Manufacturer catalog

McDonnell Douglas

McDonnell Douglas was a major U.S. aerospace and defense manufacturer formed in 1967 from McDonnell Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft, later absorbed into Boeing in 1997. In this catalog it anchors legacy fighter, strike, helicopter, and heritage aerospace lines that still appear across several weapon entries.

12 weapons

McDonnell Douglas was one of the defining American aerospace contractors of the Cold War and late Cold War era. The company formed in 1967 from the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft, kept a St. Louis base, and was later merged into Boeing in 1997.

For this catalog, McDonnell Douglas matters because its legacy production footprint reaches several cataloged systems, especially the F-15 family and its strike variants, along with helicopter and other heritage aircraft lines that remained influential after the merger.

fighter aircraftstrike aircraftattack helicoptersmilitary aircraftaerospace systems

Notable Systems

F-15 family fighter aircraft, Fighter aircraft family, Aircraft & UAVs

F-15 family fighter aircraft

Fighter aircraft family

Core McDonnell Douglas fighter lineage represented in the catalog through multiple Eagle-family entries.

F-15E Strike Eagle, Dual-role strike fighter, Aircraft & UAVs

F-15E Strike Eagle

Dual-role strike fighter

The McDonnell Douglas-derived two-seat strike version of the F-15 line, which anchors several later catalog entries.

F-15E Strike Eagle, Dual-role strike fighter, Aircraft & UAVs

F-15S strike aircraft

Dual-role strike fighter

Export F-15E lineage that keeps the McDonnell Douglas strike-fighter branch visible in the catalog.

AH-64A Peten attack helicopter, Attack helicopter, Aircraft & UAVs

AH-64A Peten attack helicopter

Attack helicopter

Heritage Apache family entry connected to McDonnell Douglas through the company's helicopter business history.

Manufacturer History

  1. McDonnell Douglas is formed

    Britannica and Boeing heritage references describe McDonnell Douglas as the 1967 merger of McDonnell Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft.

  2. Boeing merger becomes effective

    Boeing announced that its merger with McDonnell Douglas became effective on 1 August 1997.

Predecessors
McDonnell Aircraft CorporationDouglas Aircraft Company
Successors
Boeing
Website links
Boeing historyJames S. McDonnell Prologue RoomBoeing completes McDonnell Douglas mergerSt. Louis Lambert history

McDonnell Douglas is a defunct company absorbed into Boeing in 1997, so this profile relies on Boeing heritage pages, Boeing merger coverage, and reference sources rather than a live corporate site.

Manufacturer Sources

  • Boeing historyPublisher: Boeing | Note: Supports Boeing's heritage-company framing for McDonnell Douglas and the catalog context that preserves McDonnell Douglas history inside Boeing's historical materials. | Accessed: 2026-06-21
  • James S. McDonnell Prologue RoomPublisher: Boeing | Note: Supports Boeing's formal treatment of McDonnell, Douglas, and McDonnell Douglas as heritage companies and the catalog's builder-catalog context. | Accessed: 2026-06-21
  • 3 California companies that helped shape BoeingPublisher: Boeing | Note: Supports the 1967 merger of McDonnell Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft to form McDonnell Douglas and Boeing's heritage-company narrative. | Accessed: 2026-06-21
  • McDonnell Douglas CorporationPublisher: Britannica | Note: Supports the 1967 formation, St. Louis headquarters, and merger background for McDonnell Douglas as a former aerospace company. | Accessed: 2026-06-21
  • Boeing completes McDonnell Douglas mergerPublisher: Boeing | Note: Supports the 1 August 1997 merger effective date and Boeing's acquisition of McDonnell Douglas. | Accessed: 2026-06-21
  • St. Louis Lambert historyPublisher: St. Louis Lambert International Airport | Note: Supports the St. Louis manufacturing and headquarters context for McDonnell Aircraft and the 1967 McDonnell Douglas merger background. | Accessed: 2026-06-21
  • McDonnell Douglas Long Beach 11.jpgPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Publicly reusable CC BY-SA 3.0 photo of the McDonnell Douglas Long Beach plant; the file page identifies the site as the assembly plant for DC-9 and DC-10 aircraft. | Accessed: 2026-06-21

Produced weapons

Category

Aircraft & UAVs

Crewed aircraft, drones, and loitering munitions.

12/12
F/A-18 Hornet (Tactical), Carrier-capable multirole strike fighter, Aircraft & UAVs1981 U.S.-Libya Confrontations, 1990 Gulf War +5 moreF/A-18 Hornet (Tactical)Carrier-capable multirole strike fighterBuilt in: United StatesThe F/A-18 Hornet (Tactical) is the National Naval Aviation Museum's label for the original McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 A-D Hornet family, a twin-engine carrier-capable strike fighter that entered Marine Corps service in 1983 and U.S. Navy service in 1984. NAVAIR describes the Hornet as the nation's first all-weather fighter and attack aircraft; its documented combat record spans Libya, Desert Storm, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, and later coalition campaigns.
F-15E Strike Eagle, Dual-role strike fighter, Aircraft & UAVs1990 Gulf War, 2001 War in Afghanistan +6 moreF-15E Strike EagleDual-role strike fighterBuilt in: United StatesThe F-15E Strike Eagle is a two-seat U.S. dual-role fighter built for long-range interdiction, precision attack, and self-escorted air-to-air combat. Its conformal fuel tanks, targeting/navigation pods, radar, and two-person cockpit made it a night-strike aircraft in the 1990 Gulf War and a recurring U.S. and export-derivative strike platform in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, counter-ISIL operations, and later Middle East crises.
F-15 family fighter aircraft, Fighter aircraft family, Aircraft & UAVs2023 Israel-Hezbollah Conflict, 2023 Israel-Hamas War +12 moreF-15 family fighter aircraftFighter aircraft familyBuilt in: United StatesThe F-15 family covers U.S.-origin Eagle air-superiority fighters, F-15E Strike Eagle attack aircraft, and export or modernized derivatives such as the F-15 Baz, F-15I, F-15S, and F-15EX. The catalog records its air-to-air, interdiction, long-range strike, no-fly-zone patrol, and evacuation-cover roles from the 1982 Lebanon War and 1990 Gulf War through Israeli, Saudi, U.S., and coalition operations in the 2020s.
F-15 Baz, Multirole fighter, Aircraft & UAVs1982 Lebanon War, 2006 Lebanon War +3 moreF-15 BazMultirole fighterBuilt in: United StatesThe F-15 Baz is the Israeli Air Force designation for F-15A/B/C/D Eagle aircraft adapted for air-superiority, long-range strike, and precision-attack missions. Open-source reporting traces Baz combat use from 1982 Lebanon War air battles through later Lebanon, Gaza, and Iran strike operations, showing how older Israeli F-15 airframes remained relevant as heavy payload carriers after repeated avionics and weapons upgrades.
AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, Twin-engine attack helicopter, Aircraft & UAVs1990 Gulf War, 2020 United States-Iran Conflict +7 moreAH-64 Apache attack helicopterTwin-engine attack helicopterBuilt in: United StatesThe AH-64 Apache is a U.S. twin-engine attack helicopter family designed by Hughes Helicopters and continued through McDonnell Douglas and Boeing production. Built around a two-person crew, nose-mounted sensors, a 30 mm chain gun, rockets, and guided missiles, it has direct source-backed combat use from Desert Storm and Iraq to Afghanistan, Sinai, Yemen, Gaza, Lebanon, anti-ISIS operations, and recent U.S. operations against Iran.
F-4 Phantom II, Twin-engine, two-seat supersonic fighter-bomber, Aircraft & UAVs1969 War of Attrition, 1990 Gulf War +3 moreF-4 Phantom IITwin-engine, two-seat supersonic fighter-bomberBuilt in: United StatesThe F-4 Phantom II is an American twin-engine, two-seat supersonic fighter-bomber developed by McDonnell for U.S. Navy fleet defense and later adopted by U.S. and allied air arms for interception, strike, reconnaissance, and electronic-warfare roles. More than 5,000 were built, with source-backed catalog use spanning Israeli War of Attrition strikes, U.S. F-4G Wild Weasel missions in the Gulf War, Turkish F-4E 2020 strikes against PKK targets, Turkey's RF-4E loss over the Syria crisis, and attributed Iranian anti-ISIS strikes in Iraq.
F-15I Ra'am, Two-seat long-range strike fighter, Aircraft & UAVs2006 Lebanon War, 2023 Israel-Hamas War +3 moreF-15I Ra'amTwo-seat long-range strike fighterBuilt in: United StatesThe F-15I Ra'am is Israel's F-15E-derived two-seat strike fighter, built in the United States with Israeli-specific avionics, communications, electronic-warfare, and helmet-sight equipment. Open-source records tie the 69th Squadron aircraft to long-range strike and interdiction roles from the 2006 Lebanon War through Gaza, Hezbollah, Red Sea/Yemen, and Iran operations, while Boeing and Israeli-reference sources describe the original 25-aircraft fleet, F100-PW-229 engines, APG-70 radar, and precision-weapon compatibility.
F-15S strike aircraft, Two-seat multirole strike aircraft, Aircraft & UAVs2014 Yemen Civil WarF-15S strike aircraftTwo-seat multirole strike aircraftBuilt in: United StatesThe F-15S is Saudi Arabia's export strike version of the F-15E Strike Eagle, built for two-crew, long-range air-to-ground attack while retaining fighter performance. In the 2014 Yemen Civil War record, it represents the Royal Saudi Air Force's F-15 strike component in the Saudi-led coalition air campaign, with open reporting documenting an F-15S operating over Yemen and being targeted by Houthi-aligned air defenses.