Sky supremacy: Why Israel owns Iran's skies-Russia still can't crack Ukraine's
Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze after a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP photo)
In the fourth day of open war between Israel and Iran, both countries are reeling from mutual missile attacks, a mounting civilian toll, and a grim sense that the conflict has only just begun.
Israeli jets struck Iranian military, nuclear, and command infrastructure as far east as Mashhad. Iran retaliated by launching hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones into Israeli cities, killing more than two dozen civilians and injuring hundreds.
Yet despite the chaos, one strategic truth has crystallized: Israel now owns Iran's skies. Israeli aircraft are flying unhindered over Iran's capital, dropping bombs from within Iranian territory-something that the Russian Air Force has conspicuously failed to accomplish in Ukraine after more than three years of war.
The contrast is not just tactical; it's philosophical.
The current war began Friday with a surprise Israeli strike that destroyed much of Iran's top military command, set back its nuclear program, and cratered air defense installations across western Iran. Since then, Israeli air power has dismantled nearly a third of Iran's surface-to-surface missile launchers and taken out key leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Meanwhile, Iranian salvos continue to rain down on Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Petah Tikva, with civilian deaths rising by the hour.
The destruction on both sides is immense. But Israel, unlike Russia, has secured the rarest-and arguably most decisive-military advantage in modern warfare: unchallenged control of enemy airspace.
Why air superiority matters
The Israeli campaign, as devastating as it is, also underscores a broader lesson about 21st-century warfighting: whoever controls the skies controls the tempo, scale, and eventual outcome of the fight.
'The two campaigns are showing the fundamental importance of air superiority in order to succeed in your overall military objectives,' retired US Air Force Lt Gen David Deptula told the Wall Street Journal. 'In the case of Russia-Ukraine war, you see what happens when neither side can achieve air superiority: stalemate and devolution to attrition-based warfare. In the case of the Israel-Iran war, it allows them unhindered freedom to attack where they possess air superiority over segments of Iran.
'
That freedom has translated into a relentless bombing campaign using a blend of fifth-generation stealth F-35s-custom-modified by Israel-and older, more expendable F-15s and F-16s once Iran's air defenses were degraded. Now, Israel is relying more on cheap, plentiful guided bombs like the JDAM and Spice kits instead of expensive long-range missiles. The effect: more strikes, lower cost, and more devastation.
Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, Chief of Staff of the Israeli military, described the offensive with cold precision. 'IAF pilots are flying at great risk to their lives, hundreds of kilometers away from Israel, striking hundreds of different targets with precision,' he said.
What Russia couldn't-and can't-do
The success stands in stark contrast to Russia's ongoing frustrations in Ukraine. Despite possessing one of the largest air forces in the world, Russia has failed to establish air dominance over its neighbor.
Its jets still do not operate freely over Kyiv or other major Ukrainian cities. Instead, the war has devolved into trench fighting, artillery duels, and long-range missile attacks-precisely the scenario Israeli planners worked to avoid.
Why the difference?
As per the WSJ report, one reason is qualitative. 'The asymmetry in capability between Israel's air force and Russia's is vast and can be easily observed,' Michael Kofman, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment and an expert on Russian and Ukrainian militaries, told the WSJ.
Israeli pilots fly with tighter integration into cyber and intelligence operations. Their training emphasizes maneuver, autonomy, and real-time decision-making.
Russian pilots, by contrast, fly what retired British Air Marshal Edward Stringer calls 'flying artillery.'
'All the Russians have is pilots,' Stringer said. 'They grow these pilots to drive flying artillery, and that's it.'
Iran's fatal miscalculation
Israel's air war has benefited from something else: Iran's glaring strategic blind spots.
Over decades, Tehran invested in missile deterrence-not air defense. And when the attacks began, Iran's air defense system-an ad-hoc mix of S-300s, Chinese knockoffs, and home-built batteries-was overwhelmed.
'Iran never relied on air defenses alone to ward off attacks like this. The idea was always to use deterrence,' said Fabian Hinz of the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
But deterrence failed.
Iran's strongest deterrent, Hezbollah, was crippled last year and physically cut off by Israel's destruction of the Syrian corridor. Israeli strikes on Syrian air-defense systems effectively opened a corridor-a 'superhighway'-for Israeli planes to reach Iranian airspace unopposed.
Unlike Ukraine, which used early US intelligence in 2022 to scatter and conceal its mobile air defenses, Iran was caught by surprise.
Israeli intelligence operatives and drones sabotaged key systems on the ground in the hours before the first wave of strikes. Simultaneously, Mossad assassinated top military leaders in their homes.
'What Israel did with Iran is what Russia wanted to do with Ukraine,' Israeli analyst Michael Horowitz told the Journal. 'But it turned out that the Ukrainian society has a resilience and cannot be so easily penetrated-whereas when it comes to Iran, the regime is so unpopular that it's easy to find people there who will agree to work with Israel.'
The numbers game
For now, Israeli generals believe time is on their side. Iran's missile attacks continue, but with one-third of its launchers gone and Israeli jets flying freely, the odds are shifting.
'It's a numbers game, and it seems like Israel has the upper hand,' said retired US Air Force Gen. Timothy Ray. 'After all, the best way to shoot a missile is on the ground while it's in a container, and not in the air while it's flying.'
Ray's comment reveals the brutal calculus behind air campaigns: preemptive destruction isn't just tactical-it's strategic, psychological, and political.
With Iran reeling and international pressure mounting, Israel may have redefined modern air warfare.
Not since the opening days of the Gulf War has a country so swiftly gained dominance over an adversary's skies. And as Russia grinds on in the mud of eastern Ukraine, Israel has flown past in the stratosphere-proving that supremacy in the air remains the shortest path to power on the ground.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
30 minutes ago
- Time of India
From Jerusalem, Haifa to Tel Aviv, Iran unleashes missiles on Israeli cities
Projectiles appeared to be intercepted by Israeli air defence systems on Friday (June 20) over the skies of Haifa. Air-raid sirens sounded across Israeli cities and Jerusalem on Friday (June 20) while interceptions were seen in the sky after another apparent barrage of missiles launched from Iran. Israeli media said initial reports pointed to Iranian missile impacts in Tel Aviv, the Negev and Haifa. Israel said it had struck dozens of military targets overnight, including missile production sites, a research body involved in nuclear weapons development in Tehran and military facilities in western and central Iran. Iran launched a new barrage of missiles at Israel early on Friday, striking near residential apartments, office buildings and industrial facilities in the southern city of Beersheba. After air raid warnings later on Friday, Israeli media said initial reports pointed to missile impacts in Tel Aviv, the Negev and Haifa. Show more Show less
Hindustan Times
34 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Israel hasn't threatened any country with annihilation unlike Iran, says Ambassador Reuven Azar
New Delhi, Nuclear powers around the world, while possessing significant military might, do not pose the same threat as Iran does due to their lack of aggressive policies and extreme ideologies, Israeli Ambassador Reuven Azar said on Friday. Israel hasn't threatened any country with annihilation unlike Iran, says Ambassador Reuven Azar He also called on Iran to abandon its nuclear program and said "Israel hasn't threatened any country with annihilation." Speaking to PTI Videos, Azar said, "We have stated that Israel will not be the first country to introduce nuclear weapons to the Middle East." He emphasized that the situation is fundamentally different when it comes to Iran, a "regime that has repeatedly called for Israel's destruction". "We must be cautious with countries that have radical ideologies, especially those that deceive the international community repeatedly," Azar said. He also expressed gratitude to the US for its support but emphasized that Israel is committed to defending itself independently. He stressed that Israel's actions are rooted in self-defence. "We are a democracy, and we go to war, unfortunately, only when we are threatened, and in this case, we are threatened with our own existence. We had no choice, and this is a consensus in Israel. It comes from all the parties that we have to take action because we want to survive," he added. Azar asserted that Tel Aviv has definitive evidence that Iran's nuclear program posed a grave and immediate threat to Israel's security. "We acted at almost the last moment we had in order to foil and remove Iran's plan for the extermination of our state," he said. He claimed that Iran has been working for over three decades to build a strategy that could potentially destroy Israel. While many find this hard to believe, he said, the evidence is clear. "First and the most dangerous track is the nuclear track because this regime that has sworn to destroy Israel, has stated that, multiple times, was actually acquiring the means to have weapons of mass destruction. So, they have deceived the international community and the IAEA for many years and only last week, ten days ago, the IAEA issued a report saying that Iran is in a situation of non- compliance of the safeguard agreement of the NPT," he said. According to Azar, Iran's high-level uranium enrichment was unjustified by any peaceful, civilian nuclear programme and pointed directly to the weaponization of their nuclear materials. "We couldn't allow a country that has sworn to destroy us to acquire these capabilities," Azar said, adding. "That is why we took action against their nuclear programme." In addition to its nuclear pursuits, Azar said Iran's "ballistic missile programme is the second major threat". Over the years, Iran has developed an arsenal of thousands of ballistic missiles, capable of launching an unprecedented number of warheads, he claimed. Azar said that the Iranian missile program could potentially lead to the production of 20,000 ballistic missiles within six years, each carrying the destructive power equivalent to a nuclear bomb, he further claimed. The White House on Thursday said Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in "a couple of weeks" once given the go-ahead from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. However on March 25, US President Donald Trump's director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Iran was not moving towards building nuclear weapons. Azar said Israel is "grateful to the US because it has given us the assistance that we need, first of all, to defend ourselves by ourselves". He, however, said his country's principle has been - "Israel defends itself, and we do not expect others to fight our wars." He made it clear that while Israel values American support, both military and moral, the country does not expect the US to take on a fighting role. "We are not requesting others to come to our defence. We are defending ourselves," he added. "Whatever the United States decides to do, and President Trump decides to do, is going to be according to American interests and American national interests," Azar said. The White House on Thursday said Trump will decide whether or not the US gets directly involved in the Iran-Israel conflict within the next two weeks. On whether Israel has found it easier to work with Trump's current administration compared to the previous one of Joe Biden, Azar said that their world view was more aligned with the current administration. "We've been working with all administrations because the US is not only the biggest ally of Israel, but it's really our friend, and we share values and we share interests. And sometimes, you know, this doesn't mean that we will agree on everything. There were administrations which found it harder to see things eye to eye. "Sometimes we had differences. So even by the administration that we, you know, had differences, we still enjoyed very generous assistance for which we are very grateful. I think that with the Trump administration, our world view is more in alignment, especially when it comes to dealing with elements like the Iranians." Israel and Iran entered into an open military conflict when Israel, on June 13, launched a major attack with air strikes, setting off explosions in Tehran following which Iran retaliated. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Time of India
35 minutes ago
- Time of India
From Tehran to Baghdad: Thousands Across Middle East March Against Israel's Attacks On Iran
'Thank You!' Indian Students Elated After MEA Evacuates 110 Amid Iran-Israel War | Operation Sindhu Amid escalating conflict between Iran and Israel, the Indian government launched Operation Sindhu to evacuate Indian nationals from Iran. On Tuesday, 110 Indian students were safely relocated from Tehran to Armenia via land. By early Thursday morning, they arrived in New Delhi on the first evacuation flight from Yerevan. Students expressed deep gratitude to the Government of India, especially the Ministry of External Affairs and Indian Embassy in Tehran. Many shared how they witnessed missiles, drone strikes, and the anxiety of being trapped in a conflict zone. Despite tiredness, the students expressed relief, joy, and hope to return to their studies when the region stabilizes. This mission underscores India's unwavering commitment to protect its citizens abroad during global crises.#operationsindhu #iranisraelconflict #indiansinevacuation #tehranevacuation #mbbsstudentsiran #indianembassyiran #indiandiaspora #evacuationindia #externalaffairs #yerevandeparture #toi #toibharat #bharat #breakingnews #indianews 17.2K views | 1 day ago
