Summary: The F-15 ACTIVE, a collaboration between NASA and the U.S. Air Force in the 1980s, transformed the legendary F-15 Eagle into a cutting-edge testbed for advanced aviation technologies.

-Utilizing a two-seat F-15B variant, the program incorporated two-dimensional thrust-vectoring controls and canards from the F/A-18 Hornet, enabling the aircraft to achieve remarkable feats, such as taking off at just 42 mph.

-The F-15 ACTIVE's innovations enhanced U.S. military understanding of flight dynamics and contributed to future developments in aircraft like the F-15E. Though retired from testing, this "Frankenstein" plane's legacy continues to influence modern aviation advancements.

F-15 ACTIVE: The NASA-Air Force Hybrid That Revolutionized Aviation

The F-15 is undoubtedly the most successful modern air superiority fighter that the United States has ever produced. When it started rolling off the production line in 1970, the American designers of the warbird knew that it was going to be a successful airframe.

Almost immediately, the U.S. military began to toy with different variations of the warplane on paper. Today, of course, there have been multiple upgraded versions of the bird that have allowed for the F-15 model to continue decades after it was first deployed.

Specifically, the U.S. military planners began thinking up new and interesting designs that they’d throw into an F-15 demonstrator model. The point of a demonstrator plane is to, as the name suggests, demonstrate to America’s air warriors the possibilities that different designs on a given airframe can have for future warplanes.

Taking a Great Plane and Making It Crazy

America’s F-15 is superb in general. It has racked up over 100 kills since it was first deployed and has never been shot down. This bird can outfly even the vaunted fifth-generation warplanes in America’s arsenal, such as the F-22A Raptor and the F-35 Lightning II (it goes an average of Mach 2.5, which is faster than what the F-22 or F-35 can do). In 1984, however, NASA with its Advanced Controls Technology for Integrated Vehicles (ACTIVE) sought to make the F-15 even better.

So, the Air Force, in conjunction with NASA, chose a two-seater variant of the F-15—the F-15B—to be the testbed for the ACTIVE program.

NASA and the Air Force’s Flight Dynamics Laboratory made a technological mutant super monster of a warplane. It was a hodgepodge of various parts and technologies from other platforms all rolled into the F-15B airframe. One of the most interesting additions made to the F-15 ACTIVE was the two-dimensional thrust-vectoring controls.

Thus, the pilot of the F-15 ACTIVE could aim the outflow of thrust from the aircraft’s engines.

To augment the two-dimensional thrust-vectoring controls, the engineers of the F-15 ACTIVE decided to add canards on the front. The F-15 ACTIVE was given a truly next-generation, science-fiction look. In keeping with the hybridized version of the F-15 ACTIVE, the canards themselves were actually just enhanced tail surfaces from the F/A-18 Hornet. It did the trick, though. Because the freakish warplane was able to make some incredible achievements.

One such achievement was being able to take off at a meager 42 miles per hour. That is a unique feat for a jet. But the thrust vector control system along with those splashy canards made for all the difference. Therefore, the primary mission of the F-15 ACTIVE was a sterling success.

After all, the program was originally conceived as formulating the best way for next-generation U.S. fighters to take off from and land on damaged runways. The assumption was that if the Cold War ever went hot, the Soviets would immediately destroy American airfields and U.S. warplanes would need to deploy from compromised airstrips. 

By the way, with the advent of China’s anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) capabilities today, you can bet that America’s airfields—notably those in places like Okinawa and Guam—are on some early target sets when the inevitable Sino-American war erupts.

The F-15 ACTIVE allowed the military to work out the particulars of making its warplanes able to better operate in contested environments. 

F-15 ACTIVE: An Inspiration for Future Generations

Inevitably, NASA basically tested a bunch of systems that would ultimately be used in the F-15E variant. Data collected on the seemingly endless tests conducted on the demonstrator plane catapulted the U.S. military’s understanding of what’s possible with warplanes.

These findings were incorporated into the next era’s warplanes. 

The F-15 ACTIVE is no longer part of the NASA testbed program, but that bird remains in use for other experiments. Recently, the former F-15 ACTIVE unit was used to successfully test the Intelligence Flight Control System (IFCS). All this from a single bird that was, as Alex Hollings once described, a “Frankenstein” plane. 

Between its freakish amalgamation of parts, those canards, and that vectored thrust control capability, along with the hot red, glimmering white, and sparkling blue color pattern, it was probably the closest the Air Force came to creating Luke Skywalker’s X-Wing in real life.

Let’s hope that decades after the creation of the F-15 ACTIVE, despite the over-bureaucratization of the Pentagon as well as all the failures that have been publicized lately surrounding our Byzantine defense-industrial sector, that there are still glimmers of this level of freewheeling innovating occurring. 

Because the F-15 ACTIVE was a truly mesmerizing, freaky warbird. 

About the Author 

Brandon J. Weichert, a National Interest national security analyst, is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor at The Washington Times, the Asia Times, and The-Pipeline. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His next book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine, is due October 22 from Encounter Books. Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.