They also did with the F16 I (Soufa a highly modified F16 block 52+) which gave later birth to the F16 Block 60 and F16 Block 70 known as the Viper and the F15I Ra'am.Israeli Air Force's pilots have forged the reputations for the F15 and F16 as well as the F4 Phantom with their 2000 Kurnass version even with the Mirage III they did the same by achieving the highest kills ratios in modern air combat.https://www.yahoo.com/news/israels-f-35i-combat-experience-234749882.html
This might be one of the first conflicts the F-35 is actively used. Kinda ironic that one of the most advanced fighters in the world is being used to battle forces with no planes or real anti-aircraft capability - and weather balloons.
It's ironic that those F15/16 and even F4s would be more than enough to fight hamas, yet they're using the F35s.They also did with the F16 I (Soufa a highly modified F16 block 52+) which gave later birth to the F16 Block 60 and F16 Block 70 known as the Viper and the F15I Ra'am.Israeli Air Force's pilots have forged the reputations for the F15 and F16 as well as the F4 Phantom with their 2000 Kurnass version even with the Mirage III they did the same by achieving the highest kills ratios in modern air combat.
The F35 is less detectible on radar but on a dog fight the F35 would come short against a F15 or a F16 or a SU35 because less manoeuvrableIt's ironic that those F15/16 and even F4s would be more than enough to fight hamas, yet they're using the F35s.
I'd say the Gaza war is being used as a testing ground, but they're fighting defenseless targets, so it's not much use for data.
We'll have to see a conflict with actual air combat to see what the F35 is capable of. I don't think the west trust the Ukrainians enough to let them use it, which is a missed opportunity. That would have been the closest we would have seen to 5th Gen air combat. Something even Top Gun Maverick couldn't give us.
It would be interesting to see if in real-combat situations an F15/16 would get that close, given the stealth/radar capabilities of the F-35, which would try to shoot it down before dogfight range. The the F-35 is a multi-role fighter, and more versatile.The F35 is less detectible on radar but on a dog fight the F35 would come short against a F15 or a F16 or a SU35 because less manoeuvrable