On Wednesday morning at 10:30, the IDF announced something big: an Israeli F-35I shot down an Iranian YAK-130. This was the first real dogfight of the war.
How an Israeli F-35I Shot Down Iran’s YAK-130 in the War’s First Dogfight
The YAK-130, built in Russia and rolling off production lines in the 1990s, usually serves as a training jet for pilots who’ll fly the more advanced Russian SU-57 and similar planes. Still, it can handle attack missions too.
Just a few days earlier, on Sunday afternoon, the IDF bombed Iranian fighter jets right before they could get airborne. Two of them, an F4 and an F5, were already on the runway, engines roaring, about to take off when the strike hit.
Now, the Iranian air force mostly flies older jets like the F4 and F5, which can’t really compete with Israel’s F-15s, F-16s, and F-35s. But the YAK-130 is a bit ahead of those older models. Even so, any Iranian fighters can be a headache for Israeli and American drones, and they can make things messy for close-range attacks.
🛩️IRANIAN JET SHOT DOWN: An IAF F-35I “Adir” fighter jet shot down an Iranian Air Force YAK-130 fighter jet.
This is the first shootdown in history of a manned fighter aircraft by an F-35 “Adir” fighter jet.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 4, 2026
Right from the start of the conflict, Israel and the US took control of the skies over Tehran. With air supremacy, their jets have been able to hover over potential targets for long stretches, launching attacks whenever needed.
And here’s some history: Israel hadn’t shot down an enemy aircraft in almost 40 years. The last time was back on November 24, 1985, when an Israeli F-15 “Baz” took down two Syrian MiG-23s during a clash over Lebanon.
