A still from the video showing an F-35I completing refueling at night. (Screengrab from the video embedded below)
Israeli Air Force F-35I took part in the preemptive strike against Hezbollah rocket sites in Lebanon.
In the early morning hours of Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024 the Israeli Air Force conducted heavy strikes of military positions of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, in a pre-emptive strike to eliminate rockets ready to be fired at Israeli cities.
The raid, carried out by about 100 fighter jets, reportedly eliminated 40 launch sites ready to fire some 6,000 rockets, only minutes before they were set to fire against the northern and central parts of Israel including the city of Tel Aviv.
Among the various jets taking part in the strikes were the Israeli F-35I Adir (Hebrew for “Mighty One”).
A modified version of the F-35 Stealth Fighter specially designed for Israel, the F-35I is in service with the Israeli Air Force since late 2016 and has already taken part in various strikes in the area, including, according to some unconfirmed claims, the recent retaliatory long-range attack against Houthi rebels in Yemen, over 1,700km away from Israeli soil.
בהמשך לתקיפות בלבנון ביממה האחרונה, מצורף תיעוד מתדלוק מטוסי אדיר מעל שמי לבנון ותיעוד מיירוט כטב״ם על-ידי מסוק קרב: pic.twitter.com/YUul4bCMVs
One F-35I Adir can be seen refueling from a tanker aircraft, reportedly while over Lebanon, in a clip released by the Israeli Air Force social media account. Interestingly, the video was shot at night through an IR camera. The video starts with the fuel boom already extended and inserted in the receptacle in the receiver aircraft. It then cuts to the already separated planes, with the F-35 later flying away.
Several interesting details emerge in the video.
First of all, the F-35I is not equipped with RCS (Radar Cross Section) enhancers/radar reflectors, devices used to intentionally amplify the aircraft’s radar signature preventing adversaries from gathering detailed information about the aircraft’s low-observable (LO) characteristics. Here’s what radar reflectors are a bit more in detail, as explained in a previous article posted here at The Aviationist in 2018:
Stealth aircraft, such as the F-22 Raptor or the F-35 Lightning II 5th generation jets are equipped with Luneburg (or Luneberg) lenses: radar reflectors used to make the LO (Low Observable) aircraft (consciously) visible to radars. These devices are installed on the aircraft on the ground are used whenever the aircraft don’t need to evade the radars: during ferry flights when the aircraft use also the transponder in a cooperative way with the ATC (Air Traffic Control) agencies; during training or operative missions that do not require stealthiness; or, more importantly, when the aircraft operate close to the enemy whose ground or flying radars, intelligence gathering sensors.
In fact, tactical fighter-sized stealth aircraft are built to defeat radar operating at specific frequencies; usually high-frequency bands as C, X, Ku and S band where the radar accuracy is higher (in fact, the higher the frequency, the better is the accuracy of the radar system).
However, once the frequency wavelength exceeds a certain threshold and causes a resonant effect, LO aircraft become increasingly detectable. For instance, ATC radars, that operate at lower-frequency bands are theoretically able to detect a tactical fighter-sized stealth plane whose shape features parts that can cause resonance. Radars that operate at bands below 300 MHz (lower UHF, VHF and HF radars), such as the so-called Over The Horizon (OTH) radars, are believed to be particularly dangerous for stealth planes: although they are not much accurate (because lower frequency implies very large antenna and lower angle accuracy and angle resolution) they can spot stealth planes and be used to guide fighters equipped with IRST towards the direction the LO planes might be.
F-35s deployed abroad usually feature their typical four radar reflectors: to exaggerate their real RCS (Radar Cross Section) and negate the enemy the ability to collect any detail about their LO “signature”. As happened during the short mission to Estonia and then Bulgaria, carried out by the USAF F-35As involved in the type’s first overseas training deployment to Europe or when, on Aug. 30, 2017, four U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II joined two USAF B-1B Lancers for the JSF’s first show of force against North Korea: the F-35Bs flew with the radar reflectors, a sign they didn’t want their actual radar signature to be exposed to any intelligence gathering sensor in the area
The two radar reflectors installed on the right side of the F-35. The other two are on the other side.
Since they almost always fly with the radar reflectors, photographs of the aircraft without the four notches (two on the upper side and two on the lower side of the fuselage) are particularly interesting: for instance, some shots taken on Jan. 24, 2018 and just released by the U.S. Air Force show F-35As deployed to Kadena AB, Japan, in October as a part of the U.S. Pacific Command’s Theater Security Package program, preparing to launch without their Luneberg reflectors.
Remarkably, although not equipped with RCS enhancers, the F-35I Adir seen in the Israeli Air Force video carried underwing pylons, suggesting that it was armed with external weapons at the start of the mission. Last year, during the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, about a month after Hamas launched its attack on Israeli kibbutzim near the border, the Israeli Air Force revealed that F-35I Adirs stationed at Nevatim Air Base were providing Close Air Support to ground forces in Gaza. These jets were armed with 2,000 lb GBU-31 JDAM bombs mounted externally on the same underwing pylons.
Another notable detail is that the Israeli Air Force specifically mentioned that the F-35I refueled over Lebanon. This statement appears to be a way to firmly assert the Israel’s ability to operate freely and with impunity within Lebanese airspace.
In May 2018, Israeli Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin announced that the F-35 stealth aircraft had seen combat, participating in airstrikes across the Middle East (including Syria and another unspecified front). Speaking at an IAF conference attended by 20 international air force commanders, Norkin stated, “The Adir planes are already operational and flying in operational missions. We are the first in the world to use the F-35 in operational activity.” Notably, he presented an image showing an Israeli F-35I flying at high altitude near Beirut, Lebanon, with radar reflectors attached, indicating it was not in stealth mode.
Since then, although various media have reported on F-35I operations beyond Israeli airspace, the Israeli Air Force has rarely confirmed these missions.
As for the aerial refueling shown in the video, given the relatively short distance between Nevatim Air Base and Lebanon, it is highly likely the F-35I was refueled after completing its strikes. This would allow the aircraft to loiter within Lebanese airspace, gather intelligence with its onboard sensors, and share data with other assets.
Interesting things here: F-35I without radar reflectors and with empty external pylons refuels over Lebanon (probably to remain on call while providing “kinematic situational awareness”); confirmed a/a kill of an AH-64D using M230 30mm cannon. https://t.co/u2Z4Sq5gba
The flying boom of the tanker is also displaying the name of the refueling squadron, making it possible to trace it back to 120 Squadron of the Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal (Israeli Air and Space Force), the “Desert Giants”, flying the older Boeing 707 aircraft.
The 707s started life as commercial airliners and were later converted to tankers locally, now reaching over 60 years of service.
The Israeli Air Force is also flying KC-130 Hercules tankers, and is slated to receive the new KC-46 Pegasus tankers.
בהמשך לתקיפות בלבנון ביממה האחרונה, מצורף תיעוד מתדלוק מטוסי אדיר מעל שמי לבנון ותיעוד מיירוט כטב״ם על-ידי מסוק קרב: pic.twitter.com/YUul4bCMVs
Despite the large operation conducted by the Israeli Air Force, Hezbollah still managed to launch at least 210 rockets and 20 drones, that were mostly intercepted by either the Iron Dome Air Defense System or by loitering Israeli aerial platforms.
In one such incident, an Israeli AH-64 Apache can be seen in a video intercepting and destroying an enemy drone with short bursts from the onboard 30mm cannon.
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.
Andrea Daolio is an aviation expert from Italy.
He has a mechanical engineering background and, alongside his great interest for aviation, also has a longstanding passion for wargaming and for geopolitics, international relationsHope, history, space, military technology and military history.
