F-15 Active

does anybody have any info on the new f-15 ACTIVE?

[Rusty24]

Active ???????

active is a acronym A.C.T.I.V.E. It has a new canards in the front or something, I think it is computer controlled, does anybody have info on this thing?

[d'artangan]

If you can tell me what the acronym stands for, I can find something for you. The System Program Office is here at Robins AFB, and I have many friends and acquaintances working there.

[Godholio]

The F-15 ACTIVE was the first 2-seat F-15 built by McDonnell-Douglas, so it's not new. I'm pretty sure they're still using it for testing, based on the little info I found here: http://www.allstar.fiu.edu/aero/NTTC3.htm

Edit: Also, it stands for Advanced Control Technology for Integrated Vehicles. NASA uses it.

[USMCRET6391]

Originally Posted by Godholio

The F-15 ACTIVE was the first 2-seat F-15 built by McDonnell-Douglas, so it's not new.

Not true, the F-15 ACTIVE was built in 1996 as a test bed for vector thrust surfaces to improve aircraft manuevering capabilities. The first F-15 to have two seats (other than trainers) was the F-15 "Strike Eagle" produced in the 1980s. It was built for close air support and to replace the aging F-4 "Phantom" used in "Wild Weasel" missions to suppress enemy Surface to Air Missle installations.

[Rusty24]

This may be what you are looking for:
Active is a suite that enables the aircraft to go from one type of acquisition/designator pod to another without re-inventing the wheel. Unlike the A-10's who have the PAV Penny suite .... which can only be used with that weapon. However the system that you may be thinking of was actually installed on the F-16's do the various block models and when the F-15C's started back into the CAS role they were retrofitted.

ACTIVE is not the term that I know it by. Look around Janes and FAS.ORG. They shpuld have what you are looking for ... if not then it doesn't need to be posted here

[USMCRET6391]

In March 1996, NASA initiated flight testing of a new thrust vectoring concept that could lead to significant increases in the performance of both civil and military aircraft flyingat subsonic or supersonic speed.

The tests at Dryden Flight Research Center are part of a program known as ACTIVE (Advanced Controls Technology for Integrated Aircraft), a collaborative effort of NASA, the Air Force's Wright Laboratory, McDonnell Douglas Aerospace (MDA), and Pratt & Whitney Government Engines & Space Propulsion unit (POW).

The test aircraft is a twin-engine F-15 ACTIVE, a modified version of the Air Force F-15B fighter built by MDA and powered by F-100PW-229 engines, each of which is equippedwith a nozzle that can swivel 20 degrees in any direction, giving the aircraft thrust control inthe pitch (up and down) and yaw (left-right) directions. This vectored (deflected) thrust system could replace conventional drag inducing aerodynamic controls and thereby gain increased fuel economy or range.

The tests began with four flights in March/April, then progressed to the first supersonic flight on April 24. On that occasion, the F-15 ACTIVE successfully demonstrated both pitchand yaw deflections at speeds of Mach 1.2 to1.5. The flight test plan contemplated about 60 flights totaling 100 hours at speeds up to Mach 1.85 and angles of attack (the angle betweenthe aircraft's body/wings and its actual flight path) up to 30 degrees.

The F-15 ACTIVE program is representative ofthe type of flight research conducted by NASA to explore new technologies and new flightregimes. NASA conducts such programsindependently or in cooperation with U.S.industry and the Department of Defense,sometimes in cooperation with internationaldevelopment teams.

[Godholio]

Ok, so the airframe is old, but it was modded more recently.

[Maesteroll]

You know, the ACTIVE thing may actually be a bit odd, but it is out of PAVE PENNY'S (A-10) league. It shoul be equipped to more than just the F-15, which in case anyone noticed, should be replaced sometime soon. It's old.