In recent years, experts have traditionally ranked the Israeli Air Force in very high places in the ratings of the strongest air forces in the world. This is facilitated by a number of criteria, among which there is both a rich historical experience in conducting successful air operations, and a very well-trained contingent of pilots who not only train, but are regularly involved in combat missions using modern high-precision weapons. The aircraft fleet of the Israeli Air Force is also of great importance, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The country is already in service with the fifth-generation F-35I Adir multi-role fighters.
The events of the Second World War had a great influence on the Israeli Air Force, as well as on all the armed forces of the country. The memory of the catastrophe faced by the Jewish people today forms the basis of the foundation that forms the armed forces of this Middle Eastern state. All modern Israeli policy is aimed at never again allowing a repetition of the catastrophe that occurred in the middle of the 20th century. Increased attention is paid to the armed forces and the training of reservists. A strong and trained army is the guarantee of Israel's existence. Especially considering the fact that the Jewish state is in the ring of Arab countries hostile to it.
From the very beginning of its existence, the Israeli Air Force was based on the use of foreign-made technology. An interesting fact is that the first fighters on which Israeli pilots flew in the second half of the 1940s were Messerschmitts-109, received from Czechoslovakia. The post-war Czech modification of this famous German fighter was designated Avia S-199. In the future, the Israeli Air Force was formed on the same principle. Already in the 50s of the XX century, Israel established and established rather warm relations with France and the United States, gaining access to their military equipment.
Israeli fighter Avia S-199
For a long time, the basis of the Israeli Air Force fleet was made up of French Mirage III fighters of various modifications. Israel began receiving these combat aircraft in 1962. It was the Mirages that formed the backbone of the Israeli Air Force's fleet during the 1967 Six Day War. In aerial combat, the Israeli Air Force proved to be a formidable force, conducting a successful campaign and participating in battles against Egyptian, Syrian, Iraqi, Libyan and Jordanian pilots. True, in the same 1967, France imposed an embargo on arms supplies to Israel, condemning the aggression against neighboring Arab states.
Faced with new circumstances for itself, Israel turned to new partners, primarily the United States. Already in 1969, the Israeli Air Force began to receive American McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II fighters. At the same time, the Israeli special services carried out a successful operation, as a result of which they were able to take possession of a full set of technical documentation and drawings of the French Mirage III fighter. Based on the documentation received, Israel created its own multi-role fighter, designated IAI Kfir (Lion).
Based on the French Dassault Mirage III fighter, the aircraft received Israeli-made avionics and a version of the American General Electric J79 engine produced in Israel. The second successful borrowing was the IAI Nesher ("Vulture") aircraft manufactured by the same company Israel Aircraft Industries. This multipurpose fighter-bomber was designed on the basis of the stolen Dassault Mirage 5 blueprints. Surprisingly, the Israeli versions of French combat aircraft were successful in the international market, they were supplied to a number of Latin American countries. It is worth noting that a similar model of behavior was later adhered to in the PRC, not considering it shameful to copy successful foreign military equipment, develop its own production on its basis and create improved models.
Dassault Mirage III Israeli Air Force
The next logical step on the part of Israel was an attempt to create its own combat aircraft practically from scratch. Work on its own light multi-role fighter, which was supposed to occupy the same niche as the F-16, started in Israel in 1980. The project received the designation IAI Lavi ("Lion Cub"). At the same time, already in the mid-1970s, Israel began to receive from the United States the latest heavy all-weather fourth-generation fighters, the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle.
Work on the creation of a new light fighter in addition to the American F-15 required enormous time and money from the Israeli state and ultimately ended with the fact that in 1987 the Lavi fighter program was finally curtailed, a total of 5 prototypes were built, the last flight they committed in 1990. The preference was given to the purchase of ready-made F-16 fighters in the USA. At the same time, it cannot be said that the attempt to create their own combat aircraft was a pointless waste of time and money. The Israeli aviation industry has gained invaluable additional experience. Although Israel does not manufacture its own aircraft, today it has made significant progress in the creation of modern avionics, air-based weapons, electronic warfare systems and other components, which are actively installed on equipment purchased in the United States. At the same time, even from their IAI Lavi project, the Israelis were able to derive maximum benefit by selling its technical documentation to China. The documentation received from Israel was used in the PRC to develop its own fourth-generation multirole fighter Chengdu J-10.
Today, the backbone of the Israeli Air Force and its main combat force are American-made aircraft, including the latest models of fifth-generation multirole fighters. The number of personnel of the Israeli Air Force is estimated at about 34 thousand people, the number of trained reservists is 55 thousand people. The Air Force of this Middle Eastern country has about 57 airfields, of which 54 have concrete-paved runways and only three unpaved ones. The military has at least two airfields with runways more than three thousand meters long, which allows them to receive military aircraft of all existing types.
Experimental Israeli fighter IAI Lavi
According to the collection The Military Balance 2018, which is compiled annually by specialists from the International Institute for Strategic Studies, 347 combat aircraft are in service with the Israeli Air Force, all of them are American-made models. The basis of the fighter aircraft fleet is made up of the F-15 and F-16 models. Thus, the Israeli Air Force has 58 fighters: 16 F-15A Eagle, 6 F-15B Eagle, 17 F-15C Eagle, 19 F-15D Eagle and 264 fighter-bomber: 25 F-15I Ra'am, 78 F-16C Fighting Falcon, 49 F-16D Fighting Falcon, 98 F-16I Sufa, 14 F-35I Adir. Given the combat capabilities and composition of the Israeli Air Force, they are rightly often ranked fourth in the world after the US, Russian and Chinese Air Forces. At the same time, they simply have no competitors in the Middle East region.
An important feature of the Israeli Air Force is the presence in their composition of fifth-generation serial multi-role fighters. The IDF became the first foreign army in the world to receive the latest American F-35 fighter. At the end of 2018, 14 aircraft of this type have already been transferred to Israel. It is expected that by 2024 the country will have formed two full-fledged squadrons of 25 aircraft each. In the future, their number can be increased to 75 cars, with this development of events, the return purchases of the American aircraft building corporation Lockheed Martin in Israel will amount to $ 4 billion. Orders are being placed in Israel for the production of fenders, fuel tanks and pilot helmets. It is worth noting that Israel is showing interest in the F-35B model with the possibility of a short takeoff and vertical landing. Such aircraft are of interest to the Israeli military, as they allow them to act even in cases where airfields come under missile and bomb attacks from the Iranian Air Force or rocket attacks from the Hezbollah movement.
A special feature of the aircraft is their adaptation for Israel. Fighting vehicles, which have the letter "I" in their name, are distinguished by the electronic equipment installed on board, including Israeli-made electronic warfare equipment, in addition to the Israeli avionics, aircraft are able to use the entire line of their own weapons: guided missiles and guided bombs. The same is true for the most advanced Israeli combat aircraft F-35I Adir ("Mighty"), which is a modification of the American F-35 Lightning II with installed Israeli electronics: electronic warfare systems, avionics, all kinds of sensors, missiles and bombs - all this is produced directly in Israel.
F-16 fighter-bomber of the Israeli Air Force
The presence of fifth-generation fighters in the Air Force significantly expands their combat capabilities. According to Chinese sources, stealthy American-made multipurpose fighters allowed the Israeli and American military to collect a huge amount of information about the capabilities of the Syrian air defense system and the complexes in its armament, as well as about the actions of Russian tactical aviation, which used its new fighters in Syria in combat conditions. - Su-34 bombers and Su-35S fighters. As US Central Command officers say, the Israeli F-35I Adir is a "reconnaissance vacuum cleaner."
An important feature of the Israeli Air Force is also the fact that they are used to and know how to operate in the airspace of neighboring states, to carry out and conduct large-scale air operations, including in the face of opposition from enemy air defense systems. Moreover, this experience is successful. In 1981, a raid of eight Israeli F-16 fighter-bombers put an end to the Iraqi nuclear program, and the Osirak reactor was destroyed in an air strike. Taking off from an air base in the Negev desert, Israeli warplanes flew to their target, using the airspace of Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The flight was mainly carried out at low altitudes to reduce the likelihood of detection by radar. In 2007, the Israeli Air Force carried out an operation of a similar purpose against Syrian nuclear facilities, an operation called Orchard "Orchard" ended successfully and without losses for the Israeli side, however, disputes about the then destroyed Syrian facility and its purpose are still ongoing.
Air strikes on targets in Syria, which the Israeli Air Force have carried out quite regularly in recent years, can also be called successful. According to the assurances of the official Tel Aviv, these strikes are primarily directed against pro-Iranian armed formations and Iranian military facilities in Syria. The last major air strikes on Syrian territory were carried out on January 21, 2019. During all these raids, the Israeli Air Force lost the only F-16 fighter, which was shot down in February 2018. All this speaks of both the high level of skill and tactical training of Israeli pilots, and the high level of planning of air operations and their conduct using modern electronic warfare systems, which are effective against Syrian air defense systems, represented mainly by Soviet-made complexes, with the exception of air defense missile systems. Pantsir-C1 , which, however, have already become victims of Israeli attacks.
Israeli Air Force F-35I Adir multi-role fighters
Experts note that the secret of the successful use of the Israeli Air Force against the Syrian air defense system, albeit equipped mainly with outdated Soviet-made systems, but at the same time quite numerous, lies in the use of modern electronic warfare means. In the raids, the Israeli Air Force uses not only strike forces, but also RC-12D electronic warfare and reconnaissance aircraft, as well as long-range radar patrol (DRM) based on passenger Gulfstream G500 / G550. At the same time, the F-16I attack aircraft themselves are equipped with Israeli-made electronic warfare container systems. According to experts, the electronic warfare and airborne missile planes, raised into the air even before the start of the air strike, intercept radio communications between the Syrian air defense units and produce targeted jamming in relation to the detected radars and complexes, making their work difficult.
