Israel Becomes First Country To Carry Out Airstrikes With F-35
Israeli Fighter Jet Image by Getty Images
F-35 stealth fighter jet
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel is the first country to carry out airstrikes with the F-35 stealth fighter jet, the commander of the Israel Air Force told his counterparts from 20 counties from around the world.
“We are flying the F-35 over the entire Middle East and that it has become part of our operational capability,” Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin said Tuesday. “We were the first in the world to attack with the F-35. The Israeli Air Force has twice carried out strikes with the F-35, on two different fronts,” he also said.
Israel was the first country outside the United States to acquire the F-35. Only a limited number of American allies have been allowed to purchase the jet, which Washington has asserted will continue to maintain Israel’s qualitative military edge.
Israel currently has about eight of the planes. A total of 50 have been ordered by Israel, which should have them all by 2024. They are to be fitted with advanced Israeli weapons systems.
Norkin on Tuesday addressed the commanders of allied countries air forces from around the world at the start of a three-day conference held to mark the 70th anniversary of Israel’s Air Force.
He also told the attendees that Iranian forces in Syria had fired some 32 rockets at Israeli military bases on the Golan Heights, more than the 20 originally reported by the IDF. In addition, Syrian air defenses fired over 100 surface-to-air missiles at the Israeli fighter jets during Israel’s retaliatory attacks.
“The Iranians fired 32 rockets, we intercepted four. The rest landed outside Israeli territory,” he said.
He said that Israel has had an 85 percent success rate in intercepting hundreds of missiles fired from the north and south with its three-layered missile defense system: the Arrow long-range system; David’s Sling medium-range system; and the Iron Dome short-range system.
Contact Alyssa Fisher at [email protected] or on Twitter, @alyssalfisher
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
