The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced that an F-15 fighter jet of the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) crashed on December 7, killing the two crew members onboard.
As per details published by the Ministry, the aircraft was on a training mission when the tragedy struck. Brig. Gen. Turki al-Maliki, the Ministry’s spokesman, stated that the F-15 fighter jet accident occurred at the King Abdulaziz Air Base in Dhahran during a regular training flight.
An investigation has been launched to determine the exact cause of the crash. The spokesperson offered no further details about the tragic incident. The F-15SA is a two-seat variant of the McDonnell Douglas F-15 fighter jet, which forms the backbone of the kingdom’s fighter fleet.
The F-15SA is derived from the two-seat F-15E Strike Eagle. It is said to be the most sophisticated F-15 version, combining elements from Singapore’s F-15SG and South Korea’s F-15K Slam Eagle.
This is the second crash of the kingdom’s F-15 this year. A Saudi F-15SA fighter jet crashed during a training exercise in July this year, killing all the crew onboard. The accident occurred close to the King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait, located approximately 815 kilometers southwest of the capital, Riyadh.
Earlier, a Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) F-15S air superiority fighter crashed at the King Abdulaziz Air Base training grounds due to a technical malfunction during a routine night-time exercise in November 2022. The aircraft crew comprising two officers, safely ejected, and there were no injuries or losses on the ground.
The spate of F-15 crashes has dented the impeccable reputation of the aircraft, which is also incidentally operated by at least three countries in the Middle Eastern region alone.
Besides Saudi Arabia, Israel Air Force (IAF) and Qatar Emeri Air Force (QEAF) are the two other operators of the Strike Eagle aircraft in the region. In Asia, the two operators are US ally South Korea and Singapore.
Originally published in Eurasian Times, https://www.eurasiantimes.com/saudi-tears-apart-f-15-fighters-impeccable-reputation-loses/?amp