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FastestThings

Military Jets

McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle

U.S. Air Force fact sheets print 1,875 mph. One sheet says Mach 2 class and the Strike Eagle sheet says Mach 2.5 plus beside the same miles-per-hour figure.

Also known as F-15, F-15C, F-15E
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Top speed

Published as 1,875 mphPublished as 1,875 mphPublished as 1,875 mphPublished as 1,875 mph

USAF fact-sheet maximum for the F-15. The C/D sheet says Mach 2 class. The F-15E sheet prints the same 1,875 mph and says Mach 2.5 plus. Smithsonian states Mach 2.5 without a miles-per-hour figure.

OfficialU.S. Air Force (opens source in a new tab)

In context

  • London to New York in 1 h 51 minConstant · London to New York, 5,570 km great-circle
  • 29× a cheetah's timed top speedSourced · Cheetah, 29 m/s. Sharp 1997, mean of three timed runs over 201.2 m
  • 9.2 football fields a secondConstant · American football field, 100 yd (91.44 m)

Worked out from the sourced figure above, which stays the ranked number.

This list

Why it's so fast

A fighter is fast in a dash: afterburning thrust against a small airframe, for as long as the fuel and the heat allow. Cruise speed and a record dash are not the same claim.

  1. Afterburner

    Dumping fuel into the exhaust adds thrust and burns it quickly. A published maximum is often that dash, not the speed the jet can hold across an ocean.

  2. The airframe's limit

    Intake design, temperature and the canopy all cap the number. The sources say whether the figure is a record run or a handbook maximum.

A related air-breathing record is the SR-71.

This is how the category works. A note written for this entry appears here once it is in the database.

Provenance

Every measurement

Claimed, measured and official figures side by side, each with its source. The ranked figure is marked.

  1. 3,018km/h1,875mph838m/s1,629knMach2.46Ranked figure

    USAF fact-sheet maximum for the F-15. The C/D sheet says Mach 2 class. The F-15E sheet prints the same 1,875 mph and says Mach 2.5 plus. Smithsonian states Mach 2.5 without a miles-per-hour figure.

    The F-15E fact sheet prints 1,875 mph (Mach 2.5 plus). The National Air and Space Museum says Mach 2.5 and does not print 1,875 mph.

    Official
    U.S. Air Force (opens source in a new tab)

Reference

Specs

Scope
USAF fact-sheet maximum
Speed
1,875 mph
Mach label
2 class, or 2.5 plus on the E sheet
Status
In service

Context

Background

The archived U.S. Air Force F-15 Eagle fact sheet prints Speed: 1,875 mph (Mach 2 class). The Western Air Defense Sector fact sheet reprints that line. The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force's F-15C exhibit page also prints Speed: 1,875 mph (Mach 2 class). That miles-per-hour figure is the rank.

The F-15E Strike Eagle fact sheet prints the same 1,875 mph and then says Mach 2.5 plus. The Smithsonian, accessioning an F-15C in 2025, says the Eagle reaches Mach 2.5 and does not print 1,875 mph. The Mach label is the disagreement. The Air Force's miles-per-hour number is what this list stores. This is a published service maximum, not an FAI record flight.

Head to head

Compare McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle

Open the speed race

Spot a wrong number?

Every report is read by a person, and corrections are dated on the page.