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January 1991, an F-15 pilot on combat-air patrol sweeps the skies of Iraq.
"Sheridan, I'm Captain Medrimans, Captain in the 27th fighter squadron, flying in F-15 over Iraq. Today's been a mixed sweep, we started from the central, swept up for Bagdad, hung a right(slang: turned right) to the east, looked at several airfields in the southeastern and eastern sector, ran the Iranian border, and repeated that a couple of times, and then I came back to Saudi Arabia to refuel, and then we have our gas, we'll... shortly, we head back at north to do the same thing one more time."
Although its political significance is still being debated, the war in the Persian Gulf was a turning point in military history. For the first time, a massive strategetic air campaign led to a decisive victory over a well-defended opponent. The first goal of the campaign was to quickly gain control of the skies. For that, no plane was better suited than the F-15 Eagle.
"I christen the Eagle, and may you reign supreme in your domain."
First flown in 1972, the F-15 Eagle was a major advance in high-performance fighter aircraft. But it was only developed because the US thought the Soviet Union had a better plane, for the F-15 was a direct response to MiG-25 Foxbat, a fast flying high-altitude fighter that seemed far superior to the West stop jet, the F-4 Phantom.
Years later, western analysts discovered the Foxbat was not the stellar leap in aviation technology that it seemed to be. But in the 1960s, the threat seemed very real. So the US air force called for many manufacturers to design a super fighter, a plane that could outshoot and outfly anything in the sky. McDonnell Douglas won the contract with the two-engine, single-seat powerhouse, incorporating every cutting-edge electronic system available. the new plane, designated F-15, was big and expensive, about 30 million per plane in today's dollars. But it was the fastest, most maneuverable fighter ever built. It was also the deadliest, for the heart of the F-15 is its APG-70 Pulse-Doppler radar, which can locate targets a hundred miles away. This is critical, for an air combat spotting your opponent first can make a life-or-death difference.
When the time to fight arrives, an Eagle pilot has four weapons to choose from. He can fire long-range radar-guided AIM-7 Sparrow missiles. He can deploy AIM-9 Sidewinders, deadly close-range weapons that lock on the hot exhaust. AIM-120 missiles known as AMRAAMs are medium-range weapons, similar to but more powerful than AIM-7s. Lastly, the M-61 cannon. The F-15 has gone through 3 major upgrades since it entered air force service in 1974.
hang a right: slang: turned right
christen: To name and dedicate ceremonially 正式命名和落成典礼
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