133 Squadron (Israeli Air Force)

133 Squadron, known as the "Knights of the Double-Tail," is an Israeli Air Force fighter unit based at Tel Nof. Established in 1976, it was the IAF's first F-15 squadron and was reported as the first F-15 fighter squadron formed outside the United States.[1] A 2011 RAND table placed it under Wing 8 and listed F-15A/B/D aircraft, while a 2021 profile described its operational fleet as single-seat F-15C and two-seat F-15D Baz aircraft.[6][1]

The decision to equip the IAF with the F-15 followed an evaluation process. In September 1974, a five-person Israeli delegation traveled to the United States to assess both the F-14 and the F-15 and unanimously recommended the F-15, citing its maneuverability, flight qualities, and weapons systems as advantages for the missions envisaged.[7] A purchase agreement was signed the following year for $653 million. One account described an eventual target of 50 aircraft at a projected investment of $750 million, while a separate account stated that 25 aircraft were purchased for $653 million.[7][2]

The squadron was administratively established on April 1, 1976, under an organization order identified as either "No. 133/088" or "No. 133/008" in different sources; in practice, it was formed approximately two months later.[7][2] The first aircraft arrived in Israel on December 10, 1976.[2] The unit became the first F-15 fighter squadron established outside the United States.[1] Its founding pilots included Eitan Ben Eliyahu, Yoel Feldshuh, Moshe Melnik, Benjamin Tzinker, and Shaul Simon, who were among the first ten Israeli pilots trained to fly the type.[7]

By 2021, the squadron's stated roles encompassed protecting Israeli airspace from aerial threats, achieving air superiority across the arenas in which the Israel Defense Forces operates, and conducting strike missions when required. It also maintained aerial intelligence-gathering and photography capabilities, and its aircraft were reported as flying operational sorties beyond Israel's borders daily at the time.[1]

In 2024, during the war in Gaza and Lebanon, the squadron took delivery of a refurbished two-seat F-15D, aircraft 986, named "Iron Sword." The jet had arrived from the United States in 2016 after more than two decades of U.S. Air Force service and was initially intended as a source of spare parts. Following an approximately three-year restoration project at Air Maintenance Unit 22, during which it was disassembled, rewired, and modified in about 300 ways for Israeli service, it was returned to airworthy status and accepted by the squadron. The aircraft subsequently flew combat missions over Gaza and Lebanon.[4]

The squadron's F-15 pilots flew their first combat deployment during Operation Litani, which began on March 11, 1978, although the aircraft played a relatively limited role in that operation.[2]

The squadron's defining early engagement came on June 27, 1979. A four-aircraft F-15 formation provided cover for four Phantoms attacking targets in Lebanon when Syria dispatched 12 MiG-21s to intercept. Moshe Melnik, Yoel Feldshuh, and Eitan Ben Eliyahu were each credited with a MiG-21, while a fourth was shot down by Yoram Peled, who led a second pair with Guy Golan.[2] The engagement is recorded as the first time F-15s had shot down enemy aircraft in air combat. The missiles known within the squadron as Shalhevet, Choh, and Garbon were used operationally for the first time that day. Melnik, who had predicted during F-15 conversion training that he would be the first pilot to record an air-combat kill in the type, reportedly waited for the other pilots to finish their reports before stating: "Say what you will, I shot one down first."[2]

On September 24, 1979, a pair of 133 Squadron F-15s were present when Syria again sent four MiG-21s against Israeli Phantoms. All four Syrian jets were shot down within minutes, bringing the squadron's reported F-15 tally to 8–0 against Syrian aircraft.[2] A separate victory table attributes a Syrian MiG-25 shot down on February 13, 1981, to an F-15 flown by the "133 Sqdrn CO," although the table cautions that many pilot attributions are missing and some details remain sketchy.[8]

In October 1985, 133 Squadron joined the "Spearhead" F-15 squadron in Operation Wooden Leg, a strike against PLO and Force 17 headquarters at Hammam al-Shatt, Tunisia, approximately 2,100 kilometers from Israel. It was the IAF's longest-range strike operation to that point.[3] Ten F-15s departed Tel Nof: four from 133 Squadron and six from the Spearhead squadron, with eight assigned to attack and two serving as backups. Each aircraft carried a GBU-15 guided bomb with a warhead of approximately 900 kilograms.[3] Because the target was about 180 meters from a school, crews required visual confirmation before releasing their weapons and carried orders to return if cloud cover continued to obscure it. The raid was described as successful, with dozens of terrorists killed and many wounded; one bomb reportedly spun and another remained on an aircraft's wing, but the source did not attribute either malfunction to a particular aircraft or squadron.[3]

133 Squadron has served as the IAF's lead unit for several multinational exercises. During Blue Flag 2017, an 11-day exercise at Ovda Air Base north of Eilat involving close to 100 aircraft and more than 1,000 pilots and support personnel from seven visiting air forces, the squadron led the exercise. Its then-commander, Lt. Col. Nadav, described the drill as a significant milestone in the IAF's relationship with international air forces. The exercise was intended to simulate extreme combat scenarios and coalition operations as realistically as possible, while officers and attachés from nearly 40 additional countries were expected to observe.[9]

The squadron led Blue Flag 2019 as well, a 10-day drill involving 70 combat aircraft from five air forces flying 19 sorties across six locations, with observers from six additional countries. F-16s from Squadron 115 played the opposing force. The exercise continued while fighting flared in Gaza, with adjustments made for safety and operational considerations.[10]

In August 2021, the squadron led Desert Eagle, described as the first aerial exercise between the IAF and U.S. Air Force Central Command, at Ovda. Six U.S. Air Force F-15s from the 494th Squadron participated alongside 133 Squadron's Baz jets, while Squadron 115 flew as the simulated enemy force. Over three days, crews practiced interceptions, strikes, air-superiority maneuvers, real-time intelligence acquisition, and coordination between the allied units.[11][12]

On October 7, 2023, 133 Squadron was not on immediate alert when Hamas launched its terrorist attack against Israel. Nevertheless, the squadron dispatched its first aircraft formation approximately an hour and a half after the attack began.[13] The squadron commander described the initial missions as intended to stop terrorists advancing toward communities near the Gaza border, with aircraft striking combat tunnels, observation equipment, and command infrastructure on the Gaza side of the border.[13]

During a later media interview, the commander was scrambled and was airborne with his navigator within 20 minutes. The resulting mission lasted two and a half hours and included aerial refueling from a Squadron 120 tanker. He reported that his five-aircraft formation had delivered 12 tons of munitions against an important but unidentified target. By the Tuesday before the report appeared, 133 Squadron had dropped more than 400 tons of munitions since the fighting began.[13]

During the expanded operations in 2024, the squadron received the restored F-15D "Iron Sword." After engineering checks on the ground and in the air, the aircraft flew combat missions over both Gaza and Lebanon.[4]

133 Squadron participated in the opening strikes of Operation Rising Lion, known in Hebrew as Am Kelavi, in June 2025.[14][5] During the first night, a combat navigator identified as Lt.-Col. (res.) N. described his team's assignment as neutralizing threats to Israel and reported attacks on missiles, launchers, and control systems in western Iran. He recounted observing an Iranian fighter take off during the Israeli formation's approach, only to turn around and land—an episode he interpreted as evidence of Israeli air superiority over Iranian airspace.[14]

A separate June 2025 report identified an F-15 pilot from 133 Squadron, Major N., as having flown in the first formation sent to Iran at the start of the same operation. The squadron was credited with strikes on a wide range of targets, including sites connected to Iran's nuclear program.[5] The pilot described flights to targets roughly 1,500 kilometers from Israel, requiring approximately two hours of flying in each direction. He characterized the operation as a coordinated effort involving intelligence units, technical crews, aerial-refueling aircraft, and aircraft assigned to threat suppression, intelligence gathering, and bomb delivery.[5] He also said Iranian pilots took off during the opening assault but flew toward central Iran rather than engaging the Israeli formation.[5]

Major N. described participating in targeted killings and attacks against senior Iranian figures. He characterized the operation as a personal correction for the surprise and failure of October 7, saying that he had moved from the surprised and attacked side to the initiating side.[5]

Among the officers who served in 133 Squadron is Tomer Bar, who flew both F-16s and F-15s with the squadron during the 1990s and became commander of the Israeli Air Force in 2022.[15] Eitan Ben Eliyahu, one of the squadron's founding pilots, also later commanded the IAF, linking the unit's first generation to the service's senior leadership.[7]

The squadron's institutional role extends beyond individual operations. A 2021 profile reported that its "kill wall" displayed 44 enemy aircraft credited to the unit, each marked with a date and pilot's name. Although the IAF had not recorded an enemy-aircraft shootdown in air combat since 1985 at the time of the report, advanced air-combat training remained central. The squadron led a service-wide workshop on advanced air combat and subsequently helped train other IAF squadrons in the methods developed there.[1]

Several specific details of the squadron's history are inconsistent across the available sources. The organization order establishing the squadron is identified as "No. 133/088" in one account and "No. 133/008" in another.[7][2] The date of Captain Guy Golan's fatal F-15 crash at Tel Nof following a night interception sortie is given as May 29, 1979, in one article and September 29, 1979, in another.[7][2] Purchase figures for the original F-15 acquisition also differ: one account describes an eventual target of 50 aircraft at a projected $750 million, while another states that 25 aircraft were purchased for $653 million, possibly reflecting different stages of the procurement.[7][2]

Reports on operations in Gaza and Lebanon rely heavily on Israeli aircrew or military accounts carried by Israeli media.[13][4] The same limitation applies to the cited reports on operations over Iran, which present aircrew accounts and military statements rather than independent verification.[14][5]