Click to see full-size image. Source: the Israeli Air Force.
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) had received three new F-35 stealth fighter jets, the manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, announced on July 21.
The jets landed at the Nevatim air base a day earlier. The delivery brought the number of F-35s in service with the IAF to 39. 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”.
Click to see full-size image. Source: the Israeli Air Force.
Click to see full-size image. Source: the Israeli Air Force.
Click to see full-size image. Source: the Israeli Air Force.
Israel was the second country after the United States to receive the F-35. The country declared the F-35I operationally capable in 2017. The Israeli F-35 fleet reportedly crossed 20,000 cumulative flight hours in training, certification, and operational activity.
In 2017, 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 last April.
Israel approved the purchase of a third squadron of F-35s manufactured in the U.S. by Lockheed Martin in a $3 billion deal earlier this month. The additional 25 F-35s would bring Israel’s fleet of the stealth fighter jet to 75 in the upcoming years. The new deal will reportedly be financed by U.S. military aid to Israel.
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