An Israeli fighter jet approaching Tehran amid the 12-day war with Iran last month suffered a fuel tank malfunction that almost forced it to stage an emergency landing in Iran, Channel 12 reports.
The pilot of the F-15 reported the issue in real-time, and a decision was made to dispatch an aerial refueling craft, which had not been accompanying the mission, to resolve the problem.
The refueler made it in time, and the need for an emergency landing was averted; in parallel, a plan was drawn up for an emergency landing in a neighboring country outside of Iran, in case the problem persisted, according to the report.
In the end, the mission was carried out successfully, the report says.
Channel 12 also reports that Israeli Air Force commander Tomer Bar, prior to the start of Israel’s attack on Iran that began the war, presented an estimate in “internal forums” that as many as 10 Israeli planes could be downed within the first 72 hours of the attack.
In the end, no Israeli planes were downed throughout the war.
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