Israel deploys 200 fighter jets in unprecedented air campaign over Iran
Opening wave of Operation Roaring Lion focused on missile launch sites and air defense systems.
About 200 fighter jets took part in what the military described on Saturday as the largest strike formation in the history of the Israeli Air Force, attacking roughly 500 targets across Iran in the opening hours of Operation Roaring Lion.
The military said the strikes focused on Iran’s missile array and air defense systems in the western and central parts of the country, delivering what it called a broad and coordinated blow to key military infrastructure.
According to the military, the operation followed detailed planning based on high-quality intelligence and involved the synchronization of hundreds of aircraft operating simultaneously. Fighter jets dropped hundreds of munitions on approximately 500 targets, including surface-to-surface missile launchers and air defense batteries in multiple regions.
“Strikes on the air defense systems enabled the expansion of air superiority in Iranian skies and severely damaged the regime’s most central offensive capability, the launch sites in western Iran,” the military said.
Among the targets was a missile launch site near Tabriz. The site was used by a surface-to-surface missile unit that, according to the military, had planned to fire dozens of missiles toward Israel’s civilian areas.
The military also detailed several of the air defense systems that were struck. These included the SA-59, described as a system with a range of about 300 kilometers modeled on the Russian S-300; the SA-63, with a range of approximately 105 kilometers; and the short-range SA-65 system, with a range of about 24 kilometers.
The Air Force commander, Tomer Bar, oversaw the strikes from the Air Force command center.
“The completed strike formation neutralized numerous threats to Air Force aircraft and to the Israeli home front,” the military said in a statement summarizing the results of the opening wave of attacks.
