Oregon Air National Guard F-15EX Eagle II fighters from the 142nd Wing have carried out their first live bomb drops during a three-week deployment to Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. Imagery released through official Air National Guard and DVIDS channels shows the jets supporting the Air Force Weapons Instructor Course in late August, underlining the aircraft’s growing air-to-ground role as operational units begin to train with live weapons.
The images were taken on 26 and 27 August and published on 9 September. They show the Oregon unit’s F-15EXs participating in a training and qualification environment rather than a combat mission, with the deployment framed around integration into the Weapons Instructor Course syllabus at Nellis.
The release centres on the first live-bomb employment by an operational F-15EX unit, not the first bomb carried by the type. Earlier in 2026, the 142nd Wing had already conducted inert-bomb testing, while the new imagery points to the Eagle II’s continued expansion beyond its traditional air-superiority mission. Secondary reporting also indicated that a 2,000-lb-class weapon may have been observed, although the official captions focused on the live-bomb milestone and did not clearly identify the munition.