A Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter belonging to the Israeli Air Force has been photographed flying low over Lebanon.
Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has released pictures of F-35I stealth fighter over Lebanon. At the same time, they mistakenly calling it an F-15 aircraft and caused some confusion.
The F-35I stealth fighter, or Adir, was working at low altitude in Lebanese airspace.
Israeli Air Force officials have refused to comment or release any information about what doing its F-35I combat aircraft over Lebanon.
The images circulated on social media are causing considerable debate as these are the first operational footage of Israeli F-35Is.
Israel became the first country to select the F-35 through the United States government’s Foreign Military Sales process when a Letter of Agreement was signed in October 2010. On June 22, 2016, the Israeli Air Force received the first F-35A Adir for Israel at a ceremony at the Fort Worth, Texas, F-35 factory.
The Israeli Air Force declared its F-35 fleet operationally capable in December 2017, marking the completion of an intensive integration and training effort conducted at Nevatim AFB, Israel.
The Adir stealth fighters are operated by the air force’s Golden Eagle and Lions of the South Squadrons.
In addition, earlier in August 2019, the London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, citing the anonymous Western diplomats, reported that Israeli F-35i Adir fighter jets struck Iranian warehouses storing arms and missiles at Camp Ashraf, north-east of Baghdad.
6 طائرات من نوع F-15. إسرائيلية معادية كانت تحلق في الأجواء اللبنانية لساعات .#عدوان_على_السيادة pic.twitter.com/td3GTGhtgb
— علي شعيب 🇱🇧 2️⃣ (@alishaib1970) January 25, 2021