Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) had received three more newly-built F-35 stealth fighter jets, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced on April 25.
In a brief statement, the military said that the fighter jets landed at the Nevatim air base a day earlier. The delivery brought the number of F-35s in service with the IAF to 45. Adding to the number, an experimental fighter jet known as AS-15 stationed at the Tel Nof air base.
The IAF operates a special version of the F-35A modified with Israeli-made systems. This version is known as the F-35I “Adir”. The main computer of the fighter jet has a plug-and-play function for add-on systems; proposals include an external jamming pod, and new Israeli air-to-air missiles and guided bombs in the internal weapon bays.
Israel was the second country after the United States to receive the F-35. The country declared the F-35I operationally capable in 2017.
In the very same year, the IAF said that one of its F-35s was damaged as a result of a bird strike while on a reconnaissance mission over Lebanon. However, it was later reported that the fighter jet was hit by a missile launched from a Syrian Soviet-made S-200 long-range air defense system.
Later in 2018, Israel became the first country to use the F-35s in combat. The fighter jets were reportedly used to attack targets in Syria.
In 2021, IAF F-35 fighter jets shot down two Iranian drones, carrying weapons to the Gaza Strip. This was the first operational shoot down and interception carried out by the F-35.
A second Israeli F-35 was slightly damaged by a bird strike while taking part in the country’s Independence Day fly-by in 2023.
The IAF’s three new F-35s are part of Israel’s initial order of 50 F-35 jets. Last month, three fighter jets from the same order were delivered. Another 25 were ordered from the American manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, last year.
The last two delivered came amid a renewed Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip that has so far claimed the lives of more than 2,000 Palestinians. It also comes amid rising tensions with Iran, which is currently engaged in indirect nuclear talks with the U.S.
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hangar queen trash. utter trash.
never used vs peer militaries for a _reason_.
much like the f-16. from ‘game changer’ to the russians not even giving a shit ukraine had them.
illuminated and hit by an s-200, bahahaha.
the one thing i don’t understand is, why would israel need more f35s or even at all, for the war in gaza? when the palestinians have no air force, no air defense systems or even manpads, to oppose even basic israeli military aviation, yet alone stealth bombers. i guess it’s just a clever way of squeezing as much out of the u.s. as possible.
2,000 people in a few weeks. at this rate they will be eliminating an entire ethnicity off the planet in the not too distant future.
definitely genocide in every sense of the word.
just in time to attack iran while iran is busy with india and pakistan…..
me soo horny