Could Israel’s Specialized F-35I Adir Variant Destroy Iran?

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

(Washington DC) The Israeli Air Force is reported to now operate at least 35 F-35I Adir variants of the F-35A multirole stealth fighter, a special aircraft modified by the Israelis with a distinct and separate jamming pod, EW weapons system, guided bombs, and air-to-air missiles.

Unlike all of the other F-35 allied nations who now operate or are acquiring F-35As, Israel has made special efforts to engineer its own indigenously-produced weapons and technology into its F-35s.

Israel’s Adir, for example, flies with domestically-produced guided bombs and air-to-air missiles in the internal weapons bays, according to a report from Aviation Week, as far back as 2010.

Special F-35 Variant

There are several possible reasons for this, as the U.S. and allied-produced F-35 is certainly engineered with a cutting-edge, capable suite of EW weaponry. Perhaps there are some proprietary Israeli-based EW technologies that inspired the Israeli Air Force to integrate its own system and weaponry.

A tailored EW system might make sense for Israel, given the nature of the threats it might be likely to face. For example, many of Israel’s regional threats such as Iran or militant groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah would of course not present an air threat to Israel in terms of aircraft.

An F-35-armed Israeli Air Force would not need to fight for air supremacy against regional threats, however, it would likely benefit greatly from advanced EW sufficient to jam the electronics and guidance systems of any ground-fired anti-aircraft weapons.

F-35I Adir vs. Regional Threats

Iran, for example, claims to have the ability to intercept, jam, or take down drones with an EW system and shot down a U.S. Navy BAMS-D Global Hawk variant several years ago. When it comes to the realm of EW many of the specifics are likely not available for security reasons, yet the U.S. F-35 is reported to operate with an extremely advanced EW system.