An Israeli F-35I downed an Iranian YAK-130 in the first fighter jet dogfight of the war, the IDF announced at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning.
The Russian-made YAK-130 started production in the 1990s.
It is generally used as an advanced training aircraft for pilots of the more advanced Russian SU-57 and other such aircraft, but can also be used as an attack aircraft.
On Sunday afternoon, the IDF had bombed Iranian fighter jets moments before they could take off.
Two fighter jets, one an F4 and one an F5, were already out on the runway and preparing to take off when the IDF struck.
Iran’s air force, including the F4 and F5 fighters, is mostly antiquated and no real match for Israel’s F-15s, F-16s, and F-35s, but the YAK-130 is more advanced than some of the others.
Any Iranian fighter jets could be problematic for Israeli and American drones and generally complicate the battle space, making it harder for close-range “stand-in” attacks.
Israel and the US established general air supremacy in the Tehran area, where they can carry out stand-in attacks, hovering above potential targets unimpeded for an extended period, within the first two days of the conflict.
The last time the Israeli Air Force shot down an aircraft was on November 24, 1985, during an aerial engagement over Lebanon. In that clash, an Israeli Air Force F-15 “Baz” downed two Syrian MiG-23 fighter jets.