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Israeli Air Force shows F-35’s first aerial ‘kills’ of Iranian drones in declassified video

Video tweeted by the Israeli Air Force shows footage from March last year of ‘Adir’ F-35I fighter jets shooting down two Iranian UAVs.

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New Delhi: In what is perhaps its first recorded kill ever, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) has declassified a video of its American F-35 fighter jet bringing down two Iranian drones.

“About a year ago, two Iranian UAVs were intercepted, carrying weapons in order to transfer them to the Hamas terrorist organization. The drones were intercepted before crossing the border into Israeli territory,” the IAF Monday tweeted, along with a 45-second video of the F-35 shooting down the UAVs.

היירוט המבצעי הראשון שביצעו מטוסי ״האדיר״ (F-35I) בעולם הותר לפרסום.
לפני כשנה יורטו שני מל"טים איראנים, אשר נשאו אמצעי לחימה במטרה להעבירם לארגון הטרור חמאס.
המל"טים יורטו בטרם חצו את הגבול לשטח ישראל. pic.twitter.com/LoSD5K2YSP

— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) March 7, 2022

The video features interviews with the 116th Squadron’s commander and deputy commander (and formation leader) at the time, who explain the procedure as well as the operation.

“It was the first operational interception of its kind in the world, in which an F-35 successfully intercepted an aerial target,” Squadron Deputy Commander Maj. G can be heard saying in the video.

“Essentially, we receive information about hostile aircraft approaching Israeli airspace. It requires us to scramble ‘Adir’ (F-35I) fighters. As soon as we arrived at the scene, we conducted an interception of two Iranian aircraft that were aiming to infiltrate Israeli territory in order to commit hostile action,” Squadron Commander Col. N says.

The video also shows footage of the F-35’s interception, including radio contact between the controller and the formation leader of the squadron.

“We will not let any factor threaten Israeli airspace or interfere with Israeli sovereignty,” Col. N added.

According to a report by The Drive, the intercepted Iranian UAVs in question are the Shahad 197 type, which boasts a range of 2,000 km, a wingspan of 7 metres, and a flight speed of approximately 2,000 km per hour. Similar UAVs had been intercepted by Israel in February 2018.

More on Israel’s F-35 fighter jets

Developed by American defense contractor giant Lockheed Martin, the F-35 first arrived in Israel for operational use in December 2016.

However, Israel had reportedly signed a deal “to join system development and demonstration effort for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program” more than 13 years earlier, in July 2003.

Israel had officially selected the F-35 using the United States’ Foreign Military Sales process in 2010, according to the F-35’s official website.

Lockheed Martin’s programme to supply F-35 Lighting II aircraft to Israel has now delivered 14 such aircraft over 3,100 flight hours, the contractor said. The F-35 Lighting II has been named as the ‘Adir’, meaning the “mighty one” in Hebrew.

Described as “the most advanced fighter jet in the world”, the F-35 is a single-seat, long range, supersonic jet. Although part of the F-35A variant is the most common of its kind in the world, Israel’s ‘Adir’ fighter jet is a “heavily modified” version. This was to be more compatible with the country’s own electronics and weapons systems, and its air defense systems are said to be the “most comprehensive” in the world.


Also read: India gives nod for indigenous development of light tanks for mountain warfare


 

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