Israeli F-35’s over Iran

[tank-top]

This story has been poking its head back up over the last year or so, I’m thinking it’s bogus but does anyone want to put the final nail in the coffin?

https://theaviationist.com/2018/03/29/h ... any-sense/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.jpost.co ... 547421/amp

https://middle-east-online.com/en/israel’s-f-35-changes-regional-air-game

[spazsinbad]

From the 'post' article comes this:

03 Jul 2019 "...He [the source] underlined that the fighter jets can travel from Israel to Iran twice without refueling...." https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Repor ... ran-547421

[SpudmanWP]

Israel to Iran twice you say....

[ricnunes]

LOL! Didn't know that the Israelis managed to master Teleport Technology

[kimjongnumbaun]

From the 'post' article comes this:

03 Jul 2019 "...He [the source] underlined that the fighter jets can travel from Israel to Iran twice without refueling...." https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Repor ... ran-547421

I find this incredibly difficult to believe. It's ~400 miles from Israel to Iran. That's 1600 miles total for two round trips. It's hard to believe it would have that kind of fuel efficiency.

[spazsinbad]

2018/2019 SAR for dem amazeballs F-35 variants F-35A 669 NM: download/file.php?id=27020

[kimjongnumbaun]

2018/2019 SAR for dem amazeballs F-35 variants F-35A 669 NM: download/file.php?id=27020

That's still 362 miles short, and I'm measuring from the shortest distance of the border of Israel to the border of Iran. Not from an airbase in Israel to an area of interest in Iran. You have to figure that there's even more distance that needs to be traveled, it seems very unlikely to achieve this kind of radius on internal fuel alone.

[weasel1962]

Its ~900km (485 nm or 562 miles) border to border.

[ricnunes]

The problem isn't the F-35(A) reaching Iran from Israel with air refueling and returning to Israel - It indeed can.

The problem with the source above is that it claims that:
"the fighter jets (F-35A) can travel from Israel to Iran twice without refueling...."

What I gather from the above, is that the source is claiming that the F-35A is capable of flying from Israel to Iran then return to Israel then fly back again from Israel to Iran and then finally return to Israel and all of this without any refueling!
And this, I don't buy.

[wrightwing]

To be fair, no mention was made of the F-35 being armed. Secondly, as we all know, range is not combat radius x2.

[SpudmanWP]

A2A config (the lightest "armed" profile) will only get you to Iran & back... ONCE

[castlebravo]

The problem isn't the F-35(A) reaching Iran from Israel with air refueling and returning to Israel - It indeed can.

The problem with the source above is that it claims that:
"the fighter jets (F-35A) can travel from Israel to Iran twice without refueling...."

What I gather from the above, is that the source is claiming that the F-35A is capable of flying from Israel to Iran then return to Israel then fly back again from Israel to Iran and then finally return to Israel and all of this without any refueling!
And this, I don't buy.

If the one-way distance is 485 nmi like weasel1962 says, then two round trips would be ~1940 nmi. I bet it can be done if you take an unarmed, stripped-down F-35A, refuel it at altitude right before crossing the border with the most dense fuel available (maybe refrigerate it if possible?), fly the most efficient profile, don't perform combat maneuvering, tank again immediately upon crossing the border into Israel for the second time, and ignore all normal safety margins.

[wrightwing]

Think a ferry range configuration/route. Remember the article about using 5000lbs of fuel to fly the Oshkosh airshow from Florida (900 miles/782nm). In theory, an F-35 could fly 2300+ nm, and still have 3000lbs of gas.

[sprstdlyscottsmn]

I think that was a mis-speak or mis-understanding and that they meant 5,000pph. It makes a lot more sense that way.

[wrightwing]

Possibly, but they did specify the amount used, not the rate, when mentioning the time/distance/airspeed.