INSANE! Israeli F-35I "Adir" Downs Iranian Fighter Jet in First-Ever Manned Kill
In a historic engagement over the Iranian capital, the Israeli Air Force has shattered a 40-year hiatus on dogfight victories, marking a global milestone for the F-35 stealth platform.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed Wednesday morning that an IAF "Adir" (F-35I) fighter jet successfully intercepted and shot down an Iranian YAK-130 combat aircraft over the skies of Tehran.
According to the IDF spokesperson, this marks a significant technological and military milestone: "This is the first time in the world that a manned fighter jet has been downed by an F-35."
Details from the incident reveal that the Iranian fighter jet scrambled into the air while Israeli aircraft were operating in the airspace as part of a wide-scale strike against regime targets.
Despite initial uncertainty regarding whether the Iranian pilot intended to engage in a direct dogfight, the Israeli "Adir" pilot identified the threat and neutralized the Iranian aircraft.
No details have been released on the fate of the Iranian pilot or the specific missile used in the engagement, but the IDF emphasized the Adir's stealth and sensor fusion capabilities in achieving the intercept without detection.
This is not the first air engagement in the conflict, earlier incidents included Qatari jets downing two Iranian Su-24s and various drone shootdowns, but it stands out as the first dogfight involving manned jets on both sides since the 1980s: This aerial victory is the first for the Israeli Air Force in over four decades. The last manned aerial shoot-down occurred on November 24, 1985, when an IAF F-15 "Baz" downed two Syrian MiG-23s during a dogfight over Lebanon.
The IDF Spokesperson’s announcement comes on the heels of a completed wave of extensive strikes against Iranian regime targets across the country.