Technology achieved amid war enabled Iran to down 210 enemy aircraft: Defense Ministry

Iran’s acting defence minister says the country made breakthroughs in air defence technology during the joint US-Israeli war against Iran, enabling its armed forces to target more than 200 enemy aircraft.

Speaking in a video published on Tuesday, Brigadier General Seyed Majid Ibn Reza said Iran’s military capabilities and battlefield tactics had advanced significantly during 40 days of intense fighting against the two nuclear-armed enemies.

“Our surprises in the field of technique and tactics during the Ramadan War were far more advanced than in the previous war,” he said.

“In the 12-day war, the number of aircraft we targeted was fewer than the fingers of one hand,” he said, referring to the war the US and Israel launched against Iran in June 2025.

But during the recent conflict, he said, the country “achieved technologies that enabled us to target around 210 enemy aircraft.”

The acting defence minister also said Iran rapidly developed capabilities to counter advanced stealth aircraft, including the US-made Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.

“Targeting the enemy’s stealth aircraft was among the priorities of our defence industries from the beginning of the war,” he said.

“In less than 10 days, we mastered technologies that enabled us to seriously damage F-35s and other advanced enemy aircraft.”

The general added that targeting drones and other aircraft, including General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon jets, had eventually become “a daily and weekly routine.”

The United States and Israel launched an unprovoked war against Iran on February 28, triggering large-scale Iranian missile and drone retaliation against Israeli targets and American military assets across the region.

During the war, Iranian forces intercepted and downed multiple invading fighter jets, missiles and drones.

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Iranian authorities have repeatedly said that the war exposed the vulnerability of advanced American military systems against Iran’s missile and air defence capabilities.

According to a senior Iranian officer, who downed an intruding American F-35 fighter jet, the myth of radar-evading warplanes has collapsed.

“We completely destroyed a Lockheed Martin technology,” said the officer. “The myth of stealth fighters is over.”

A recently released congressional report revealed that the US military lost at least 42 aircraft during the war against Iran, with estimated costs already reaching approximately $2.6 billion.

According to the document, the losses included fighter jets, surveillance aircraft, refuelling planes, combat rescue helicopters and drones.

Among the aircraft reportedly destroyed or damaged were four McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets, one F-35A Lightning II, one Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, seven Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker refuelling aircraft and one Boeing E-3 Sentry.

The report also listed the loss of two Lockheed Martin MC-130J Commando II aircraft, one Sikorsky HH-60W Jolly Green II, 24 General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drones and one Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton.

Analysts cited in the report estimated that total aircraft losses and replacement programs could eventually exceed $7 billion.

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