McDonnell Douglas F-15I Ra'am

Great Wall Hobby has introduced the finest example of a twin seat Eagle in any scale, with detail that blows away the competition, even in 1/32 scale. Every part has incredible detail, with separate parts to depict the IDF F-15I twin-seaters. GWH thoughtfully placed seams so the modeler has a minimum amount of sanding. One piece missiles save hours of assembly time and sanding.

The Israeli Air Force was the first foreign buyer of the F-15 fighter series.

In the 1980s the Israeli Air Force realised its lack of capability in long range anti-ground attack missions. The gap was filled by acquiring the F-15 Fighters with its large weapons load and long range.

The F-15s were modified to carry precision guided weapons such as the GBU-15 and conformal fuel tanks (CFT) were added which were still under testing at the time. On October 1 1985 in response to a terrorist attack, the Israeli Air Force carried out operation “Wooden Leg”. The strike involved the bombing of the PLO headquarters in Tunis by F-15 Eagles. This was the longest combat mission ever undertaken by the Israeli Air Force, a stretch of 2,300 kilometres which involved in-flight refuelling. As a result the PLO Headquarters and barracks were either destroyed or damaged. This action promoted the USAFs project of the F-15E Strike Eagle. In the next year it beat the General Dynamics F-16XL and in 1988 the F-15E came into service.

As a dual-role long range fighter for attack and interception was urgently needed, the Israeli Air Force ordered the F-15E in the 1984. The F-15I which is arguably the best of its type in the Middle Eastern arena – entered service in January 1998, and became the Israeli Air Force’s leading aircraft.

The F-15I is a special version of the F-15E Strike Eagle that was designed specifically for the Israeli Air Force by McDonald Douglas (now Boeing). It utilises many special instruments designed by the Israeli Air Force themselves.

Its tremendous payload capacity, combined with its advanced systems, enable it to carry out attacks with a large weapons load at long ranges and low altitude, 24 hours a day and in any weather conditions.

Due to its high price (more than $1 billion US each) only 25 aircraft were purchased. 24 aircraft entered service with the 69 “Hammers” Squadron which is the combat unit with the longest history in the Israeli Air Force. The remaining aircraft (No 201) was provided to 601 Squadron (Flight Test Centre) in Tel Nof airbase (Air Force Base 8) for weapon loading tests.

On January 1 1999 F-15Is in the 69 Sqn “Hammers” Squadron completed training and the first combat missions were flown in Lebanon on 11 January 1999. They attacked terrorist targets in Lebanon with laser-guided bombs on targets designated by AN/AAQ-13 LANTIRNAN navigation pods.

Features and options in this kit:

Injection-molded gray

300 pieces

7 photoetched metal

decals

Nicely detailed cockpits
Choice of ACES or Escapac ejection seats
Photo-etched HUD frame
Positionable canopy
Positionable radome
APG-63 radar under radome
Positionable nose avionics bay doors
Detailed avionics bays in nose (port and starboard bays)
Choice of shut-down or running position intake ramps
Choice of open or closed dorsal boundary layer exit doors
Full-depth intake ducts
Nicely detailed featherless afterburner nozzles
Positionable dorsal speed brake
Positionable rudders
Positionable stabilators
Positionable ailerons
Positionable flaps
Positionable landing gear

External stores:

2 x 610 Gallon Fuel Tanks
1 x AXQ-14 data link pod
1 x AAQ-13 Lantirn Navigation Pod
1 x AAQ-14 Lantirn Targeting Pod
4 x GBU-12 Laser guided Paveway II 500lb bombs
3 x GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) Mk 82
1 x GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) Mk 84
1 X AGM-130 GPS 2000lb bomb
1 x AGM-142 Popeye bomb
2 x Python 4 Air to Air missiles
2 x AIM-120B AMRAAM Air to Air missiles

Markings for two examples:

Heyl Ha'Avir Israeli Air Force, 69 Hammers Sqn. 241, Paint Colors FS36375 FS33531 FS34227 FS30219

MANAT Test & Evaluation Sqn. 201, Tel Nof AB, Paint Colors FS36375 FS33531 FS34227 FS30219