Everything You Need to Know About the Air War in Iran

On Saturday, February 28th, 2026, a Joint-Strike force consisting of the United States and Israel struck targets throughout the country of Iran, hundreds of aircraft including F-35s from the IDF, US Air Force, US Marine Corps, and US Navy are the big stars of the air war currently, taking out many Iranian targets such as Air Defense Systems and Ballistic Missile Launchers whilst remaining undetected to Iranian radars, silencing the doubters that have claimed the airframes unreliability for decades. 

 On day one of the air war, a large number of the Iranian leadership was eliminated, including the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, who was killed in his home early in the war by an Israeli air strike. The death of the Ayatollah angered the Iranian military. They replied with a massive amount of drone and ballistic missile strikes on many different gulf countries such as Bahrain, The UAE, Qatar, Israel, Cyprus, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, and other Gulf Nations, The retaliatory strikes from Iran have killed up to 6 US Service Members as of 4 pm EST on March 2nd, stated by CENTCOM, despite the large amount of drones and missiles the Iranians have fired, the US Air Force, British Royal Air Force, United Arab Emirates Air Force, Qatari Emiri Air Force, and other air assets have repelled a large amount of the missiles and drones using various fighter aircraft such as F-15E Strike Eagles armed with APKWS (Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System) Guided Rockets, Eurofighter Typhoons, and F-16C Fighting Falcons armed with AIM-120 AMRAAM and AIM-9 Sidewinder Missiles, U.S. President Donald J. Trump stated the number of US casualties is likely to increase as time goes on. 

The United States Navy and Marine Corps have been providing Electronic Warfare, Stealth Strike, and long-range strikes with their E/A-18G Growler, F-35C Lightning II, and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft from the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald R. Ford. While the US Air Force has the majority of its fighter assets such as A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, F-16 Fighting Falcons, F-22 Raptors, F-35 Lightning IIs, F-15E Strike Eagles, and many Aerial Refueling and Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft stationed in Tel Aviv, Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, and other areas around the Middle East and Europe, providing a wide selection of aircraft that can be used to support the Israeli/American efforts.

Heavy bombers have also played a critical role in the operations against Iran, on Sunday, four B-2A Spirit bombers quietly took off from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri and flew nonstop across the world to Iran to deliver the first of what seems to be many long range bomber strikes, dropping 2,000-pound bombs, the feared stealth bombers struck Iranian hardened ballistic missile sites, and after the strikes, flew all the way to Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, Texas after their mission. 

Then, a day later, three Rockwell B-1B Lancers took off from Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, to also fly across the globe to strike above-ground ballistic missile launchers as well as Iranian command and control areas and return home with little to no Iranian resistance. "Last night, US' B-1 bombers, struck deep inside Iran to degrade Iranian ballistic missile capabilities," CENTCOM said in a statement on social media platform X. Initially, critical bomber bases such as RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean were not allowed to be used for missions due to the UK barring the United States from using them, however, the UK changed their mind. It recently reallowed the United States to operate strike operations from both bases. The strikes by the B-1B and B-2A bombers are a strong message to any U.S. adversary that they truly have global reach and can stage out of their own home bases and fly nonstop to strike any target anywhere. 

With refueling support along the way, the massively critical role of air to air refueling has not been unnoticed, with a very obviously massive amount of KC-135 and KC-46 assets from various units across the United States helping the bombers and other assets reach their intended destinations, air refueling assets are still giving gas to thirsty fighters across the middle east supporting Operation Epic Fury, keeping assets airborne, alert, and ready for any threat that may come their way. 

Many foreign Air Forces have been putting in massive efforts to protect their respective countries from any threats that could be headed towards their respective countries. The British Royal Air Force has been flying combat air patrol off Cyprus and in Qatar with their Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, with other nations like the UAE and Royal Jordanian Air Forces with their F-16 Fighting Falcons, the Qatari Emiri Air Force with F-15QA Ababil, Dassault Rafales, and Eurofighter Typhoons. Early on March 2nd, 2026, the Qatar Ministry of Defence announced that their air force successfully shot down a pair of Iranian Su-24MK Fencers as they were headed towards their airspace, marking the first confirmed air-to-air kills of the air war over Iran, and the first air-to-air kills for either the F-15QA Advanced Eagle, Eurofighter Typhoon, or Dassault Rafale, depending on what aircraft type secured the kill.

The most critical foreign partner for the United States is without doubt the nation of Israel, with 200+ aircraft dropping 2000+ bombs within 30 hours, they are credited with the killing of Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, the IDF mainly uses F-15I, F-16C/I, and F-35I aircraft and has massively contributed to the downing of drones and striking potential Iranian threats during the war.  Many important Iranian infrastructure have been obliterated by IDF assets such as F-4 Phantom II and F-5 Tiger II aircraft, the Iranian supreme leader's office compound in Tehran, ︀︀Imam Ali Military base near Monirieh, and countless other Iranian threats. They are flying around the clock, supporting the effort to eliminate the Iranian leadership as well as striking any threats that come up along the way. 

Although, the current air war has been massively in the favor of the Israeli/American side, a very large amount of Iranian drones and ballistic missiles have managed to slip through air defenses and strike military and civilian targets, Tel Aviv, and other Gulf cities have taken a large amount of hits from Iranian drones and ballistic missiles, Dubai International Airport has been hit multiple times and air bases in Jordan and Kuwait have also been targeted by Iranian strikes. On top of that, Iranian MiG-29s and small attack aircraft have been flying CAP in Tehran, defending the city from missiles such as the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile launched from US Navy assets. Iran has also threatened to use its F-4 Phantom aircraft to attack bases around the Gulf states, although they are no match for the superior U.S. and Israeli aircraft. 

Not all of the faults of the operation are due to successful Iranian strikes; however, in a statement released by CENTCOM on March 2nd, stated that 3x F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft were shot down in an alleged friendly fire incident inside of Kuwait, all aircrew safely ejected and were recovered by locals and transferred to authorities. The F-15s came from the 335th Fighter Squadron, commonly known as the “Chiefs”, based at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, North Carolina. According to CENTCOM, the F-15Es were shot down by Kuwaiti Air Defenses, and Kuwait has acknowledged the incident and is working to help investigate what caused the Blue on Blue accident. 

Through the faults, the Joint-Israeli/American operations have seemed to be a very triumphant success so far, with heavy bombers and fighter aircraft able to operate in Iranian airspace with little to no resistance. Although Iranian missile and drone attacks are still very prominent, they will likely slow down as their supplies diminish and are taken out by airstrikes by opposing nations. With signs that more nations like the UAE will soon join in on the strikes against Iran, the air war will only continue to involve more and more aircraft, and this website will be updated when any critical information becomes available to us.