Iran-Israel war: Israel's F-35 Adir stealth fighter marked its first aerial kill as the US-made 5th-gen aircraft shot down an Iranian Yakovlev Yak-130 fighter jet in air-to-air combat on Wednesday.
How powerful is Iran's Yak-130 fighter jet?
Originally designed and developed by Yakovlev and Aermacchi as the Yak/AEM-130 for the Russian Air Force, the Yak-130 is a subsonic, two-seat, advanced jet trainer and light combat aircraft, which embarked on its first flight nearly 21 years ago in April 1996.
Primarily designed as an advanced jet trainer, the Yak-130 can mimic the characteristics of many 4.5 generation fighters and even the fifth-generation Sukhoi Su-57, making it highly valuable as an advanced combat trainer.
The Yakovlev Yak-130 is a light combat aircraft (LCA) with combat load carrying capacity of 3,000 kg, and is primarily used for reconnaissance missions, though its also capable of carrying out light attacks.
Owing to its capabilities, several air forces, including the Russian Aerospace Forces, Algerian Air Force, Bangladesh Air Force, Belarusian Air Force, and Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, use the Yak-130 fighter in combat roles.
What is Iran's air strength?
The Iranian Air Force is comparatively a lot weaker than the Israel Air Force (IAF), which is considered among the most modernised and powerful air forces in the world.
Though Iran has not disclosed the number of fighter jets in its air force fleet, reports suggest the Islamic Republic currently has Yakovlev Yak-130 aircraft which are equipped with Russian R-73E short-range air-to-air missiles.
Iran's most powerful fighter aircraft is the Russian-made Sukhoi Su-24. As per reports, Iran has 21 Su-24 aircraft in its fleet and 24 MiG-29s. The Iranian Air Force also flies the Chinese-made Chengdu F-7, F-4 Phantom II, F-5 Tiger II, F-14 Tomcat, and Mirage F1 fighter jets.
How Israeli F-35 Adir shot down Iran's Yak-130?
According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), its "Adir" F-35I fighter jet shot down an Iranian Yak-130 fighter jet over Tehran in what the Israeli military described as a "historic shoot down".
A video of the aerial encounter shared by IDF showed a missile fired by an Israeli F-35 Adir striking a Yak-130 aircraft, which is seen erupting into a ball of fire following the hit.
Watch the video here;
According to the IDF, this marks the first instance of air-to-air encounter of the F-35 Adir with an enemy fighter jet.