Marking a strategic escalation, the Israeli Air Force used its F‑15I “Ra’am” (meaning “Thunder” in Hebrew) jets during recent airstrikes against targets identified with Iran and from positions inside Lebanon. Here is a detailed look at their role and the wider regional implications.
What’s different about the F‑15I Ra’am?
Long-range strike: Adapted from the Boeing F‑15E Strike Eagle, these jets boast a huge combat radius up to 2,765 miles unrefueled, and an ability to air refuel and fly even farther.
Heavy payload delivery: The Ra’am can carry thousands of pounds of weaponry, including 2,000‑lb bunker-busters for hardened-target missions best suited to strategic-strike scenarios.
Highly targeting tac: With sushi-grade US made radar and Israeli DASH Helmet systems, theystand ready to drop ordnance in the most accurate and unfavourable weather or day/night environments.
Legacy fleet: Bought in the 1990s after Gulf War to repel long-range threats, this fleet is the mainstay of Israeli air supremacy.
Lebanon: Air Campaign
Grows Authorities in Israel expanded an aerial campaign into a third day.
Originally employed to bomb installations linked to Iran’s nuclear program, Ra’am jets have been seen in recent months flying over Lebanon and hitting Hezbollah command centers and weapons storehouses that are sometimes deep inside Beirut. These operations reflect a shift:
Israel has stepped up airstrikes in its effort to degrade Hezbollah’s military power, following rocket barrages after Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023.
Key hits include prominent strikes in the heart of Beirut and southern Lebanon with some aimed at Hezbollah leadership and ammo depots.
The scale is huge: coordinated waves of jets including Ra’am and F‑16s have carried out deep strikes considered to be crucial in the ongoing effort to pre-empt further rocket threats.
Civilian Toll & Caution
on Cease Fire In 11 days of fighting in the Gaza Strip and Israel, at least 232 Palestinians were killed, and about a dozen people were killed by Hamas rockets in Israel.
While their targets are military, these attacks have had a devastating impact:
Beirut bombings: October central district attacks kills 20 civilians, children and displaced families The death toll reached more than 20 innocent lives including civilians such as children and displaced families .
Tyre and Beqaa Valley: Intensive weeklong bombardments in October flattened villages, leading to dozens of deaths and the damaging of cultural sites.
Cease-fire violations: Despite cease-fire agreements between Lebanon and Israel, the strikes have continued and led to formal complaints by the UN as well as international concern.
The Strategic Outlook and the Regional Fallout
Hezbollah’s weakened arsenal?
American and Israeli officials have said nearly half of the missile stockpile Hezbollah has accumulated after Syria’s civil war began in 2011 may have been obliterated but the group is still viewed as a formidable force.
Iran’s response looms
Israeli campaign in Lebanon comes after strikes in Iran and Gaza that prompt missile and drone retaliation — some stopped by U.S. aid.
Raising humanitarian alarms
Bombardment of civilian houses, schools and cultural heritage has prompted a worldwide chorus of calls for restraint as well as urgent aid corridors and a return to the diplomatic negotiation table.
Future of “Thunder”
While Israel awaits delivery of F‑15I jets about to enter the fleet under a 2024 U.S. sale, the Ra’am fleet remains supreme in long-range, high-stakes airstrikes.”
The F-15I Ra’am jet is the core of Israel’s far-ranging air campaign, once intended to hobble Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and now focused on Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Their long-range, precision-strike jets are shifting the regional balance and driving civilian impact and global attention before fresher orders for newer Israeli F‑15Is after 2029.
