US Air Force awards Lot 7 contract for 22 F-15EX fighters

The Department of the Air Force has awarded Boeing a Lot 7 contract for 22 F-15EX Eagle II fighters, a deal the service says keeps the buy within available funds while sustaining production in the face of inflation and a 2025 manufacturing disruption.

Service officials said the agreement preserves congressionally provided reconciliation funding and was shaped by a round of complex negotiations that aligned quantity, schedule and affordability to current conditions on the factory floor and across the defense supply chain.

“Lot 7 reflects a disciplined approach to executing available resources while balancing the realities affecting defense production,” said Brig. Gen. Timothy Helfrich, portfolio acquisition executive for the Fighters and Advanced Aircraft Directorate. “The team remained focused on affordability, production continuity and delivering the aircraft needed to modernize the U.S. Air Force’s fighter fleet for the threats we face today and into the future.”

The Air Force cast the award as an example of its push to streamline acquisition, describing an integrated negotiation team that pulled in experts across contracting, engineering, pricing, finance and logistics, elevated issues for rapid senior-level decisions, and closed the deal before the fiscal-year deadline.

F-15EX, a modernized variant of the long-serving F-15, is intended to replace aging F‑15C/D jets with updated avionics, large-area cockpit displays, a digital backbone and survivability upgrades, while offering headroom for future capability inserts. Boeing builds the aircraft in St. Louis, and the Air National Guard has begun receiving initial operational jets as the fleet transitions from older airframes.

The Lot 7 award, the service said, sustains near-term production while it continues to reassess longer-term requirements and buying strategies. The Air Force did not disclose the value of the contract in its announcement.

“The Lot 7 award demonstrates what is possible when the acquisition enterprise moves with purpose, remains accountable to the taxpayer and stays focused on delivering capability to the warfighter,” said Col. Jonathan Varoli, system program manager of the directorate’s F-15 Program Office. “This effort brought together the right expertise, at the right time, to achieve an outcome that strengthens the F-15EX program and supports the future fighter force.”