Israel's air force has systematically integrated new tactics during the current war, which it did not use in three prior rounds against Iran, allowing it to send a far larger number of fighter jets to strike the Islamic Republic, the IDF revealed on Thursday.
The new tactic is for air force jets to accelerate to high altitude on a much faster, steeper trajectory when taking off from Israel to save fuel.
By doing so, many air force jets can now fly to Iran without refueling, whereas in the past, refueling was critical for carrying out sorties to the Islamic Republic.
Iran is between 1,500 and 2,000 kilometers away from Israel, depending on which part of the country.
For years, one of the obstacles presented by those who said Israel could not manage airstrikes on Iran was the distance, the complexity, and the likely need to refuel midair.
However, with a faster climb to high altitude, there is less friction between the aircraft and the aerial environment, such that less fuel is expended.
Although this is a well-known theoretical tactic, no one had operationalized it sufficiently for the long and risky mission of striking Iran.
This meant that during the three prior attacks on Iran by Israel in April 2024, October 2024, and June 2025, refueling was a critical element.
The need to refuel also reduced the number of aircraft and the rate of sorties which the IDF could carry out, since there are only so many refueling aircraft to assist fighter jets at one given time.
By overcoming the refueling issue in many instances with the new tactic - though the IDF still does some refueling, with huge help from around 10 American aircraft in various instances - the air force is able to carry out far more missions in a far shorter time.
Generally, the Israeli air force can now fly unimpeded throughout the region to strike Iran and other adversaries.
A full year's worth of strikes in 18 days
IDF sources said that in 18 days, the air force has carried out the equivalent of a full year of attacks.
Overall, the IDF has been sending 50-100 aircraft with 250 bombs per sortie compared to fewer aircraft and 80-90 bombs per sortie in June 2025.
The increased firepower that this has allowed the air force to bring against Iran this time has very concrete impacts.
For example, the IDf showed a particular target which in June 2025, it only struck about 20% of, whereas in this war it has been able to destroy the entire target.