The Iranian air force only a
few dozen working strike aircraft, including Russian jets and
aging U.S. models acquired before the Iranian revolution of 1979. Tehran has a squadron of nine F-4 and F-5 fighter jets, some F-7s and F-14s, plus one squadron of Russian-made Sukhoi-24 jets and some MiG-29s, IISS says.
Israel has an advanced, U.S.-supplied air force with hundreds of F-15, F-16 and F-35 multipurpose jet fighters.
"That is a major advantage, especially in the early stages of an Iran-Israel conflict. Iran is still using decades-old aircraft," said Shaikh.