UK military chief: Israel’s F-35 aircraft dismantled much of Iran’s defenses in Oct strike

The UK’s Chief of Defense Staff has put on the record that Israel, like Ukraine, is facing an "existential threat,” while confirming Israel’s effective use of fifth-generation aircraft against Iran.

Speaking at the annual Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) lecture in London last week, Admiral Tony Radakin spoke about the need for Britain to maintain safety at home and strength abroad.

He hailed the power of Israel’s Oct. 26 response to Iran’s deadly Oct. 1 missile and drone attack and the effectiveness of the F-35 fighter jets.

“Israel used more than 100 aircraft, carrying fewer than 100 munitions, and with no aircraft getting within 100 miles of the target in the first wave, and that took down nearly the entirety of Iran's air-defense system,” Radakin said.

“It has destroyed Iran’s ability to produce ballistic missiles for a year and left Tehran with a strategic dilemma in how it responds. That is the power of fifth-generation aircraft, combined with exquisite targeting and extraordinary intelligence. And that was all delivered from a single sortie [or single mission],” he added.

Radakin said he needed to “speak plainly about the threats faced by the UK, and the response required."

He said that “the world has changed… and a third nuclear age is upon us.” In this “more unstable world,” Radakin continued, “the security outlook is more contested, more ambiguous and more dangerous than we have known in our careers.”

The admiral said that although “the UK doesn’t face an existential threat, like Ukraine or Israel,” it needed to present strong leadership, safeguard sovereignty, and maintain military strength overseas.

Israel was the first to use the F-35 in combat in 2018. Business Insider described the F-35 jets as “a single-engine, multi-role stealth aircraft,” made by the U.S. defense contractor, Lockheed Martin.

According to a British politician speaking at the Parliamentary Business and Trade Committee, 15% of the value of the jets is made in the UK, with Lockheed Martin reportedly stating that “the fingerprints of British ingenuity can be found on dozens of the aircraft’s key components.”

Although there is currently some vocal political opposition in the UK to British military support for Israel in its war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza, the two nations have historically maintained a strong military partnership.

In December 2020, then-Chief of Defense Staff Sir Nick Carter signed a joint agreement with his Israeli counterpart to deepen military cooperation.

Colonel Richard Kemp, a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, recalled in 2013 that the “British army as a whole made a considerable study of the IDF.”