When they tell you: "You can't teach old dogs new tricks" - tell them that the Israeli Air Force can!
This week, during a ceremony marking the change of command at the Ramat David Airbase, Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar revealed a surprising detail from the recent “Am Kalavi” operation against Iran: Aging F-16 “Barak” fighter jets, some nearly 40 years old, struck deep inside Iran without requiring aerial refueling.
According to Bar, the decision was not part of the original operational plan. The F-16 Barak squadrons, which entered Israeli service in the late 1980s and early 1990s, were originally assigned to handle nearby arenas such as Gaza and Lebanon, while Israel’s newer, more advanced aircraft focused on long-range missions in Iran. However, the air force implemented an unexpected tactical change: sending the older jets to strike Iranian targets directly.
This maneuver bypassed a major operational bottleneck—Israel’s limited number of aerial refueling planes—and significantly expanded the volume and pace of attacks inside Iran.