Key Points and Summary – Israel’s F-15I Ra’am is a customized two-seat derivative of the U.S. F-15E for high-payload strikes in radar-dense airspace.
-Beyond shared range, payload and speed, the Ra’am carries Israeli mission computers, electronic warfare suites and data links, integrating Python missiles, Spice glide bombs and Delilah cruise missiles with U.S. munitions.
F-15I Fighter Israeli Air Force. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
F-15I Ra’am from Israel. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
-Purchased in the 1990s after Gulf War lessons, it has struck targets in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza and can reach Iran.
-Despite growing F-35I fleets, Israel will retain and upgrade Ra’ams, which complement stealth jets on deep-strike and deterrence missions. Reliable and proven.
The F-15I Ra’am Means Business
Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II 5th-generation stealth fighter is an American-made plane, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), as the United States Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps alike use it. But the first entity to “blood” the F-35 in combat was, actually, none of those American military branches, but rather the Israel Defense Forces (IDF); more specifically, it was the Israeli Air Force (IAF; Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal) with the F-35I Adir “Mighty One.”
General Dynamics’s (and now Lockheed Martin’s) F-16 Fighting Falcon (or as its stateside crews prefer to call it, the “Viper”) is also an American-made plane. But the first entity to “blood” the F-16 in combat was … nope, not the USAF, but rather the IAF, specifically the F-16I Soufa (“Storm”) variant.
And then there’s the American-made McDonnell Douglas cum Boeing F-15 Eagle, arguably the most successful fighter plane of all time in terms of its mind-blowing 104:0 kill ratio. And the first entity to “blood” the F-15 in combat was … yep, you’ve guessed it by now, the IAF. Indeed, the majority of the Eagles’ 104 kills have been bagged by IAF F-15 drivers as opposed to their Yankee counterparts. Accordingly, National Security Journal now takes a look at the history of the Israeli version of the all-American Eagle, the F-15I Ra’am (“Thunder”).
Differences and Similarities Between F-15I Ra’am and the American-owned Eagles
The Ra’am is the Israeli version of the two-seater F-15E Strike Eagle “bomb truck.”
However, as noted by Wiley Stickney in an 11 July 2025 article for Bolt Flight titled “Thunder of the Desert: How Israel’s F-15I Ra’am Redefines the American F-15 Eagle Platform,” this warbird “is not a mere clone of the American F-15E. While both airframes share a two-seat, dual-engine multirole architecture and deep-strike orientation, the Ra’am was fundamentally reimagined to suit Israel’s pressing need for fast, high-payload, precision attacks in hostile, radar-rich territory. Designed with Iran and Syria in mind, the Ra’am incorporates indigenous avionics, customized weapon loadouts, and advanced electronic warfare systems, positioning it as a linchpin in Israel’s strategic doctrine … it is what lies beneath the airframe that sets the Ra’am apart: Israeli mission computers, electronic countermeasures, communication systems, and weapons integration—all tuned for autonomous deep-strike operations without the safety net of allied support.”
What’s more, in addition to US-made ordnance such as the 20mm M61MA1 Vulcan autocannon, GBU-28 bunker buster bomber, and AIM-120 AMRAAM (AKA the “Slammer”) air-to-air missile, the Ra’am can pack Israeli-made armaments such as the Python 4 and Python 5 air-to-air missiles, the Spice 2000 and Spice 1000 electro-optical GPS-guided bombs, and the Elbit Systems Delilah cruise missile.
Commonalities with the “Thunder” and the USAF Strike Eagle include:
-Combat radius exceeding 1,100 statute miles (955 nautical miles; 1,770 kilometers)
-Payload capacity in excess of 23,000 pounds (10,432 kilograms)
-Max airspeed of nearly Mach 2.5 (1,918.17 mph; 3,087.0 km/h; 1,666.85 knots); this is made possible by the twin Pratt & Whitney F100-PW series afterburning turbofan engines
The Why and the Wherefore of the F-15I
The Israeli government began purchasing the F-15I in 1994, which was 17 years after the IAF first started using the single-seat versions of the Eagle jet.
A major motivation for a then-new version of the already battle-proven platform stemmed from the 1991 Gulf War (known to Americans as Operation Desert Storm), whereupon the IDF’s rather disconcerting inability to intercept many of the then-Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein’s Scud ballistic missiles showed just how lacking the country’s air defense systems were at the time. Ergo, Israel’s senior military leadership recognized the need for a long-range strike platform capable of identifying and destroying targets threatening its borders.
Ra’am Operational History/Combat Performance in Brief
As noted by Israeli military hardware expert Maya Carlin (an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel):
“Throughout the F-15I’s years in service, the platform has been frequently deployed in conflicts along Israel’s borders and even abroad, including in Lebanon, Syria, and in Gaza. Perhaps most significantly, the IAF’s Ra’am fleet has the ability to reach deep inside Iranian territory. As part of the Jewish state’s Begin Doctrine, the IDF needs to maintain the capability to terminate Tehran’s ability to develop and produce weapons of mass destruction.”
The Future of the F-15I Ra’am?
In spite of the 39 F-35I Adirs currently in the IAF arsenal, the 4th Generation F-15I shows no signs of going away anytime soon. According to the World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft (WDMMA), the IAF fighter fleet currently includes 39 Ra’ams along with 17 single-seat F-15Cs and 16 F-15As.
If anything, the “Mighty One” and the “Thunder” complement each other rather nicely.
About the Author: Christian D. Orr, Defense Expert
Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He is also the author of the newly published book “Five Decades of a Fabulous Firearm: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Beretta 92 Pistol Series.”
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