Published on August 6, 2025, at 7:17 AM EST – Key Points and Summary – The combat performance of Israel’s F-35I “Adir” variant in the recent “12-day war” against Iran should silence critics of the F-35 program.
-The stealth fighter flew multiple deep-strike missions without a scratch, acting as an “airborne intelligence center” and the “tip of the spear” for larger attack packages with F-15s and F-16s.
An Israeli Air Force pilot walks to an F-35I Adir prior to a Red Flag-Nellis 23-2 mission at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, March 15, 2023. Red Flag is an opportunity to build on the success of JUNIPER OAK 23-2, JUNIPER FALCON, and additional combined exercises to enhance interoperability with Israel, strengthen bilateral cooperation, and improve capabilities in ways that enhance and promote regional stability and reinforce the United States’ enduring commitment to Israel’s security. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Trevor Bell)
An Israeli Air Force pilot climbs into an F-35I Adir prior to a Red Flag-Nellis 23-2 mission at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, March 16, 2023. Red Flag is an opportunity to build on the success of JUNIPER OAK 23-2, JUNIPER FALCON, and additional combined exercises to enhance interoperability with Israel, strengthen bilateral cooperation, and improve capabilities in ways that enhance and promote regional stability and reinforce the United States’ enduring commitment to Israel’s security. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Trevor Bell)
-It successfully located and helped destroy Iranian air defenses and nuclear infrastructure.
-This combat-proven success demonstrates the F-35’s overwhelming effectiveness and provides a powerful blueprint for the 19 other allied nations that operate the jet.
F-35 Performance in Israel’s 12-day War Will Silence the Critics
By now, you’ve likely heard it all about the F-35, and most of it is not good. There are huge expenses, maintenance problems, and accidental crashes. You name it, the airplane has faced its share of criticism.
But an excellent variant of the base model, the Lightning II, has made headlines for all the right reasons. Israel’s F-35I Adir dominated the Iranians in the recent 12-day war. It flew multiple combat missions without receiving a scratch.
These actions comprised deep strike penetration in a multi-layered threat environment, which helped destroy enemy air defenses. Plus, the F-35 collected critical intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance data. All of these successful mission traits helped Israel overwhelm Iran.
Improvement to the Base Model F-35 Created Success
Israel has about 39 F-35Is, and 11 more are on the way. The F-35I has an AESA radar, distributed aperture system infrared sensors, and networked data processing systems.
The F-35I has a range of 870 miles, which can be extended with aerial refueling. This enlarged combat radius allowed the Adirs to sneak past Iranian radar and avoid surface-to-air missile launches in attacks that surprised the Iranians.
Airborne Intelligence Center
“The Adir played a key role in the campaign, mainly thanks to its ability to create a battle picture in a league above everyone else, and it is, in fact, an airborne intelligence center,” according to an Israeli intelligence source quoted by JNS.com.
Vanguard for the Israeli Fleet of Fighter Jets
The F-35I was part of an attack package that contained F-15Is and F-16Is. The Adirs flew out ahead of the supporting force and sniffed out important information about the location of radar and air defenses. They then transferred this data to the F-15Is and F-16Is in real time.
Israel has two squadrons of F-35Is and hopes to have a third by 2026. They have made great use of the existing Adirs and will feature the airplane in any other attacks Israel may attempt in the future.
Example for the Rest of the World
This suggests that the American and allied forces of F-35s worldwide could achieve similar successes against the enemy. This could include aerial combat during dog-fighting missions or neutralizing adversarial air defenses.
The electronic warfare capabilities of the F-35 are underrated and probably a pleasant surprise to U.S. and Western intelligence analysts and battle planners.
Israel may not share all of its performance information with its American counterparts that has been analyzed in after-action reviews. Still, the U.S. military will have numerous questions about the missions that the F-35I so powerfully executed. The Americans can glean essential lessons from the 12-day war.
The F-35 also shows that the airframe can be adapted according to the operator’s needs. Most air forces will fly the stealth fighter with fourth-generation non-stealth airplanes. In this configuration, the F-35 can be the vanguard force in ground attack mode.
The Adir was able to avoid surface sensors by flying at the tip of a spear for the marauding group, and the Iranians never sent their own aging fighter jet force into the air to respond.
Winning Wars Without Fighting
The Adir thus never gained any force-on-force experience, but this is the pinnacle of warfare. Don’t fight kinetically unless you have to. Suppose the F-35 can continue to master the art of keeping the enemy blinded and rendered useless. In that case, the Lightning II can survive to fight another day and create an environment in which adversaries have no way to respond.
The F-35Is should also be given credit for destroying Iranian nuclear infrastructure, helping Israel hit about 100 targets during Operation Rising Lion in June. This type of “shaping” attack is an original use case for the F-35I.
The success of the Adir portends excellent development gains for the base model F-35s. The airplane can be upgraded to meet the specific needs of the air force that operates it. NATO must be salivating that the F-35 flown by certain alliance members could be used against the Russians in the Israeli manner. The F-35 might be utilized to take out Russian air bases and eliminate Vladimir Putin’s best airplanes on the ground. They can also be assigned the suppression of enemy air defense mission to pave the way for more fighters and bombers to punish Russian targets.
The F-35I’s performance in the 12-day war has excited Lockheed Martin, and more orders are likely to follow. The 19 countries that operate the F-35 may be making adjustments to their Lightning II aircraft that will enable future success.
The Israelis have demonstrated to the world that engineering tweaks to the F-35 can enable strike operations in unprecedented ways.
F-35 critics should be silenced after the 12-day war, and that is just what the Americans had in mind when they decided to sell the airplane to so many allies.
About the Author: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood
Brent M. Eastwood, PhD is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for U.S. Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former U.S. Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.
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