Israel hits Iran's nuclear facilities with F-35I Adir jets costing $44K per hour to fly in daring mission

Israel has carried out a bold and very secret air strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. The main focus of this operation was its top-of-the-line F-35I Adir stealth fighter jets. The move is one of the biggest steps up in tensions between the two regional powers in recent years.
The mission stresses Israel's military superiority and growing worry about Iran's nuclear ambitions, which are moving faster than expected. This has caused concern around the world and a quick response from Tehran.
Israel's F-35I stealth fighter jet fleet was on the front lines of Thursday's
preemptive strike
against Iran's nuclear program.
by Taboola
by Taboola
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What makes Israel's F-35I Adir jets so powerful?
The Israeli version of the Lockheed Martin Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter aircraft, called "Adir," which translates to "Mighty One" in Hebrew, is built by the United States.
One of the most potent weapons in Israel's air defense arsenal is the F-35I, which has a customized electronic warfare system and advanced stealth capabilities, as per a report by Business Insider.
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According to the
Israel Defense Forces
, Israel's aircraft attacked Iran and intercepted hundreds of Iranian drones, missiles, and rockets in 2024 and destroyed a missile fired by an Iranian-backed group in Yemen in 2023.
Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jets are among the most cutting-edge military aircraft in existence.
Besides its aligned edges and radar-absorbent coating, the F-35's internal storage of weapons and fuel aids in its ability to avoid detection. In January, The National Interest reported that the planes cost $44,000 per hour to fly. They have sophisticated information-processing and stealth capabilities and can travel up to Mach 1.6, or 548.8 meters per second, supersonic, as per a report by Business Insider.
In 2016, Israel purchased 50 F-35 fighter jets through the US Foreign Military Sales process, making it the first nation outside of the US to do so.
By producing its own wings and electronic warfare system for the F-35I, Israel has significantly altered the aircraft. Additionally, it created its own version of the advanced helmet that shows the pilot's visor the plane's airspeed, altitude, targeting data, and other important statistics. The Israeli Air Force called its version of the F-35I "Adir," which translates to "Mighty One" in Hebrew.
Why did Israel target Iran's nuclear sites now?
In a preemptive strike against Iran's nuclear program, the Israeli Air Force launched more than 200 fighter jets, including F-35I aircraft, on Thursday.
Israeli fighter jets hit more than 100 locations throughout Iran on Thursday to stop it from creating a nuclear weapon, including military targets and its biggest uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, according to an IDF spokesperson.
How did Iran respond to the Israeli airstrikes?
Iran has "accelerated significantly" its nuclear program in recent months, according to the IDF, which described this as "clear evidence that the Iranian regime is operating to obtain a nuclear weapon."
According to the IDF, Iran launched a counterattack on Friday morning with more than 100 drones, most of which were intercepted by Israeli forces, reported Business Insider.
FAQs
Which jets did Israel use to strike Iran?
Israel used F-35I Adir stealth fighter jets in the operation.
Why did Israel launch the attack?
According to the IDF, the goal is to prevent Iran from moving forward with its nuclear weapons program.

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Business Standard

23 minutes ago

• Business Standard

With US airstrikes, Trump aims to deliver decisive blow to weakened Iran

President Donald Trump with his decision to order US military strikes on Iran's nuclear facility is gambling that direct US involvement can deliver a decisive blow to a weakened Tehran while managing to avoid bringing the US into an expansive regional conflict. Trump announced the strikes on three Iranian enrichment facilities Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan and said that a full payload of BOMBS was dropped on Fordo. All planes are safely on their way home, Trump added in his post. Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE! It remained to be seen whether the attacks mark the totality of direct American involvement in strikes against Iran or the opening salvo of a larger campaign. The decision to directly involve the US comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel on Iran that have moved to systematically eradicate the country's air defences and offensive missile capabilities, while damaging its nuclear enrichment facilities. The strikes are a perilous decision for the US, as Iran has pledged to retaliate if it joined the Israeli assault. The stakes are also high for Trump personally he won the White House on the promise of keeping America out of costly foreign conflicts and scoffed at the value of American interventionism. US and Israeli officials have said that American stealth bombers and the US 30,000-pound bunker buster bombs offered the best chance of destroying heavily fortified sites connected to the Iranian nuclear programme buried deep underground, including at Fordo. It was not immediately clear if the US bombers did in fact drop the bunker busters on the Iranian facilities. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned the United States in advance that strikes targeting the Islamic Republic would result in irreparable damage for them. And Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei declared any American intervention would be a recipe for an all-out war in the region. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the damage inflicted by the bombings. Trump has vowed that he would not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon and he had initially hoped that the threat of force would motivate the country's leaders to give up their nuclear programme peacefully. But Trump appears to have made the calculation at the prodding of Israeli officials and many Republican lawmakers that Israel's operation had softened the ground and presented a perhaps unparalleled opportunity to set back Iran's nuclear program, perhaps permanently. The Israelis have said their offensive has already crippled Iran's air defences, allowing them to already significantly degrade multiple Iranian nuclear sites. But to destroy the Fordo nuclear fuel enrichment plant, Israel had appealed to Trump for the US bunker-busting bombs, the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, which uses its immense weight and sheer kinetic force to reach deeply buried targets and then explode. The penetrator is currently only delivered by the B-2 stealth bomber, which is only found in the American arsenal. The bomb carries a conventional warhead, and is believed to be able to penetrate about 200 feet below the surface before exploding, and the bombs can be dropped one after another, effectively drilling deeper and deeper with each successive blast. The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed that Iran is producing highly enriched uranium at Fordo, raising the possibility that nuclear material could be released into the area if the GBU-57 A/B were used to hit the facility. Trump's decision for direct US military intervention comes after his administration made an unsuccessful two-month push including with high-level, direct negotiations with the Iranians aimed at persuading Tehran to curb its nuclear programme. For months, Trump said he was dedicated to a diplomatic push to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions. And he twice in April and again in late May persuaded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off on military action against Iran and give diplomacy more time. The US in recent days has been shifting military aircraft and warships into and around the Middle East to protect Israel and US bases from Iranian attacks. All the while, Trump has gone from publicly expressing hope that the moment could be a second chance for Iran to make a deal to delivering explicit threats on Khamenei and making calls for Tehran's unconditional surrender. We know exactly where the so-called Supreme Leader' is hiding, Trump said in a social media posting. He is an easy target, but is safe there - We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now." The military showdown with Iran comes seven years after Trump withdrew the US from the Obama-administration brokered agreement in 2018, calling it the worst deal ever. The 2015 deal, signed by Iran, US and other world powers, created a long-term, comprehensive nuclear agreement that limited Tehran's enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Trump decried the Obama-era deal for giving Iran too much in return for too little, because the agreement did not cover Iran's non-nuclear malign behaviour. Trump has bristled at criticism from some of his MAGA faithful, including conservative pundit Tucker Carlson, who have suggested that further US involvement would be a betrayal to supporters who were drawn to his promise to end US involvement in expensive and endless wars. Vice President JD Vance in a lengthy posting on X earlier this week defended his boss, while acknowledging that "people are right to be worried about foreign entanglement after the last 25 years of idiotic foreign policy. But I believe the president has earned some trust on this issue, Vance wrote. He added, I can assure you that he is only interested in using the American military to accomplish the American people's goals. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Business Standard

23 minutes ago

• Business Standard

Iran's key nuclear sites 'totally obliterated' by airstrikes, says Trump

In his first speech after the US strikes on Iran, Trump warned that Iran faces "either peace or tragedy" and said many more targets remain within reach of the American military Reuters WASHINGTON US forces struck three Iranian nuclear sites in a "very successful attack," President Donald Trump said late on Saturday, and he warned Tehran it would face more attacks if it did not agree to peace. After days of deliberation and long before his self-imposed two-week deadline, Trump's decision to join Israel's military campaign against its major rival Iran represents a major escalation of the conflict. "The strikes were a spectacular military success," Trump said in a televised Oval Office address. "Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated." In a speech that lasted just over three minutes, Trump said Iran's future held "either peace or tragedy," and that there were many other targets that could be hit by the US military. "If peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill." The US reached out to Iran diplomatically on Saturday to say the strikes are all the US plans and it does not aim for regime change, CBS News reported. Trump said US forces struck Iran's three principal nuclear sites: Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow. He told Fox News six bunker-buster bombs were dropped on Fordow, while 30 Tomahawk missiles were fired against other nuclear sites. US B-2 bombers were involved in the strikes, a US official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. "A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow," Trump posted. "Fordow is gone." "IRAN MUST NOW AGREE TO END THIS WAR," he added. Reuters had reported earlier on Saturday the movement of the B-2 bombers, which can be equipped to carry massive bombs that experts say would be needed to strike Fordow, which is buried under a mountain south of Tehran. Given its fortification, it will likely be days, if not longer, before the impact of the strikes is known. An Iranian official, cited by Tasnim news agency, confirmed that part of the Fordow site was attacked by "enemy airstrikes." Hassan Abedini, deputy political head of Iran's state broadcaster, said Iran had evacuated the three sites some time ago. “The enriched uranium reserves had been transferred from the nuclear centres and there are no materials left there that, if targeted, would cause radiation and be harmful to our compatriots,â€� he told the channel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Trump on his "bold decision". "History will record that President Trump acted to deny the world's most dangerous regime, the world's most dangerous weapons," Netanyahu said. Diplomacy unsuccessful The strikes came as Israel and Iran have been engaged in more than a week of aerial combat that has resulted in deaths and injuries in both countries. Israel launched the attacks on Iran saying that it wanted to remove any chance of Tehran developing nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Diplomatic efforts by Western nations to stop the hostilities have been unsuccessful. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Saturday's strikes a "dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge â€' and a direct threat to international peace and security." In recent days, Democratic lawmakers and some Republicans have argued that Trump must receive permission from the US Congress before committing the US military to any combat against Iran. Republican Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker of Mississippi applauded the operation but cautioned that the US now faced "very serious choices ahead." One Republican lawmaker, Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, simply said, "This is not constitutional." 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Hans India

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Iraqi FM stresses urgent need to halt Israeli attacks on Iran

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