Israeli F-35 downs Iranian fighter jet in historic dogfight

The IDF Spokesperson announced Wednesday morning that there had been an historic event in the skies over Tehran. An Israel Air Force Adir fighter jet (F-35I) shot down an Iranian YAK-130 fighter jet above the Iranian capital. This was the world’s first-ever downing of a manned fighter jet by an F-35 fighter jet.

The last time the Israeli Air Force shot down a plane was on November 24, 1985, during an air battle over Lebanon. In that battle, an IAF F-15 Falcon shot down two Syrian MiG-23s.

The Iranian plane that was shot down is a Russian advanced two-seat YAK-130 combat trainer. The plane is capable of light attack missions, and air-to-air and air-to-air combat. The YAK-130 reaches a maximum speed of more than 1,000 kilometers per hour and is capable of carrying up to 3,000 kilograms of combat load (guided and unguided missiles and bombs, cannons, etc.) on nine external mounting points. The plane is mainly used for training and can simulate the behavior of various fighter jets.

The YAK-130 is an advanced light trainer and attack aircraft that serves as the main training aircraft for fighter pilots in the Russian Air Force. It was developed in 1991, and in 2002 Russia announced that it had won the competition for the Air Force’s advanced trainer aircraft, also because of its ability to serve as a light attack aircraft against UAVs.

This morning, the IDF confirmed that it had launched a tenth wave of attacks on Tehran: “The Air Force has now begun a broad wave of attacks against the infrastructure of the Iranian terrorist regime in Tehran.”

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on March 4, 2026.

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