The Israeli Air Force (IAF) executed its largest ever operation on February 28, 2026, deploying approximately 200 fighter jets in a massive, coordinated strike against Iranian military infrastructure as part of Operation Roaring Lion.
This effort targeted around 500 objectives across western and central Iran, including ballistic missile launchers, surface-to-surface missile sites, air defense batteries, and other key assets. Hundreds of munitions were dropped in near-simultaneous waves, directed by precise Military Intelligence and real-time IAF synchronization.
The IDF described it as the biggest strike sortie and military flyover in IAF history, following detailed planning based on high-quality intelligence. Strikes first neutralized air defenses, enabling expanded Israeli aerial superiority over Iranian airspace and severely degrading the regime’s offensive missile capabilities—particularly launch sites in western Iran.
A prominent target was a surface-to-surface missile facility near Tabriz in northwestern Iran. Operated by an Iranian missile unit, the site was preparing to fire ballistic missiles at Israeli civilian areas. Neutralizing it averted an imminent large-scale attack on the Israeli home front.
The operation forms the opening phase of a broader campaign to systematically dismantle the Iranian regime’s military threats, including missile arrays, proxy support networks, and related infrastructure. The IDF emphasized ongoing IAF activity in Iranian airspace to intercept threats and continue degradation efforts.
This unprecedented scale marks a sharp escalation in the Israel-Iran conflict, now involving direct, large-force U.S.-Israeli cooperation amid heightened regional tensions. The strikes have reportedly hit sites in multiple provinces, with footage released by the IDF showing precision attacks on western Iranian targets.
The operation reminds the IAF’s masterclass history of decisive, preemptive air strikes that have shaped Middle Eastern conflicts. In the 1967 Six-Day War, Operation Focus saw the IAF destroy over 450 Egyptian, Syrian, and Jordanian aircraft mostly on the ground in a single morning, crippling Arab air forces and securing air supremacy in hours. Similarly, in 1981’s Operation Opera, IAF F-16s bombed Iraq’s nuclear reactor in a long-range raid, preventing Saddam Hussein’s nuclear ambitions without a single Israeli loss. More recently, the 2007 Operation Orchard targeted and obliterated a Syrian nuclear facility under construction, again with perfect execution and no casualties. These missions, like the current one, shows us the IAF’s mastery of intelligence driven, precision strikes against existential threats.
By orchestrating 200 jets in synchronized waves over vast distances, this strike redefines modern warfare, displaying advanced integration of stealth, electronic warfare, and real time command systems. It firmly positions Israel among global military superpowers, alongside the United States in terms of air power projection and strategic dominance.
