F-35 destroyed: Iran becomes second country to down stealth fighter

TEHRAN: Iran has claimed to have downed two F-35I Adir, the customised Israeli fifth-generation stealth aircraft that were involved in precision strikes against Iranian military and nuclear installations on June 13. If true, this would be the second time that a US-origin stealth aircraft has been downed in combat.

Initial reports about the Israeli strikes under Operation ‘Rising Lion’ noted that the F-35 stealth fighters flew almost 2,000 kilometers. The IAF’s F-35I Adir, a modified variant of the formidable Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II aircraft, was hailed as the hero of the audacious Israeli operation. EurAsian Times earlier highlighted the cutting-edge capabilities of the F-35IA Adir, such as advanced avionics and integrated electronic warfare systems of the aircraft that enabled it to penetrate a sophisticated air defense network.

While the scale of damage caused to Israel overnight is still emerging, Iran has also claimed to have downed two F-35 fighters. Iran’s state-run Press TV was quick to note: “Iran has earned the distinction of being the first country in the world to successfully shoot down fifth-generation fighter jets by targeting two stealth F-35 fighters belonging to the Zionist regime.” The IDF categorically denied the claims. “Fake Iranian media,” said Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman. However, if confirmed, this would be the first time an F-35 would have been downed anywhere in the world.

It is pertinent to note that despite the cutting-edge capabilities, the F-35I Adir (like any other F-35 variant) is not invincible. For instance, during the US bombing operation against the Houthis undertaken earlier this year, a Houthi missile almost struck an American F-35 Lightning II aircraft, forcing the pilot to take evasive action.

No aircraft in the world is completely invisible to advanced radars, and the US got the taste of this when it lost its first-ever stealth aircraft in combat. The vulnerability of the first-ever operational American stealth aircraft, the F-117 Nighthawk, was displayed in 1999 against Yugoslavia’s President Slobodan Milosevic’s ruthless ethnic cleansing effort against the Kosovar Albanian population.

On the fateful day of March 27, 1999, the pilot spotted two bright dots ascending rapidly from the clouds below. These were radar-guided missiles that were fired at three-and-a-half times the speed of sound from an S-125M Neva surface-to-air missile system. Despite the evasive maneuvers, F-117 “Something Wicked” was damaged by one of the Neva missiles that exploded very close to it. The plane went into a dive as it lost control and sped toward the ground. Lt. Col. Zelko ejected safely and was rescued by a US Air Force combat search-and-rescue team.