Manufacturer catalog
McDonnell Douglas; Boeing covers legacy McDonnell Douglas aircraft programs that became part of Boeing's defense portfolio after the 1997 merger. The manufacturer context is most useful for systems whose design, production, or sustainment history crosses that corporate boundary, including St. Louis-built combat aircraft such as the AV-8B Harrier II and F-15 family.
1 weaponsMcDonnell Douglas was formed in 1967 through the combination of McDonnell Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft, joining McDonnell's fighter, missile, and space work with Douglas's civil and military aircraft lines. Boeing absorbed McDonnell Douglas in 1997, and Boeing's defense business inherited major fixed-wing combat-aircraft programs, production records, and sustainment responsibilities from that lineage.
For defense readers, the important through-line is industrial continuity rather than a separate present-day corporation. McDonnell Douglas designed or produced major Cold War and post-Cold War aircraft, while Boeing later carried forward selected programs, upgrades, support work, and archive responsibility under the surviving Boeing corporate structure.
McDonnell Douglas proposed the AV-8B in 1975 and led the airframe work, while Boeing later preserved the program history and support context after the merger.
Sources: Boeing Last AV-8B Harrier Jet, NAVAIR AV-8B Harrier
The F-15 family began as a McDonnell Douglas air-superiority fighter line and continued through later Boeing-led variants, modernization work, and export builds.
Sources: U.S. Air Force F-15 Eagle Fact Sheet, Boeing F-15 Transformation
The F-15E is the two-seat Strike Eagle branch, first delivered to the U.S. Air Force in 1988 and now identified by the Air Force with Boeing as contractor.
Sources: U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle Fact Sheet, Boeing F-15 Transformation
The Saudi F-15S sits in the F-15E-derived export branch, linking McDonnell Douglas's Strike Eagle design lineage with Boeing's later allied F-15 portfolio.
Sources: U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle Fact Sheet, Boeing F-15 TransformationMcDonnell Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft combined to form McDonnell Douglas Corporation, creating a U.S. aerospace and defense manufacturer with major aircraft, missile, and space programs.
Sources: McDonnell Douglas Corporation
McDonnell Douglas proposed the AV-8B as an advanced vectored-thrust V/STOL light-attack aircraft, with the YAV-8B prototype flying in November 1978.
Sources: Boeing Last AV-8B Harrier Jet
Boeing's F-15 history identifies the F-15E Strike Eagle as first delivered to the U.S. Air Force in 1988 as a long-range interdiction fighter with focused ground-attack capability.
Sources: Boeing F-15 Transformation
Boeing announced that its merger with McDonnell Douglas became effective on August 1, 1997, making Boeing the surviving corporate home for McDonnell Douglas programs.
Sources: Boeing Completes McDonnell Douglas Merger
Boeing's AV-8B history records the final St. Louis delivery to Spain in 2003 and a total of 340 delivered AV-8B, TAV-8B, and YAV-8B aircraft.
Sources: Boeing Last AV-8B Harrier Jet
McDonnell Douglas no longer exists as a standalone company. The profile uses Boeing heritage material, official merger coverage, U.S. government aircraft fact sheets, and reference history sources to separate pre-merger manufacturer facts from post-merger Boeing stewardship.
