Tribune News NetworkDohaQatar's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs HE Dr Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah inaugurated the Ababil F-15QA fighter jets from Boeing, the Qatar Embassy in the United States announced on Thursday. Ababil, which the Qatar embassy described as "the guardians of our skies", are the latest advanced capability that the Qatar Amiri Air Force has acquired.According to defenceworld.net, the first set of F-15QA jets will ferry to Qatar later this year following the completion of pre-delivery pilot training.

 

The F-15QA is a dual-role fighter designed to perform air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. The aircraft can take off with nearly 30,000 pounds of munitions and reach a maximum ceiling of approximately 70,000 feet.Qatar signed a $12 billion deal with the US for 36 F-15QAs in June 2017. In August 2019, Boeing was awarded $500 million to provide aircrew and maintenance training for Qatari personnel.“The Qatar F-15QA program further enhanced next-generation technologies in the advanced F-15 such as the fly-by-wire flight controls, an all-glass digital cockpit and contemporary sensors, radar and electronic warfare capabilities,” said Prat Kumar, the vice president of the F-15 programme was quoted as saying. “Driven by digital engineering and advanced manufacturing, these aircraft represent a transformational leap for the F-15. The F-15QA will enhance the superiority of the QEAF with more speed, range and payload than any fighter in the world.”