Key Points – The ongoing “Operation Rising Lion,” where Israel’s largely US-made air force is systematically dismantling Iran’s nuclear and military infrastructure, offers three critical lessons for the United States.
-First, it proves the enduring value of investing in first-rate, manned airpower (fighters and bombers) capable of precision strikes to dismantle sophisticated air defenses. Second, it provides invaluable real-world tactical lessons for US pilots on how to engage modern threats like drone swarms.
An Israeli air force F-15I Ra’am taxis down the runway during Blue Flag 2019 at Uvda Air Base, Israel, November 4, 2019. The U.S. and Israel have a strong and enduring military-to-military partnership built on trust and developed over decades of cooperation. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Kyle Cope)
-Finally, it serves as a stark warning that the US must urgently improve its own missile defenses, particularly for forward bases, to counter the types of mass missile barrages Iran has launched against Israel.
Why Manned Fighters & Bombers Still Rule the Skies: Lessons from Iran
President Donald J. Trump has put out the call for U.S. airpower.
For all the talk of drones and AI, the crisis with Iran proved yet again that manned fighters and bombers are America’s number one option for global containment.
Airpower set the conditions for Operation Rising Lion. The Israeli air force was able to target Iran as a result of meticulous work to take out Russian-built air defenses.
The destruction of surface-to-air missiles began in earnest in 2024, opening with a strike on a “Tombstone” long-range surveillance and target acquisition radar tied to an S-300 battery in Esfahan.
In the strikes of October 26, 2024, Israel hit four S-300s that had been purchased from Russia in 2016. Other targets included radar sites and air defenses at the Bandar Imam Khomeini port and petrochemical plant. A factory for solid-fueled ballistic missile motors was also struck, adding up to a miniature air campaign that began to pry open Iran’s air defenses and yielded significant data on Iran’s response time.
Iran Feels the Pain
Beginning June 13, 2025, Operation Rising Lion has centered around the capabilities of Israel’s largely U.S.-made air forces.
F-16s, F-35s and the venerable F-15s have opened up the skies over Iran. That enabled a complex campaign targeting Iran’s air defenses, nuclear sites, ballistic missile and drone production, and some of Iran’s mobile missile launchers. Israel has used precision weapons ranging from the satellite-guided JDAM to the newer Small Diameter Bomb.
“We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran,” Trump posted on Truth Social on June 17. “Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment, and plenty of it, but it doesn’t compare to American made, conceived, and manufactured ‘stuff.’ Nobody does it better than the good ol’ USA.”
Lessons Learned for the U.S. Air Force
Iran may not pose a level of threat comparable to China. But the principal lesson is the same. Precision targeting is still the most effective means for taking out a hostile target set. Airpower, and plenty of it, is the most effective tool in a crisis.
The U.S. Air Force and Navy have been trolling Iran’s air defenses for years. Deployment of stealth F-22s and F-35s in particular spooked Iran. Beyond this, the U.S. has highly specialized airpower capabilities in the form of the F-22 stealth fighter, the B-2, B-52 and B-1B Lancer bombers, and a deep bench of KC-135 and KC-46 aerial refueling tankers.
A U.S. Air Force Maj. B-2 pilot marshals a B-2 Spirit bomber, deployed from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam in support of Valiant Shield 24, June 13, 2024. The speed, flexibility, and readiness of our strategic bombers plays a critical role in our ability to deter potential adversaries and signal our unwavering support to our allies and partners. Counter-maritime missions provide valuable training opportunities to improve our interoperability and demonstrate that our forces are capable of operating anywhere, anytime, to meet any challenge decisively. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Kristen Heller)
Don’t forget the aircraft carriers. Each carrier airwing can deliver literally thousands of weapons, and the U.S. has frequently kept two on station in the North Arabian Gulf over the past year.
3 Big Takeaways
Operation Rising Lion holds three immediate lessons for the U.S. First, it has proven the value of precision targeting and the doctrinal importance of dismantling air defenses. Israel has been able to take on Iran’s nuclear menace because of investment in first-rate airpower and the flying hours for aircrews to hone their skills.
The U.S. has skimped on buying new fighters and bombers for years, so let this be a warning. The U.S. needs more F-35s, the F-47, the Navy’s secret new carrier-based plane. Collaborative drones of all types mightily assist but cannot yet replace manned aircraft.
Second, U.S. airmen are already picking up tactical lessons from the duel with Iran. For example, F-15E crews described spotting the waves of 30 Iranian drones heading west for Israel on the night of April 13, 2024. “I first get hit with dread, recognizing the numbers we were seeing,” Maj. Benjamin Irish” Coffey told Air and Space Forces Magazine.
F-16 Fighting Falcons from both the 35th and 80th Fighter Squadrons of the 8th Fighter Wing, as well as from the 466th Fighter Squadron of the 419th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, demonstrate an elephant walk formation as they taxi down a runway during an exercise at Kunsan Air Base, Republic of Korea Dec. 2, 2011. The exercise showcased Kunsan AB aircrews’ capability to quickly and safely prepare an aircraft for a wartime mission. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Rasheen Douglas/Released)
Assigned to defend their airspace lanes, U.S. F-15E and F-16 aircrews soon found themselves rotating into firing positions surging to knock out low-level one-way attack drones heading for Israel. An after-action report on how to engage drones soon became required reading for U.S. pilots. Operation Rising Lion will hold additional lessons.
Third, the U.S. does not enjoy anything like the level of missile defense that is allowing Israel to ride out Iran’s attacks. While the Pentagon pursues Golden Dome, the Israeli air campaign against Iran is also a warning that the U.S. must get its act together on forward base defense.
The U.S. remains the only major power where the Army, not the Air Force, is assigned the air defense mission.
MORE: Iran Sleepwalked Into a War with Israel It Can’t Win
MORE: U.S. Bunker Buster Bombs Might Not Be Able to Destroy Fordow
China Should Be Watching
The barrages against Israel are a foreshadowing of the type of attacks China might seek to launch against U.S. and allied bases. The U.S. has the technology to defend and fight – the job now is to make sure roles and missions don’t get in the way.
America’s investment in airpower has long backed up containment of terrible threats. With iran, airpower has come through yet again.
About the Author: Dr. Rebecca Grant
Dr. Rebecca Grant, a Vice President at the Lexington Institute, is a national security analyst based in Washington, DC specializing in defense and aerospace research and national security consulting. She has over 20 years experience working with the United States Air Force, United States Navy, and top aerospace clients. In addition, Dr. Grant has often appeared on television as an expert on national security for Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, and MSNBC and as a series regular on The Smithsonian’s Air Warriors. Dr. Grant also writes on China, Russia and other technology and national security topics for Fox News Opinion. Her military books include 75 Great Airmen (with Lt. Gen. Chris Miller), The B-2 Goes to War, and Battle-Tested: Aircraft Carriers in Afghanistan and Iraq. Dr. Grant graduated from Wellesley College and earned a PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics, University of London.
Fighter Jet Fails
Russia’s Su-57 Felon Stealth Fighter Is a Waste of Rubles
Pingback: Will Gas Prices Spike if Trump Strikes Iran? - National Security Journal
Pingback: Will Trump 'Take Out' Iran's Leader? The World Holds Its Breath. - National Security Journal
doyle-1
June 17, 2025 at 10:12 pm
The ONE BIG LESSON from Israel’s brute force attempt to dismember Iran is that the west is generally uncivilized (especially now) and thus only speaks, communicates and understands the language of violence.
There’s no need to negotiate with the west on anything, whether it’s about nuclear programs, trade, tourism, borders, co-existence, space or climate or cooperation.
Just show the west your fists.
The bigger your fists are, the more cooperative the west becomes.
Conversely, if your fists are small, be ready to get subjugated or even killed.
If your fists are truly small or tiny, you will only invite the very kind of policies that Israel, US and EU are practising on the world right now, today.
So, to have meaningful fist size, the rest of the world must meaningfully deploy nuke arsenals to space.
DOYLE
June 18, 2025 at 4:47 am
Israel and US have now shown they’re in it together in the ongoing daily slaughter of Gaza people as well as the unrestrained attempted brazen bold dismantling of Iran via military force.
True, the two actors possess very extremely powerful air forces, but other nations are quickly catching up.
China, for instance, has today developed new radar systems superior to the best western types, and its A2A missiles are now superior to US ones.
But don’t expect xi jinping to go and help Iran.
Xi has proved to be totally treacherous and always too willing to lick western toes if western nations can help him to meet reuters expectations of constant and unremitting economic expansion.
To hell with xi. To hell !
Can the people of china rise up and pull him down from his high horse and exile him to new York city’s rikers island so that the local authorities can question him about covid.
Xi has a lot to answer about many many many things, including shady dark ‘association’ with Harvard.
Pingback: Russia Sold to Iran the Su-35 Fighter. Why Isn't Fighting Israel? - National Security Journal
George
June 18, 2025 at 9:35 am
You haven’t learned anything until you attack Russia. Go ahead. I double dog dare you. You guys only know how to pick on third world countries.
QiBo
June 18, 2025 at 9:44 am
• To the point, short and concise. Thank you.
• Additional lesson – the Axis of Expansionism — China, Russia, Iran, N. Korea — has so far proofed two paper-tigers. Question remain is how China will perform in the post-modern realm.
Jonathan Dembo
June 18, 2025 at 11:47 am
The American military is the best in the world and has the best technology of any military. That’s true. But it would not have attained the same results that the IDF has achieved by itself. The predicate for Israel’s successful attack on Iran, without which American technology would have had no value in the conflict, was Intelligence – sigint and humint. Lacking Israel’s tens of thousands of Farsi-speaking Jews, lacking years of espionage and development of sources within the Iranian regime and lacking the active support of the Iranian population at large, American high tech weapons would not have succeeded in defeating the Mullahs. That is the lesson the Pentagon should take away from this conflict.
Pingback: Did Israel Just Sabotage Trump's Iran Deal with its Airstrikes? - National Security Journal
KC
June 19, 2025 at 11:43 pm
Dr. Grant, I’m guessing that you’re pushing hardware with this article. While a convenient (and true in part) story you missed the chapter dealing with the role that cyber played in downing the Iranian Air Defense system. I’m only guessing…kind of.