Israeli fighter pilot demoted for lying about training results

An Israeli Air Force major was this week demoted for lying about successfully “downing” a plane during a training exercise.

Competition is fierce between pilots who are awarded points for every plane they take down in mock dogfights.

A few days ago, one of the leading F-16 pilots, a deputy commander, took part in a battle training exercise, after which he claimed he had brought down a plane, Channel 2 television reported.

But the hit in fact never took place, even though the pilot apparently managed to create a fake video purporting to show the plane being downed.

The truth was discovered after an investigation and the officer was demoted. The report did not specify what led the IAF to become suspicious of the officer’s claims.

An IDF spokesperson said: “An Air Force deputy commander was found to have acted immorally, in a way that does not meet the expected values of an officer and soldier in the Israel Defense Forces. As soon as the matter came to light, the officer was removed from his post and suspended from any further flights.”

The IAF last month joined the Pakistan and UAE air forces in the United States Air Force’s Red Flag exercise in the Nevada desert.

The US military considers Red Flag to be its “premier air-to-air combat training exercise,” in which participating countries are divided into two teams and simulate dogfights to improve both their aviation skills and their international connections.

During the exercise, the Israeli and foreign aircraft flew both day and night missions against ground defense systems, an IAF official told reporters.