Israel claims downing of Iranian Yak-130 over Tehran: first time Israeli F-35 destroys manned fighter

An Israeli Air Force F-35 fighter jet shot down an Iranian russian-made Yak-130 over Tehran.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) press service reported this.

An Israeli Air Force F-35i fighter jet, known as the Adir, hit an Iranian Air Force Yak-130 while flying over Tehran.

The Israeli military said this was the first time an Israeli F-35 had shot down a manned enemy fighter.

Iranian Yak-130s have russian roots

Russia began supplying Yak-130 combat training aircraft to Iran in 2023.

The Yak-130 was developed by the russian Yakovlev State Design Bureau together with the Italian company Alenia Aermacchi. The project was created as a replacement for the L-39 training aircraft, but the Italian side later withdrew from the program and developed its own model M-346.

After the development was completed, russia established production of the Yak-130 at the Irkutsk Aviation Plant. Previously, the Ukrainian company Motor-Sich supplied AI-222-2.5 jet engines for these aircraft.

In 2015, russia announced the localization of production of these engines at the Salyut production complex.

According to the russian side, the Yak-130 is intended for training pilots of fourth- and fifth-generation combat aircraft.

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces announced that they had dropped 5,000 bombs on Iran since the beginning of the current war.

101 people are missing after a submarine attacked an Iranian ship off the coast of Sri Lanka. The Iranian frigate was likely hit by a US submarine.