Shaping Nuclear Balance in the Middle East

Across the Middle East, regimes with open hostility toward Israel have sought to arm themselves with nuclear capabilities, not for defense or protection, but for initiating war. Each attempt has brought Israel to the brink of the unimaginable.

For 45 years, the F-16 has stood as one of Israel’s significant deterrents to that danger. These jets gave the IAF the reach, precision, and power to stop nuclear ambitions before they became threats. The F-16 carried out missions that averted catastrophe, changed the course of history, and kept the most dangerous weapons in the world out of the hands of those who would use them against us.

In the late 70s, following the Yom Kippur war, the IAF began to upgrade their aerial capabilities and armed themselves with American attack aircraft like the A-4 and F-4. Meanwhile, development teams in the US were working on two new aircraft models, the F-15 and the F-16.

Among the first customers of the F-16 was pre-revolutionary Iran. After the fall of the regime, the US offered to redirect the deal to Israel, accelerating the initial timeline of Israel's acquisition of F-16s. Next began the establishment of agreed F-16 garages in the Ramat David base. In the summer of 1980, after the preparations were completed, the planes landed in Israel.

F-16 on a test flight, prior to transfer to Israel - courtesy of Raanan Weiss

By 1981, estimates showed there had been significant progress in the development of Iraq’s nuclear reactor. The then commander of the force, Major General David Ivry, gave the new F-16s the mission to take down the reactor. This began Operation Opera, where eight F-16s, accompanied by six F-15s, took off on June 7, 1981, from Ovda Airbase, flying 1,100 kilometers through Saudi and Jordanian airspace under radio silence.

F-16 aircraft before takeoff to Iraq - courtesy of Raanan Weiss

Near Baghdad in a precise 15-second low-altitude strike, the F-16s destroyed the Iraqi reactor. The achievement went down in history as the first time that a F-16 dropped bombs in operational use, eliminating Iraq’s nuclear weapons capability for years.

Three decades later, the IAF attacked and destroyed a nuclear reactor under construction in the Deir ez-Zor region of Syria. In doing so, four F-16s eliminated a nuclear threat in the making that could have endangered Israel and the entire region.

F-16I aircraft Operation Orchard (September 2007)

The Air Force prepared for the operation on a short schedule, while also preparing for scenarios of deterioration and escalation. The course of action ultimately chosen was one of several options planned and practiced by the Air Force. The attack was possible within 12 hours of receiving the order.

Operation Orchard (September 2007)

The 2007 strike on Syria’s nuclear reactor was carried out in such secrecy that even the ground crews arming the jets believed they were preparing for a routine training exercise. For a decade, the operation remained hidden from the world, and only years later did those technicians discover they had played a part in one of Israel’s most historic missions.

More recently, in June 2025, the State of Israel launched Operation Rising Lion to remove the existential nuclear threat. The operation was initiated after receiving clear evidence that the Iranian regime was accelerating missile production and enriching uranium to dangerously high levels.

In response, the IAF struck at every layer of the Iranian threat, systematically weakening their capabilities. The operation began with an opening strike 1,500 kilometers from home. Targets included nuclear facilities, dozens of senior military commanders, eleven nuclear scientists, and more.

Simultaneously, the IAF struck surface-to-surface missiles, launchers, and production capabilities. Within hours, the IAF had achieved aerial superiority in western Iran. What began as twelve days of precision strikes became a defining chapter in the history of the IAF and one that reshaped the Middle East. The very planes once diverted from Iran to Israel in the 1980s were used to neutralize Iran’s nuclear threat decades later.

Major N, former F-15 pilot, recalls the lead-up to the mission. “The morning of the mission, a select few were informed what the night's actions would look like,” he began. “I flew in the first plane that crossed into Iran that night, in coordination with other F-16 and F-15 fighter jets.”

“We eliminated multiple senior terrorist leaders in those first few hours, the head of the Iranian Regime Air Force, their Chief of the General Staff. It was one of the most monumental moments in Israel's military history.”

With more than 45 years of service, the F-16 and their advanced configurations like F-16I and F-16D, have become the backbone of the IAF in operational use. The planes are a symbol of the IDF’s preemptive defense - striking threats, especially nuclear ones, near and far, before they become existential.