Israel's F-15s were the aircraft which assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iran's top military leaders. They, along with the F-16s and F-35s, also were part of the key thrust on February 28 which broke the Islamic regime's ability to launch what would have been devastating large-scale ballistic missile salvos at Israel, and have continued hunting the missile teams down ever since.
IDF Hatzerim Air Force Base Chief Brig. Gen. 'R', who commands both F-15 and F-16 squadrons, in his first interview with an English-speaking publication recently spoke to The Jerusalem Post to tell the fuller story of the mission to stalk the ballistic missile teams.
He declined to discuss the still highly sensitive war-starting assassination operations, but did note that the "opening shots" of the war were massive and went far beyond those operations, saying, "the initial operational success was fantastic – it meant that we stopped a lot of the potential harm to our citizens."
The largest aerial assault in Israel's history
During the opening attack, which 'R' said was the largest aerial assault in Israel's history with around 250 aircraft (if support aircraft are included) his F-15s and F-16s attacked Iranian air defenses to reach air supremacy and attacked ballistic missiles to defend the home front.
From the third day of the war, the number of ballistic missiles Iran was firing already had fallen to militarily "manageable" numbers, and by the fourth day the volume of missiles fell to around 20, mostly staying below that and often falling even much lower since.
Tehran PoliceAt almost every moment or day of the war, Israeli aircraft have been hunting and striking ballistic missile teams and targets. "The air force is hovering above Iran all the time," R told the Post.He explained how this fight between the sides involves a mix of outcomes.
Sometimes Iran manages to spread out enough to fire off a small number of missiles, but other times either the air force destroys a missile team or it prevents the team from getting off its missiles while the team is distracted by trying to avoid being struck.
There is no goal of reaching zero Iranian ballistic missiles, said R, but he also stated, "When even one ballistic missile hits, we have seen what it does," causing massive civilian harm, such that he is committed to heavily reduce the fire with his F-15s and F-16s.
Despite the harm Iran has caused to Israel, R noted that, "The harm to the home front needs to be kept within proportions. We also have incredible air defense systems," which have saved countless lives.
This war was not the first time that Hatzerim's squadrons took a lead role, with them having been key also in the assassination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in September 2024 and during the June 2025 war versus Iran.
The last-minute change to the war's parting shot
One question about the opening attacks of the war which 'R' was willing to discuss was the fact that Israel and the US made a last minute decision to postpone the initial attack from February 27 in the evening to February 28 in the morning.
"On the morning of the attack, it was a surprise [that the time of attack changed from Friday evening to Saturday morning], but we were so ready and at such an advanced stage of operational preparations, with a penetrating basis for the attack plan that we were able to easily and quickly adapt any change," said R.
He continued, "We were able to adapt to achieve the mission goals. These were very complex changes to the plan, but I am proud we succeeded in making them happen in a very short time period because of our top notch people."
Another challenge for R was keeping some of his own commanders in the dark to help convince the outside world and the Iranians to keep their guard down, while also maintaining a high level of mission readiness.
"The hardest part was maintaining the advantage of surprise. You need to strike a balance between secrecy and readiness, so many air force commanders didn't even know about the operation," until almost the last minute, he said.
But simultaneously, "We trained for every situation, even the hardest."
On March 31, the IDF Spokesperson said that 100% of "critical" and "essential" targets in Iran on the air force's list had been destroyed.
And in fact already in mid-March, IDF sources had said that over 75% of those targets had been destroyed.
If so, what has R and his F-15s and F-16s been bombing since then, and why have their attacks been necessary?
R answered by explaining the difference between his squadrons' strikes on Iran during the June 2025 war versus now. "The difference between Rising Lion and now is huge. If you take dentistry for example. Rising Lion was a targeted emergency tooth filling to remove an immediate threat," he said.
"This is a full root canal. There are no random or arbitrary attacks. There is always an order and a priority. We also want to pressure Iran further, so their commanders fall to being the third or fourth rate replacements. Intelligence tells us that they feel hunted," R asserted.
Next, he said, "We want to take away the entire military industry. We finished the critical and essential targets, but have not finished all of the targets. We are ready for a longer war if necessary and were also ready before. We have the spirit of fighters."
Prior to the current war, R noted that, "Iran's military industry was 50 times larger than Israel's before the IDF started to bomb it."
He added, "Iran is a major power. The 100 significant headquarters of the IRGC, Basij, and Internal Security Ministry are humongous, with each one of them being the size of Israel's main military headquarters."
Does Israel have air supremacy in Iran?
'R' has great pride in the air force having achieved general air supremacy in the Islamic Republic in only 24 hours during this conflict.
This meant that drones and other aircraft could fly lower to home in on and even hover over certain targets, especially mobile and dynamic targets.
But he added that "even air supremacy is not 100%. The Iranians learn and have gotten better."
R did not need the events of two US aircraft recently being shot down by Iran, including one of his brother F-15s, to understand the constant danger his squadrons remain in.
"Almost every wave of attacks gets fired upon" by Iranian air defenses, he said, opening to the public a picture which it generally does not see or hear about.
R himself has had to evade anti aircraft weapons fired at him by Iran.
Describing his experience, he said, "You're on the edge - 1,500 kilometers from home. It was after we had already struck our targets. I felt the need to focus on my professional skills."
"Some get nervous temporarily, in the moment [when evading Iranian air defenses]. I am very proud though that our pilots have overcome their fear. They have deep character and courage. All the pilots are still fighting to be in the next wave of attacks," when only so many pilots can fly in each wave and there is a rotation.
He added, "Flying to Iran is very complex. It is a long range flight and there are unusual dilemmas along the way. Many of the other countries and areas you must fly over or near are also enemy territory. Also, aircraft have a sort of soul and all kinds of physical needs and refueling and other upkeep issues" are much more challenging for the flight to Iran than for typical closer air force flights.
Moreover, he said, "We trained for this for a very long time, but seven hours in a cockpit is a lot. It's not business class and going to the bathroom is a challenge."
Pressed about whether it had been too risky for him, the commander of the entire Hatzerim base to fly off to Iran with his squadrons, R responded point-blank: "As the commander, you need to lead your soldiers into the 'field'. I get to feel the missiles, the enemy, the challenges in real time, all of the atmospherics, and what is it to refuel midair whether with an Israeli team or a US team."
Working with the US Air Force
Asked to describe relations with the US air force, he responded, "It is truly historic and unprecedented. Israel has never worked directly operationally with any other country's air force. The US also has never worked with another country like this – military relations are truly intimate."
"I was personally on the way to attack Iran, and was refueling over Iraq with US forces talking to them in English and telling the whole story of my mission," he said.
Moreover, R stated, "This isn't just me putting out some kind of approved official messaging. I have been truly proud and honored to fight shoulder to shoulder with CENTCOM. Each air force has its own advantages, but we are the two strongest air forces in the world."
"We won't stop. It's not over. We'll achieve our military goals. Iran will not be getting any discounts."
R said that he was also very proud of the diverse group of Israelis who run Hatzerim, including men, women, religious, secular, Ashkenazi, Sephardi, groups from all ethnic backgrounds – even a 67-year-old reservist - this is how we will win!"
In addition, he said he was honored by the service of all of the logistics, maintenance, and engineering soldiers who make running Hatzerim possible, beyond the pilots in the cockpit.
These include potentially hundreds of soldiers, especially when Israeli intelligence command and operations command soldiers who help find and plan targets into account.
"The maintenance and logistics personnel work around the clock," he stated.
Are his pilots running low on energy after an unprecedented five weeks of long range bombing missions?
R said that his pilots will rise to the importance of this moment. Hatzerim won't stop. Even if we need to keep flying through Shavuot [on May 22] we are ready and have enough munitions."
On the night of the Passover Seder he said his pilots were over Iran to do all they could to reduce the regime's threat to the nation on one of its holidays of liberation.
He said that he always has in mind when he gets into a cockpit or sends pilots out to war that they are fighting for their children and grandchildren, with special reference to one of his own children who has special needs and a very hard time with missile sirens.
Emphasizing the unique danger of the regime, he noted that many Israeli adversaries have said they would like to eradicate Israel, but that only Iran is truly acting in a way that this could be possible (pursuing nuclear and mass scale ballistic missile weapons) and truly believes that it can accomplish its goal.
He concluded, "we need to get rid of this regime. Not just for the existence of Israel, but for humanity. We saw what they did to slaughter their own people during the recent protests. This is for the good, the side of 'light' of humanity."
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-892258
