&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "'Target down': IDF releases historic footage of F-35 downing Iranian Yak-130 over Tehran - VIDEO")
A first in four decades, the Israeli Air Force (IAF)engaged in air-to-air combat with a manned aircraft. Israel’s F-35I fighter jet shot down Iran’s Russian-made Yak-130 jet over capital Tehran on Wednesday (March 4). The Israeli Forces also confirmed that this was first time ever that a manned aircraft was downed by an F-35. A video released by the Israeli military shows infrared cockpit footage of an F-35I "Adir" jet locking onto and firing a missile at an Iranian Yak-130 trainer jet over Tehran. The audio in Hebrew confirms the hit and intent to continue strikes. In a report by news outlet Times of Israel, the radio recording has IAF chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar telling the F-35I pilot that his actions were “historic.”
“The historic interception over the skies of Tehran is an expression of the air force’s power and your personal determination. The next mission is already waiting for you,” Bar said.
The Israeli Air Force mentioned that the last time a manned aircraft was shot down was in 1985 over Lebanon. In the said incident, an F-15 downed two Syrian MiG-23 fighters.
Commander of the Nevatim Airbase was quoted by Times of Israel, “We identified the plane, locked on it and launched (a missile). The Iranian plane endangered (our) aircraft. It could have hit our plane, so we shot it down."
Nevatim Airbase is also where IAF’s F-35 jets are housed. The commander added that the F-35 fired the missile while it was in the midst of targeting Iranian regime sites in Tehran. He said the F-35 “knows how to do this very quickly and accurately.”
