An Israeli Air Force F-35I "Adir" stealth fighter jet shot down an Iranian Air Force Yakovlev Yak-130 combat trainer over the skies of Tehran on Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces announced, marking the first confirmed air-to-air kill of a manned aircraft by an F-35 and the Israeli military's first fighter-on-fighter engagement in nearly four decades.
The incident occurred shortly before 8:35 a.m. local time, the IDF said in a statement released around 10:30 a.m. Israel time. "An Israeli Air Force F-35I fighter jet ('Adir') shot down an Iranian Air Force YAK-130 fighter jet a short while ago over the skies of Tehran," the military posted on social media platforms including Telegram and X. "This is the first shootdown in history of a manned fighter aircraft by an F-35 ('Adir') fighter jet."
