75 Year of the Israeli Air Force 1948-2025: Revised, Updated and Expanded Edition

In May 2023 Israel celebrated the 75th anniversary of its founding as a state, and also the 75th anniversary of the establishment of its air force. The maturation of what was the Israel Defence Force/Air Force (IDF/AF), since 2005 the Israeli Air and Space Force (IASF), is a fascinating study in a military force working to meet shifting obligations under multiple impediments while being repeatedly tested in combat.

Many factors over the seven and a half decades shaped the air fighting capability, not the least being the demands of the evolving battlefield, uncertain funding, available weapons, and quality of personnel. Tactics and doctrine were, in turn, shaped by government policies, international pressures, and confronting adversaries likewise evolving. When the trials in war or combat short of war came, success was a measure of its weapons’ suitability, relevancy of training, and experience of personnel.

This work documents this evolution of the IAF throughout its history by examination of all of these factors. A good deal of space is devoted to describing the shifts in the force’s aircraft and other weapons over time. An air force is structured to match its capabilities, as defined by its aircraft and associated tactics, to the threats, and so that structure is examined as well. Accounts of the service’s combat operations then show the effectiveness of all the preparation and equipment. An expanded chapter on the 2023–2025 Gaza War is featured. 75 Year of the Israeli Air Force 1948-2025: Revised, Updated and Expanded Edition is richly illustrated with historic images and aircraft profiles, many in colour.