They're showing F-15As and TF-15As with the F100-PW-100 engine nozzles intact, with F-15 fighter conversion training at Luke. Timeframe has got to be 1975-1976 as they are also talking about early contractor production capacity, initial APG-63 features, with telltale signs of the first 30 production TF-15As and F-15As.
Great radar, may have been the best in the world at the time. I would love to see a video comparing the AN/APG-63 to the F-14's AWG-9 though. Glad both were on our side!
It's in the 1970s on the A Model well before Digital Signal Processing was introduced with the F-15C and the improved APG-63(V). See the LRU's in the video that get replaced when faults are detected? APG-63 with Programmable Signals Processor shifted the entire world of fighter avionics from hardware-focus to software focus. The F-15C had a much better radar than the F-15A shown in this video. The F-15A-D have undergone at least 4 major upgrades throughout the life of the Grey Eagles. As soon as they started getting C models in 1979, squadrons would convert and the A models and TF-15As (later called F-15Bs) were sent to ANG and AFRES units. C Models became the standard from 1979-1985 in the USAF TFSs and FISs. The F-15 had the first HOTAS pilot interface arrangement with integrated systems to project radar data on his HUD, linked with the FCC and SMS for weapons employment, so he didn't have to manually do a lot other than orient the combat systems with a flip of a switch on the throttle or stick in a master arm ON setting. When the pilot would switch radar modes from Range While Search to Track While Scan, the HUD would reflect the relevant symbology and cue weapons and TGT tracks accordingly, in addition to the radar display changing. With buttons and toggles on the Throttle & Stick, he could manipulate range and altitude bands to search, and 4 F-15s would coordinate their search and track efforts together to build a continuous detailed picture of the airspace ahead of them.
@@adumbarse2569 1970s. These are mid-1970s-era F-15As at Luke AFB for fighter conversion training before they were replaced with the F-15C. F-15C production started in 1979. Most of the APG-63 features in this video were made obsolete/improved in the F-15C's APG-63(V), which was later upgraded significantly with the APG-63(V)1 in the 1990s. They eventually did a PESA and now AESA APG-63(V)3, which is an entirely different capability above and beyond any of the previous APG-63 variants.
