IDF Showed Video Of F-35 Shooting Down Russian-made Yak-130 For The First Time

• 5.03.2026, 12:59

The unique footage was shot in the skies above Tehran.

The Israel Defense Forces has shown on video how an Israeli F-35I Adir fighter jet during a military operation against Iran shot down a Russian-made Yak-130 warplane in the skies over Tehran.

The video was posted online by the IDF Press Service. The video is taken from the cockpit of an F-35I Adir fighter jet, which is the Israeli version of the American warplane of the same name.

We see an Israeli pilot take aim at an Iranian warplane and then strike it with a missile. What kind of missile it was is unknown. The Iranian fighter jet caught fire as a result and was destroyed.

The F-35I pilot said he destroyed the enemy air target, it was hit. He also said he would continue with the mission.

The IDF said this aerial combat occurred a few days ago in the skies over Tehran. This is the first time an Israeli Adir fighter jet has shot down a manned aircraft (Iranian BPLs and missiles have been shot down by Israeli pilots on these planes before).

Iran received the first Russian Yak-130 fighter trainer jets in 2023. It is not known how many of these aircraft the Iranian army has in service. The Russian Army took the Yak-130 into service in 2010. It is notable for its relatively small cost - about 15 million dollars.

Russian occupiers are afraid to use the Yak-130 in the war against Ukraine. In any case, there is no information in open sources about the use of Yak-130 aircraft by the occupiers in the war.