F-35 gets its first ever air-to-air kill against a manned aircraft

Airpower

By Alex Hollings

March 4, 2026

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The F-35 Lightning II has reportedly downed an enemy tactical aircraft for the first time in history.

An Israeli F-35I has reportedly scored the platform’s first air-to-air victory against a crewed aircraft, downing an Iranian Yak-130 over Tehran. While F-35s from multiple countries have shot down uncrewed drones in combat before, this marks the first air-to-air victory against a piloted aircraft for the most technologically advanced fighter in service today.

Details about this engagement remain sparse, but the initial announcement came from the Israel Defense Forces on X.

“This is the world’s first shootdown of a manned fighter jet by an F-35,” the IDF said.

The Yak-130 is a Russian advanced jet trainer and light combat aircraft capable of employing a variety of air-to-ground munitions like gravity bombs and rockets, as well as Russian-sourced infrared-guided R-73 series air-to-air missiles. The Yak-130 is among the most modern aircraft in Iran’s inventory, with the platform itself reaching initial service in 2010 and deliveries to Iran only beginning in 2013.

While these jets were purchased as training aircraft, last year Iran announced its intentions to begin using them for limited combat operations. According to Iranian state media, an Iranian Yak-130 participated in air combat exercises in 2025, which saw it coordinate with two Iranian MiG-29s to intercept and destroy an airborne target drone using an R-73E. At least one Yak-130 was photographed flying over Tehran with an air-to-air armament in recent days, seemingly flying counter-UAS air defense operations.

The Yak-130 was designed to emulate advanced Russian 4th-generation fighter flight characteristics for training purposes, while also serving in light attack and reconnaissance roles. In Iranian service, it’s primarily used as a stepping stone toward Iran’s piecemeal fleets of Cold War fighters like the F-4E Phantom II, F-5 Tiger, and its handful of still-operational F-14 Tomcats. It’s believed that Iran had just 12 Yak-130s in total.

An Iranian Yak-130 aircraft, March 2024. (Photo by Ramin Hemmati/Wikimedia Commons)

With more than 11,000 pounds of thrust on tap and the ability to pull upwards of eight Gs during maneuvers, these lightweight fighters may be generations behind platforms like the F-35, but are nonetheless capable aircraft for what they were built to do. In fact, the Yak-131, or Russian light attack version of the aircraft, comes equipped with an onboard radar and is slated to eventually replace aging Su-25 Frogfoots in Russian service.

The Yak-130 is, of course, absolutely outclassed by the F-35: it has no onboard radar and only short-range air-to-air capabilities – it’s R-73 missiles have a range of 19 miles, or 30kms. Nevertheless, it is arguably the most modern and tactical advanced aircraft in Iranian service today.

Losing a fight to the F-35 may have been a foregone conclusion, but Iran still managing to get aircraft into the fight at all after four consecutive days of large-scale airstrikes is noteworthy.

The Israeli F-35I is the same core airframe as America’s F-35As, but departs from the standard F-35 fleet in a number of unique ways. Most notably, Israel’s F-35s carry an natively developed electronic warfare suite in place of BAE Systems’ AN/ASQ-239 system employed by F-35s of other countries. Israeli F-35s have also seen the integration of additional weapons (like efforts to field the Python 5 air-to-air missile), and carry independent logistics and mission software. There are also longstanding rumors that Israel may have managed to develop and field external fuel tanks for the F-35I to extend its combat range, but details about these claims remain few and far between.

Beyond those unique characteristics, the F-35I carries the same groundbreaking Pratt & Whitney F135 afterburning turbofan engine that’s capable of producing 43,000 pounds of thrust at full tilt, and is rated for 9+ G maneuvers when necessary.

While this is the first known air-to-air kill for any F-35 against a crewed fighter, it is not the first time F-35s have shot down airborne targets in combat. In 2021, the F-35 score its first reported air-to-air kill against a drone , when Israeli F-35Is engaged and downed two Iranian attack drones. Since then, Israeli, Dutch, American, and most recently, British F-35s have all scored kills against drones and cruise missiles over Europe and the Middle East.

Feature Image: An Israeli Air Force F-35I Adir, assigned to 140 Squadron, Nevatim Air Base, takes off for a mission during Red Flag-Nellis 23-2 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, March, 22, 2023. (Photo by William Lewis)