Israel’s first two F-35 stealth fighter jets on their maiden flight as part of the Israeli Air Force on December 13, 2016. (Israel Defense Forces)
On April 26, a stealthy F-35 fighter jet of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) was hit by a bird while taking part in an Independence Day fly-by.
In a statement, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that the F-35 suffered a “minor hit” from the bird, stressing that the fighter jet, which costs over $80 millions, did not make an emergency landing and the pilot was not injured.
More than 100 aircraft were taking part in a series of fly-bys to commemorate Israel’s 75th Independence Day. Several jets from foreign air forces also participated in the fly-bys.
The bird strike was not the only incident reported during the fly-bys. Earlier, an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter landed in open ground near the settlement of Ga’ash in central Israel. The IDF said that the helicopter landed due to a technical fault, adding that there were no injuries in the incident.
The IAF operates 36 F-35 fighter jets, all of which are modified with Israeli-made systems. Israel is set to receive 39 additional F-35i fighter jets in the upcoming few years.
Israel declared the F-35i operationally capable in 2017. In the same year, the IAF said that one of the stealthy fighter jets was damaged as a result of a bird strike while conducting a reconnaissance mission over Lebanon. However, it was later reported that the F-35 was hit by a missile launched from a Syrian S-200 long-range air defense system.
In 2021, IAF F-35 fighter jets shot down two Iranian drones, carrying weapons to the Gaza Strip. This was the first operational shoot down and interception carried out by the F-35.
Despite many doubts about the capabilities of the F-35, Israel will likely order more of the stealth fighter jets from the United States in the near future to replace its aging fleet of F-15 and F-16 fighter jets.
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Let’s hope the birds of Palestine rise up and cause all IDF jet whores to crash.
The Israeli Defense Forces are a paper tiger. They keep asking the US and now even China to pretty please help them stop Iran’s nuclear program. The Israeli air force does not have the means to conduct any kind of successful attack on Iranian nuclear sites. Iran will have its nukes and there’s nothing Israelis and their treasonous Israel-First AIPAC slaves in the government, in the Intel and in the military can do about it, specially now that they’re completely bogged down in Ukraine. Bashar Hafez Al-Assad defeated Zionists. Viva Putin.
Israel “will order”…. the us tax payer will pay. #democracy #rulesbasedorder #ourvalues
We cant even count on birds anymore. You cant really trust nobody. No loyalty, no friendship, no love, no comrades, only a hunt for money and gold.
I through my cat was my last last friend, until she jumped out of the closet and told me she always had been a green commie too since many years.
Birds seem to be antisemitic …
Man, those anti-semitic birds are gaining in number!!!!
Funny how a bird can take out an Israeli jet but Syria cant. There is more than meets the eye here.
Were any birds injured?
Hitchcock’s horror film ‘THE BIRDS STRIKES AGAIN’.
Looks like SF is inconsolable over a bird hitting one of their beloved IDF’s planes.
The zionist state will use their assets inside the US political system and government to obtain compensation from the US tax payers for this.
Can’t wait for flocks of beautiful “birds” from Iran to swarm over and feed on the khaZar filth in apartheid, occupied Palestine. Karma is coming and the angloZionaZi empire of shit will burn. Z
I think it was a anti-Khazarian suicide duck, the bird was obviously quackers but will forever be remembered as a martyr for the Free Palestians ducks.
It was probably an S200 that hit the “invisible” F35 Just like the S200 that hit the “invisible” U2 in 1960s Soviet engineering was just superior