Israel and US modified F-35s to enable Iran attack without refuelling, sources say

16 comments

1. As terrible as the situation is, the nerd in me is excited to see if this plane lives up to the hype. This might be it’s first big show

2. Most expensive government acquisition in history.

   Edit: I didn’t say it’s not awesome. I was just saying, we paid a lot for it. A lot of work went into it. I don’t understand downvoting a accepted fact, you philistines.

3. Bullshit, they air tankered them.

   They just don’t want to admit it because Putin might be angry.

4. Why is this a headline? They sacrificed stealth for external fuel tanks which is a well-known capability.

5. The official speaking about this in the article said Israel modified their planes to add drop tanks.

   I wonder if they made stealthy drop tanks or if they just dropped some regular drop tanks before getting to Iran. The article did mention an official saying drop tanks on stealth isn’t easy as the attachment parts and fuel line would not be stealthy after dropping the tanks. Makes me wonder if Israel built some sort of door on the bottom of the wing that closes after they drop the tanks?

   Stating they used drop tanks could also be a ruse, I wonder if they developed a stealthy conformal tank?

6. The F-35As that’s the -I model is based off of already has plumbing for external tanks. If [“off-the-shelf” stealthy drop tanks](https://theaviationist.com/2024/03/23/f-22-raptor-photographed-with-new-stealthy-external-fuel-tanks/) were given to Israel, they’d have a solution to this problem quickly and provide operational / combat test data for the US DOD which I’m sure would quickly green-light the solution to extend the legs of F-35s for the fight in the pacific theater

7. I can’t believe this.

   This is where World War III will start.

   All these war fetishist with a hard on for Iran.

8. Or.

   Occams Razor they are just lying and they used US tankers to refuel.

9. As someone who’s clueless about military topics, why is it a choice between fuel tanks and stealth in the first place?

10. Seems like everyone here just gets a hard on for military shit. FYI this was an act of war

11. Everyone that spent the last decade complaining and shitting on the F-35 needs to apologize. Right here. Right now.

12. On the way to Iran you fly over non hostile countries. You have to inform them in advance. So no need for radar secrecy. So flying with tanks is fine. Dropping them and using a flap type arrangement for going over to Iran would be fine.

    Think of the airspace violations Israel would have committed if the overflown countries were not informed.

13. Quick, someone leak the plans onto the war thunder forums.

14. The F35 has a ridiculous MTOW. Empty it is 30,000lbs. Fully loaded it is 70,000lbs

15. Beautiful

16. TLDR:

    * The US and Israel secretly modified Israeli F-35 fighter jets (F-35I Adir) to extend their range for attacking Iran without mid-air or land-based refueling.
    * The modifications involved adding external drop tanks for additional fuel, carefully designed to maintain the aircraft’s stealth capabilities.
    * US officials confirmed the modifications but withheld technical details due to security reasons.
    * This development is seen as a major advancement, making the F-35 more capable for long-range missions while preserving its stealth features.
    * The move has strategic implications, drawing attention from countries in the Middle East, as well as China and Russia.
    * Azerbaijan denied allowing its territory or airspace to be used for these operations.
    * The project had reportedly been in development since at least 2021, with technical challenges related to maintaining the F-35’s stealth after adding external fuel tanks.

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