No, not really. Like the A-10, USAF wants to retire its legacy platform for years now and congress has been blocking it. Its budget wants to stop buying any F-1

No, not really. Like the A-10, USAF wants to retire its legacy platform for years now and congress has been blocking it. Its budget wants to stop buying any F-15 after 2025. And F-15EX is assigned to national guard bases first before active duty. My guess is that F-15EX will serve as home defense fighter first. USAF wants NGAD badly, they have a gap in their weapon platform right now. They don't want to invest more into F-22s or F15s, which congress wants them to. They need the next gen capability to maintain air superiority in combat, especially against China and future drone warfare.