Iran claimed to have destroyed Israeli F-35 fighters at Nevatim air base

Iran used hypersonic missiles for the first time during its strikes on Israel on Tuesday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has announced. Fattah-2 hypersonic missiles were used in the attack to bypass the Israeli radars, Iranian media reported on Tuesday evening, citing the IRGC.

Iran also claimed to have destroyed several Israeli F-35 fighters at the Nevatim air base, located halfway between Beersheba and the Dead Sea. Hypersonic missiles fly anywhere from five to 25 times the speed of sound. Iran unveiled its first such missile, the Fattah-1, last June. The Fattah-2 version was revealed to the public in November. Neither had been used in combat before. The total price tag of each Israeli F-35 aircraft is about $96 million, with further expenses on training, simulators, spare parts, and building maintenance infrastructure.

The Guard claimed that 80-90% of the missiles used in ‘Operation Honest Promise 2’ struck their targets, among which were the Tel Nof air base near Tel Aviv and the Netsarim area near Gaza, where they said “a large number of Israeli tanks” was destroyed.

According to Tehran, the missile attack was the response to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, who was killed in Tehran back in July. Iran also cited the killings of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and IRGC Major General Abbas Nilforoshan in Lebanon last week.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) estimated the number of incoming missiles at 180 and acknowledged that “a few hits” have been recorded. According to the IDF, the majority of the missiles were successfully intercepted. The only reported casualty on the ground is a Palestinian man, who was killed by a falling missile fragment near Jericho in the West Bank.

Israel has vowed to strike back, while Iran has warned that any further attacks will be met with additional force.