After Yemen, All 4 F-35 Variants Have Made Combat Debut In Middle East

U.S. F-16 and F-35 fighter jets came under close fire from Houthi air defenses during Operation Rough Rider—the two-month U.S. air campaign against the Houthis launched by President Donald Trump in mid-March. The revelation is a striking reminder that all four variants of America’s premier stealth strike fighter first saw combat in various operations across the greater Middle East.

Unspecified Houthi air defenses nearly hit American fourth-generation F-16s and fifth-generation F-35s during the first 30 days of Rough Rider, increasing the risk of American casualties, the New York Times reported Monday. The close calls coincided with the successful Houthi shootdowns of seven MQ-9 Reaper drones during the same period.

Trump ended Rough Rider with a ceasefire announced on May 6 that noticeably did not include the Houthis’ ongoing missile and drone attacks targeting Israel.

The prospect of losing a fighter pilot or having one taken captive by the Houthis was undoubtedly a headache the incumbent administration wanted to avoid. On the other hand, losing any of America’s only exported stealth fighter to Houthi air defenses, hitherto believed to be largely improvised and rather ramshackle, would have been a massive embarrassment with significant ramifications for future export deals.

The revelation follows a recent confirmation that U.S. Navy F-35Cs, the carrier version of the stealth jet, have been shooting down Houthi drones. U.S. Marine Corps F-35Cs conducted that variant’s first combat strikes, targeting Houthi weapons storage facilities in November 2024. That means, as with America’s fourth-generation Teen Series fighters, the F-35 not only made its combat debut in the Middle East, but all four variants have one after another.

The four variants are distinct. The F-35A is the conventional take-off and landing model most commonly operated by air forces. The F-35B is the short take-off and vertical-landing version designed for operating off amphibious assault ships. As mentioned, the F-35C operates from U.S. aircraft carriers. And finally, the F-35I Adir is doubtlessly the most unique version, as it was built to be modified and upgraded by its sole operator, Israel.

The latter type was the first to make its combat debut in 2018. In May of that year, the Israeli Air Force announced it was “the first in the world to use the F-35 in operational activity,” likely during its air campaign against Iran and its proxy militias in Syria. Israel also publicized a photo of one of its F-35s flying high over Lebanon’s capital city, Beirut, in broad daylight.

The fact that Israel carried out the F-35s first combat mission is hardly surprising. All of the Teen Series fighters—the F-14, F-15, F-16, and F/A-18—not only made their combat debuts but scored their first air-to-air kills over the Middle East in service with other air forces, except the F/A-18.

An Iranian F-14 made its first operational kill against an Iraqi helicopter gunship in 1980. Iran was the only other country ever to acquire the Tomcat when it was a close American ally before the 1979 revolution and remains the only country flying the type today. An Israeli F-15 made the Eagles’ first kill against a Syrian MiG-21 in 1979, while an Israeli F-16 scored the Fighting Falcon’s first kill against a Syrian Mi-8 helicopter in 1981. The F/A-18 made its combat debut in U.S. service in 1986 during airstrikes on Libya and later shot down Iraqi jets during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Marine F-35Bs deployed on their first combat deployment aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Essex in July 2018. They carried out their first strikes against the Taliban in Afghanistan the following September. Then, they flew several sorties in support of the U.S.-led campaign against ISIS in Syria. By 2019, those Essex F-35Bs flew twice as much as its predecessor, the AV-8B Harrier jump jet, had on previous deployments.

The F-35A turn finally came on April 30, 2019, when two of the type executed airstrikes against an ISIS tunnel and weapons cache in Iraq.

Britain’s HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier has a unique air wing consisting of British F-35Bs, as one would naturally expect, along with U.S. Marine F-35Bs. When the Queen Elizabeth deployed to the Middle East in June 2021, both types carried out strikes in support of the anti-ISIS campaign from the vessel. Interestingly, a Marine Corp F-35B conducted its first test flight of a European-made Meteor air-to-air missile earlier this year.

Israeli F-35s spearheaded Iran’s unprecedented airstrikes against Iran on October 26, 2024. The standoff strikes targeted Iranian missile production sites and its strategic Russian-made S-300 air defense missile systems. All aircraft that participated returned home, and at least some F-35s likely entered Iranian airspace during those nighttime strikes.

The Israeli Air Force confirmed in March 2025 that Israeli F-35Is flew the stealth jet’s first airstrikes with external armaments, known as “beast mode.” Flying in beast mode increases the overall number of munitions the F-35 can carry while simultaneously reducing its central stealth capability. Consequently, doing so may only be justified in more permissive airspace or where the air force has already established air superiority or even dominance, such as the Gaza Strip.

The close calls experienced by U.S. F-35s over Yemen have potential implications for Israel. The Israeli Air Force first attacked the Houthis with long-range strikes in July 2024 after one of the group’s explosive drones successfully hit Tel Aviv. The U.S. had urged Israel not to launch additional attacks in March, shortly after it launched Rough Rider. Trump announced the Yemen ceasefire only hours after Israel retaliated against a Houthi missile attack that successfully struck its main airport outside Tel Aviv.

Unlike U.S. Marine Corps F-35Bs flying off amphibious assault ships and Navy F-35Cs operating from supercarriers off Yemen’s shores, Israel has no such staging ground for its F-35s. Consequently, they have to fly over 1,000 miles with the assistance of aerial tankers and cannot operate for very long over or near Yemen during their missions. And with Houthi air defenses having threatened American F-35s, it’s possible Israeli F-35Is flying over such long distances could potentially come under fire, too. It goes without saying that any downing of an Israeli F-35 over Yemen would give the Houthis the propaganda coup of a lifetime.

Whatever happens, F-35Is flying to Yemen in the future probably won’t be doing so in beast mode.