Since the start of the IDF operation Rising Lion with strikes on iran, Israel has managed to achieve complete air dominance over the entire western territory of the country as well as the capital of the country, Tehran, as officially reported in Israel and proven in practice.
In particular, the forces that Israel currently holds in the iranian sky almost 1,500 km from its borders are sufficient to hunt even individual groups of iranians as well as vehicles - not to mention ballistic missile launchers and even more so stationary targets.
Read more: Why iran and India Wanted Yugoslavia's M-84 Tanks Over Soviet T-72s Yet Couldn't Acquire Them
Judging by the footage published by the IDF, the iranian air defense is so suppressed that it is possible to keep reconnaissance UAVs of the Heron type in the sky over Tehran. These are not individual raids, but 24/7 work with constant methodical strikes on any objects that are on the list of targets for destruction.
What is more interesting, the IDF officially claims that the US does not provide assistance in refueling Israeli fighters. At the same time, it is a debatable question whether the only six available Israeli Boeing KC-707 air tankers can provide all operational needs. It should be noted that Israel has invested very significant resources in increasing the combat radius of its tactical aviation. In particular, the Israeli F-16I Sufa and F-15I Ra'am have conformal tanks, moreover, back in 2022 it was stated that the modernized F-35I Adir can also reach iran without refueling.
In the videos that appear on the network, it is indeed possible to see that Israeli fighters take off with a rather limited load, but with the maximum possible amount of fuel. According to most sources, the combat radius of the F-16I Sufa is 1500-1850 km. This is quite enough to cover the route to Tehran and back without refueling in the air.
A similar fuel load can be observed on the F-15I Ra'am, although, according to available information, the combat radius of this aircraft is about 1300 km.
But despite gaining air superiority and being able to operate over a large area of iran, the Israeli Air Force still needs US help, at least in two areas. First, it may be important for Israel to increase the number of air tankers supporting the IDF operation. This will allow for an increase in the bomb load on each aircraft and, accordingly, destroy more targets in one sortie. This will have a qualitative impact on both the overall effectiveness as well as the duration of the operation itself.
The US has probably already agreed to this, because on the night of June 16, the US Air Force sent 26 KC-135 and KC-46 air tankers across the Atlantic. This transfer is not secret and is tracked through monitoring services, and as of the time of publication, these aircraft were already in the Gibraltar area.
Secondly, for Israel, the need for guaranteed destruction of iran's nuclear facilities located at considerable depth may be more important. To accomplish this task, IDF need to have special anti-bunker bombs GBU-57 MOP. Weighing 13.6 tons, it is capable of "burying" 60 meters underground and 16 meters into concrete before detonating. Due to its size (6 meters length and a weight of over 12 tonnes) it can only be carried by large bombers – for instance, the B-2 Spirit. At the same time, even regarding these bombs and their ability to hit underground iranian factories, there is some skepticism, because some of them may be located at a depth of, allegedly, 800 meters.
Defense Express reported, earlier on how Israel's strikes on iran affect Ukraine. We also wrote on how iran acquired its MiG-29s and Su-24s, how the MiG-31 rumors from russia emerged, and why it was all in vain
.
Read more: Iran to Deliver Fath-360 Launchers to russia, Expanding Missile Threat to Ukraine
