Rookie pilot credited with kill during bombing raid

In world 1st, Israeli F-35 shoots down Iranian jet in air-to-air combat over Tehran

Incident also 1st time in some 40 years that Israeli Air Force engaged in air-to-air combat with manned aircraft; IAF expected to mark jet with decal ‘victory mark’ to denote achievement

An Israeli Air Force F-35I fighter jet shot down a Russian-made Iranian Yak-130 jet over Tehran on Wednesday, the IDF said, in the first-ever downing of a manned aircraft by an F-35.

The incident also marked the first time in some 40 years that the Israeli Air Force engaged in air-to-air combat with manned aircraft.

The last time IAF jets shot down a manned enemy aircraft was on November 24, 1985, over Lebanon. In that incident, an IAF F-15 downed two Syrian MiG-23 fighters.

In a radio recording published by the military, IAF chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar told 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.

Speaking to reporters, the commander of the Nevatim Airbase — where the IAF’s F-35 jets are housed — said, “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,” Brig. Gen. “Daled,” — identified only by his rank and first initial in Hebrew — said.

The airbase commander said 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.”

The pilot who shot down the Iranian aircraft was relatively junior in the force, according to the airbase commander, though he said that this was not his first flight in Iran.

“The Iranian Air Force understands that it is inferior and under significant threat. Despite this, it is trying with its remaining capabilities to carry out missions that will disrupt us. That was the situation that led to the shootdown,” the airbase commander said.

“We encounter the enemy during our sorties in Iran, but it is a weak enemy,” he added.

Footage posted to social media purported to show the jet crashing over the Lavasan Mountains, just north of Tehran. The video could not be immediately verified.

The IAF was expected to mark the F-35I with a “victory mark,” a small decal on the side of the plane to denote the achievement of the pilot and plane.

It would potentially be the first time in nearly two decades that the IAF has added a victory mark to a plane.

In 2007, the military marked fighter jets that participated in strikes on Syria’s nuclear reactor, in a mission known to much of the world as Operation Orchard, and in the IDF as Outside the Box.

The Yak-130, initially developed jointly by Russian aircraft manufacturer Yakovlev and Italian firm Aermacchi, is a jet trainer and light combat aircraft.

Development on the plane began in the 1990s.

In 2000, the Russian and Italian aircraft manufacturers ended their partnership, with each going on to develop their own version of the plane.

The Russian Yak-130 was first introduced into service by the Russian Air Force in 2010, and the Italian version of the plane, the M-346 Master, entered service in the Italian Air Force in 2015.

The M-346 Master is also in use by the Israeli Air Force as a jet trainer, and it is known in Hebrew as the Lavi.