Israel’s F-35I Adir Stealth Fighter Has No Equal

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Key Points: The F-35, particularly Israel’s modified F-35I Adir variant, demonstrated its capabilities in combat against Iran, reportedly neutralizing a significant portion of Iranian air defenses, including Russian-built S-300 and S-400 systems, without suffering losses.

-While some reports claim Iran’s air defenses targeted the F-35, these assertions are unverified.

-The Israeli F-35I Adir incorporates advanced electronic warfare (EW) and stealth technologies tailored to counter regional threats, enabling successful precision strikes from standoff distances. The aircraft’s performance underscores its effectiveness as a fifth-generation fighter in modern conflict scenarios.

F-35I Adir Proves Its Dominance Over Iranian Air Defenses

The F-35 is again at the center stage as a focus of criticism, concern, and hesitation due to considerable maintenance, production, and cost issues. 

Yet, the aircraft’s actual performance in combat offers a distinct window into the merits of the 5th-generation plane. 

This is perhaps most evident with the Israeli Defense Force’s specially configured  F-35I Adir variant’s performance against Iran, as the aircraft was universally reported to succeed in eluding, tracking, and “wiping out” the majority of Iranian air defenses during its recent military operations. 

While it may not be clear just how modernized and functional Iran’s Russian-built S-300s and S-400s are, the F-35s performance against these famous and well-known air defense systems seems highly significant.

It demonstrates that the F-35 can launch precision strikes from the air with accurate targeting and weaponry, operate and attack from stand-off distances, and leverage stealth properties to avoid being targeted and shot down.  

F-35I Adir Combat Success

The specifics of IDF air combat operations may be difficult to discern. Yet, the UK’s Chief of Defense Staff, Adm. Tony Rakin, specifically cited the F-35I Adir as a successful and critical platform during the recent strikes. 

“Israel used more than 100 aircraft, carrying fewer than 100 munitions, and with no aircraft getting within 100 miles of the target in the first wave, and that took down nearly the entirety of Iran’s air-defense system,” Radakin said during a Royal United Services Institute lecture in London, as quoted in a Yahoo news essay. 

Conversely, a contradictory report from Bulgarianmilitary.com claims that Iran was able to successfully “jam” and “target” IDF F-35s, a report quite challenging to verify. 

Many suggested that Israel’s response was limited in considerable measure to avoid further escalation, yet the Bulgarian report posited that Russian-built S-300s in Iran were able to target Israel’s F-35I. 

“The S-300 can “lock on” targets such as the F-35, using radar and missile complexes to cover large swaths of airspace,” the Bulgarian report claimed. 

The evidence, however, seems to suggest that the UK’s Radakin’s assessment is likely more accurate given that not a single F-35 was shot down, damaged, or disabled in the attack. 

This seems quite significant and indicates that the F-35I Adir operated with air superiority. 

F-35I Adir EW

Furthermore, Iran has for years touted its EW technology and, at one point, claimed it helped shoot down a US Navy BAMS-D Global Hawk several years ago.  

Such an occurrence, if true, says little about the F-35I, an aircraft engineered with a new generation of EW technologies, jamming capacity, and the ability to, at times, “deconflict” the spectrum by successfully identifying hostile electronic attacks.  

Advanced EW can now distinguish frequencies from one another and often discern enemy attacks by using RF signatures to establish a “line-of-bearing” and disable enemy communications and weapons guidance systems. 

It seems more likely that, despite the Bulgarian report, the F-35I was able to “jam,” disable or thwart Iranian EW and radar.  

This would make sense for several reasons, one being that the F-35 is now equipped with an advanced EW system, and, in particular, the IDF’s F-35I Adir variant incorporates adaptations and upgrades engineered explicitly by Israel. 

Specific IDF F-35I Adir variant

Israel’s unique modifications to its “i” variant of the F-35 likely pertain to specific technological efforts to counter particular regional threats.  

In the US, the F-35A operates with the BAE-built AN/ASQ-239 EW system, which, among other things, can distinguish threats and signals, jam several different frequencies simultaneously, and even operate with vital countermeasures such as frequency hopping.  

Therefore, Israel’s F-35I Adir may incorporate IDF-specific modifications to counter Iranian EW, radar, and guidance systems. 

About the Author: Kris Osborn 

Kris Osborn is the Military Affairs Editor of 19FortyFive and President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.