Israel Takes Control of Iran's Skies—A Feat That Still Eludes Russia in Ukraine

The power mismatch in the Israel-Iran war shows the importance of air superiority

- Yaroslav Trofimov

Within 48 hours of starting its war on Iran, Israel said it gained air superiority over the western part of the country, including Tehran. Israeli warplanes began dropping bombs from within Iranian skies instead of relying on expensive long-range missiles.

That is a feat that the giant Russian air force has been unable to achieve in Ukraine in 3 years of war. This setback is one of the reasons why Moscow's troops have been bogged down in grinding trench warfare, sustaining staggering losses, ever since they failed to rapidly seize Kyiv in February 2022.

On Sunday, Israel was exploiting its advantage, saying it had taken out dozens of surface-to-air missiles in western Iran and killed the intelligence chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, along with his deputy.

The two wars are very different in many respects—for one, there is no conventional land component to the Israeli campaign in Iran. But the experience of these two conflicts, closely observed by militaries around the world, reinforces what war planners have known for decades: Control over air is everything, if you can get it.

"The two campaigns are showing the fundamental importance of air superiority in order to succeed in your overall military objectives," said retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula, dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, who oversaw allied air operations against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan in 2001.

"In the case of Russia-Ukraine war, you see what happens when neither side can achieve air superiority: stalemate and devolution to attrition-based warfare," he said. "In the case of the Israel-Iran war, it allows them unhindered freedom to attack where they possess air superiority over segments of Iran."