Commander of the Israeli Air Force Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar revealed on Wednesday that during Operation Rising Lion, F-16 Barak fighter jets from the Barak Squadron conducted airstrikes in Iran without having to refuel in the air.
This is an extraordinary feat given the fact that the jets are between 30 and 40 years old and were originally meant to operate in closer arenas such as Gaza and Lebanon.
Bar made these remarks at the ceremony marking the assumption of command by Colonel A. as commander of the Ramat David Airbase. In his speech, he emphasized that the veteran aircraft managed to reach a range of between 1,500 and 2,200 kilometers from Israel and successfully carried out the mission.
Bar told the airmen: "We can't describe Operation Rising Lion as it was executed without your significant contribution to the Air Force's capabilities... You were the X-factor, you were the decisive variable."
He added that although the approach in the Air Force had been that the veteran aircraft were not suitable for the third wave, the initiative, calculations, and determination of the commanders and pilots at the base proved otherwise.
According to the commander, "You sat, you thought, you calculated, and you called me for a visit, which proved the opposite: 'We can get to Iran without refueling, we can do it at a high rate, non-stop,' that's what you told me. It was possible with the maturity, professionalism, and experience of the airmen here." Bar added that he was surprised by the initiative and the finesse that led to the mission's success.