Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      The Gunfighter Flagship F-15E Strike Eagle takes off during an exercise, May 22, 2018 at Mountain home Air Force Base, Idaho. Gunfighter Flag 18-2 encompassed both the Belgian Air Component and Idaho Civil Air Patrol. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class JaNae Capuno)Gunfighter Flag 18-2
                        
                        
                        A F-15E Strike Eagle takes off during an exercise at Mountain home Air Force Base, Idaho, May 22, 2018. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class JaNae Capuno)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res
        


        This U.S. Air Force graphic represents the F-15E Strike Eagle, tail number 87-173, assigned to the 389th Fighter Squadron at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. Jet 173 was the lead jet during the longest sortie performed by a fighter jet in mission called the “Kabul-ki Dance” Nov. 12, 2001, during Operation Enduring Freedom. This mission lasted over 15 hours and required 10 in-air refuelings while evading enemy attacks to, ultimately, take out several critical targets. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Janae Capuno)Jet 87-173: Innovation keeps Air Force legend in the fight
                        
                        
                        This U.S. Air Force graphic pays homage to the F-15E Strike Eagle, tail number 87-173, currently assigned to the 389th Fighter Squadron at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. Jet 173 was the lead jet during the longest sortie performed by a fighter jet in mission Nov. 12, 2001, during Operation Enduring Freedom. This mission, named the “Kabul-ki Dance,” lasted over 15 hours and required 10 in-air refuelings while evading enemy attacks to take out several critical targets. (U.S. Air Force graphic by Senior Airman JaNae Capuno)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res
        


        This U.S. Air Force graphic represents the F-15E Strike Eagle, tail number 87-173, assigned to the 389th Fighter Squadron at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. Jet 173 was the lead jet during the longest sortie performed by a fighter jet in mission called the “Kabul-ki Dance” Nov. 12, 2001, during Operation Enduring Freedom. This mission lasted over 15 hours and required 10 in-air refuelings while evading enemy attacks to, ultimately, take out several critical targets.  (U.S. Air Force graphic by Airman 1st Class Andrew Kobialka)Jet 87-173: Innovation keeps Air Force legend in the fight
                        
                        
                        This U.S. Air Force graphic pays homage to the F-15E Strike Eagle, tail number 87-173, currently assigned to the 389th Fighter Squadron at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. Jet 173 was the lead jet during the longest sortie performed by a fighter jet in mission Nov. 12, 2001, during Operation Enduring Freedom. This mission, named the “Kabul-ki Dance,” lasted over 15 hours and required 10 in-air refuelings while evading enemy attacks to take out several critical targets. (U.S. Air Force graphic by Airman 1st Class Andrew Kobialka)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res

Jet 87-173: Innovation keeps Air Force legend in the fightPublished March 1, 2020
                    
                    By  Airman 1st Class Andrew Kobialka
                    
                    
                    366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
            **MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho (AFNS) --**This is the story of F-15E Strike Eagle tail number 87-173, where it comes from and how innovation keeps it ready to bring the fight to the enemy.Many jets become legends for their heroic feats in battle, but they are unable to tell their stories as they experienced them. Legends never tell their own stories.“If only fighter jets could talk, the stories they could tell,” said Brig. Gen. Mark Slocum, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing commander and fighter pilot.The U.S. Air Force has held the title of world air superiority for many years, but its lethality was taken to the next level about 30 years ago.In 1987, a year known for its eccentric artwork, the debut of the show “Full House” and President Ronald Reagan’s “Tear Down This Wall” speech in West Berlin, a legend was born. Or perhaps, more accurately, it was built.The Strike Eagle is designed for air-to-air and air-to-ground combat. Spanning 64 feet long, 43 feet wide and weighing in at 81,000 pounds when fully loaded, its physical prowess only hints at the capabilities of this jet. It’s mounted with an array of missiles, bombs, a 20 mm multi-barrel gun and all the futuristic technology most people probably wouldn’t even begin to imagine. Top it off with a flashy paint job and standing there would be the legend assigned to the 389th Fighter Squadron at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho.Although jet 173 has flown many missions over its years in service, its most historic moment happened the night of Nov. 12, 2001, during Operation Enduring Freedom.Jet 173 was the lead jet in the longest combat sortie flown by U.S. fighter aircraft to this day, which was later deemed “The Kabul-Ki Dance.”Slocum was the pilot of jet 173, who was a captain at the time and a member of the 391st Fighter Squadron.The mission was simple: destroy the residences of al-Qaeda targets with 500-pound bombs. And that, they did.But as chance would have it, it quickly turned into an opportunistic back-and-forth flight pattern. Simply put, every time Slocum completed a mission and began to head back to base, he was given orders to turn around and take out another target.This went on for over 15 hours. There were 10 in-air refuelings and they evaded anti-aircraft gunfire and ground-to-air missiles throughout the mission.In the end, the Kabul-Ki Dance resulted in the elimination of several high-priority targets, al-Qaeda residences and the disruption of terrorist movements by bombing a mountainside to create an avalanche that blocked enemy roads.That mission wrote jet 173 and Slocum’s name in the history books. But the legend hasn’t died. It’s still ready to take the fight to the enemy, but not without support and innovation of Airmen from the 389th FS, where jet 173 is assigned today.“I think it's amazing that the first F-15E models are still in service today almost 34 years later after the first model was delivered to the Air Force,” said Senior Master Sgt. Travis Patterson, 389th FS Aircraft Maintenance Unit superintendent.Patterson has been maintaining strike eagles for 24 years and is now in charge of the maintenance of jet 173. That being said, the jet has seen more than a few upgrades.“Jet 173 has been through three very large modifications but most noteworthy is the APG-82 AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) Radar Modification Program upgrade,” Patterson said. “The F-15E was designed around the radar and this one can simultaneously detect, identify and track multiple air and surface targets farther than ever before.”This superior capability greatly increases aircraft and aircrew effectiveness and ultimately increases the chance of survival. In fact, no strike eagle has ever been shot down with this technology.Slocum recently had a chance to fly jet 173 in November of 2019 and recognized the difference in innovation.“The upgrades in software and technology in the last 18 years is really amazing,” Slocum said. “The weapons we can drop now and the targeting systems available are things we didn’t imagine back when we were flying through the night of Afghanistan in 2001.”However, Patterson explained that integrating new technologies into an aging airframe does take a significant amount of problem-solving.“We work so hard maintaining these F-15Es but sometimes it’s like owning a 1966 Volkswagen Bug and trying to install 2020 Tesla technology into it and make it work flawlessly. There can be lots of technical issues that we find out weren’t evident in the initial design. I take great pride when my maintainers solve these complex problems.”Jet 173 is a legend, but it remains that way because of the Airmen behind it.“It goes to show the evolution of the maintainer,” Patterson said. “As technology advances, our Airmen experience new issues and must become better problem solvers because there is no instruction manual. Well not yet, because we’re creating it!”Jet 173 has always been a superior aircraft, but with each new innovation, it becomes more versatile and lethal. It continues to be assigned to missions and in 2017, it made a notable impact in support of Operation Inherent Resolve where it was a part of 389th FS’s release of 5,018 precision-guided munitions while deployed in Southwest Asia.So as jet 173 lives on through the decades, it is sure to see history unfold. It will collect more stories that it cannot tell and it might get a new gadget or two. But Slocum, Patterson and thousands of upcoming Airmen will spearhead the innovation that will ensure jet 173 will always complete the mission.LR 



USAF 



AF 



Air Force 



F-15E 



F-15 Strike Eagle 



fighter jet 



Air Combat Command 



Mountain Home Air Force Base 



Gunfighter Flag 



Jet 87-173 



innovation Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                DAF leaders talk budget, reoptimizing the force
                    
                    DAF leaders speak at National Character and Leadership Symposium
                    
                    DAF members recognized during BEYA STEM awards
                    
                    DAF senior enlisted advisors discuss Airmen, Guardians in the fight
                    
                    SecAF Kendall AFA Warfare Symposium Q&A: Reoptimizing for Great Power CompetitionInnovation
                AFWERX director discusses role of tech startups, quick innovation in Great Power Competition
                    
                    DAF delivers lethality at the speed of data during Project Convergence Capstone 4
                    
                    DAF welcomes industry partners to HQ development program
                    
                    DAF announces Spark Tank 2024 finalists
                    
                    Chief Digital, Artificial Intelligence Office to host hackathon in HawaiiMAJCOM News
                Safety enterprise announces new mission, vision, goals in 2024 strategic plan
                    
                    Air Combat Command welcomes new commander
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander discusses Integrated Air, Missile Defense during Munich Security Conference
                    
                    Flosi to AFMC family: Embrace change, make every day count
                    
                    AMC rises to increasing global tension
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil