic realities, including the effects of the 2025 production disruption and broader inflation across the defense-industrial base”, adding that “through focused, complex negotiations, the F-15 Program Office and Boeing reached an agreement that maintains the procurement of all 22 Lot 7 aircraft within available funding”.

Boeing experienced severe production disruptions in 2025, resulting from a door-plug blowout on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX airliner on 5 January 2024, a highly disruptive seven-week machinist strike in late 2024 and shortages of critical parts in its supply chains.

“Lot 7 reflects a disciplined approach to executing available resources while balancing the realities affecting defense production,” Brigadier General Timothy Helfrich, the Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Fighters and Advanced Aircraft at the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, was quoted as saying in a USAF press release. “The team remained focused on affordability, production continuity and delivering the aircraft needed to modernise the US Air Force’s fighter fleet for the threats we face today and into the future,” he added.

USAF’s growing F-15EX fleet

Under this latest Lot 7 deal Boeing is now under contract with the USAF for the production of 120 F-15EX aircraft.

Under its USD 267.7 billion Fiscal Year 2027 budget request the USAF outlined plans to increase procurement of F-15EXs from 129 aircraft to 267.

On 4 September 2025 Boeing announced it had delivered aircraft F-15EX-22 to the USAF, marking the first aircraft delivered under the Lot 3 contract. This aircraft and F-15EX-23 will be the first of 36 USAF F-15EX fighters to be stationed at Kadena Air Base in Japan, which marks the first time F-15EX aircraft will be stationed outside the United States.

As the latest F-15 variant, the F-15EX incorporates advanced avionics, large-area displays, digital backbone architecture and enhanced survivability capabilities. It is intended to replace ageing F-15C and F-15D aircraft while providing a platform for continued modernisation as operational requirements evolve.