SAN ANTONIO — Hundreds of new jobs are on the horizon in Military City U.S.A following Boeing’s announcement Thursday to provide major upgrades to F-15 fighter jets.
“With such a skilled and experienced workforce, many of whom are standing back here today, something that our citizens and our city have prioritized through SA Ready to Work program, Port San Antonio is an ideal fit for this F-15 modernization work,” said San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg.
San Antonio has served as a growing home for Boeing since 1998. The Seattle-based company employs more than 5,700 people in Texas.
Boeing officials expect roughly 200 new jobs to come out of the F-15 upgrades project.
Port San Antonio President and CEO Jim Perschbach says the steady pipeline of talent continues to strengthen the work performed at Boeing in the Alamo City.
“We’ve been working on airplanes on this campus since 1917 so we know what we’re doing with it, but when you see the new ways that airplanes are going and all the new things that they can do, companies like Boeing and so many other that we have on this campus, including our entrepreneurial community are really taking us to new heights,” Perschbach said.
Forty-three F-15E’s will undergo enhancements to be equipped with what’s called the Eagle Passive Active Warning and Survivability System (EPAWSS).
Boeing officials say the significant upgrades will improve situational awareness in the battlefield.
“It’s going to allow us to position the F-15 as a fighter for the future. Upgrading the electronic warfare infrastructure on it and allowing it to continue to be very effective and survive in the most extreme warfare conditions,” said Ed Onwe, vice president of global technical operations at Boeing Global Services.
The decades-long partnership between the U.S. Air Force, Boeing and City of San Antonio could lead to even more enhancements to the F-15 and B-52 bomber, according to Boeing officials.