History of Israeli Fighter Jets

The history of Israeli fighter jets starting with the Nesher, which was developed because France imposed an embargo on sending Israel the Dassault Mirage during the Six Day War. Learn about Holocaust survivor Marcel Dassault, the secret blueprints provided by a Swiss ally, and the innovative weapons developed by the Jewish State.

Then there was the Kfir, the state-of-the-art plane of the 1970s pioneered by Air Force hero Benny Peled. And finally, the cutting edge Lavi, which promised to revolutionize the Israeli aircraft industry, until it was cancelled. Find out why, and listen to rare audio from the people that created Israeli air superiority in the face of war and economic hardships.

Plus, the new age of Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles and drones.

Kfir jet at the Israel Defense Force / Air Force Museum. Credit: Wiki Commons

Mach 2.3. Kfir C-2 Israel Air Force delta shaped combat fighter. Credit: Israel Government Press Archive, Yaacov Saar, 1976

Nesher jet, Yom Kippur War, 1973. Credit: Israeli Defense Force Spokesperson's Unit.

IAI Lavi IX. Credit: Israeli Air Force

NOTES:

• Flying Camels and Clandestine Pilots - The History of Israeli Aviation - podcast

• Israeli Air Force official website

• Shamir and Reagan to Discuss the Issue of the Lavi Jet Fighter - 1987

• Israel's Best Defense: The First Full Story of the Israeli Air Force by Col. Eliezer “Cheetah” Cohen

• IAI Delivers 100th F-35 Wing to Lockheed Martin - 2017

• Alfred Frauenknecht and the Secret Mirage blueprints - 1969