After F-15s assassinated Khamenei, Air Force Base chief says now hunting Iran ballistic missiles

Chief Brigadier General of IDF Hatzerim Air Force Base. Gen. “R” tells the Post about tracking Iranian ballistic missile crews and the dangers of air defenses despite overall air superiority.

Israel’s F-15s were the planes that assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iran’s top military leaders. They, along with F-16s and F-35s, were part of the key move that broke the Islamic regime’s ability to launch devastating large-scale ballistic missile salvos against Israel on February 28, and they have continued to hunt down missile crews ever since.

IDF Hatzerim Air Force Base Chief Brig. Gen. ‘R’, who commands both F-15 and F-16 squadrons, said the following in his first interview with an English-language publication recently: Jerusalem Post telling the full story of the mission to track ballistic missile crews.

He declined to discuss the assassination operations that launched the still highly sensitive war, but noted that the “first shots” of the war were so massive that they went well beyond those operations, adding: “The initial operational success was spectacular – it meant we stopped a lot of potential harm to our citizens.”

Largest air strike in Israeli history

During the opening attack, which ‘R’ said was the largest air strike in Israeli history with approximately 250 aircraft (if support aircraft are included), its F-15s and F-16s attacked Iranian air defenses to achieve air superiority and engaged ballistic missiles to defend the home front.

By the third day of the war, the number of ballistic missiles fired by Iran had already dropped to militarily “manageable” figures, and by the fourth day the volume of missiles dropped to around 20; It remained mostly below that and has fallen much lower most of the time since then.

At almost every moment and day of the war, Israeli aircraft hunt and hit ballistic missile teams and targets. “Their air force flies over Iran all the time,” R told the Post.

He explained how this struggle between the parties involved various outcomes.

Sometimes Iran manages to spread out enough to fire a small number of missiles, but other times the air force either destroys a missile team or prevents the team from disembarking, and the team is distracted by trying to avoid being hit.

R said that he has no goal of reaching zero Iranian ballistic missiles, but also stated that “When even one ballistic missile hits, we have seen what it does” and that it causes great harm to civilians, so he is determined to greatly reduce the fire with F-15s and F-16s.

Despite the damage Iran has inflicted on Israel, R said, “The damage to the home front needs to be kept to certain levels. We also have incredible air defense systems that have saved countless lives.”

This battle was not the first time the Hatzerim fleets took a leading role; They also played a key role in the assassination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in September 2024 and the war against Iran in June 2025.

Last minute change in the parting shot of the war

One question ‘R’ was willing to discuss regarding the opening attacks of the war was that Israel and the US decided at the last minute to postpone the first attack from the evening of 27 February to the morning of 28 February.

“There was a surprise on the morning of the attack” [that the time of attack changed from Friday evening to Saturday morning]but we were so ready for the attack plan and at such an advanced stage of operational preparations that we could easily and quickly adapt to any changes,” said R.

He continued, “We were able to adapt to achieve the mission objectives. These were very complex changes to the plan, but I am proud that we were able to accomplish them in a very short period of time, thanks to our world-class employees.”

Another challenge for R was to keep some of his own commanders in the dark to help convince the outside world and the Iranians to keep their guard down while maintaining a high level of mission readiness.

“The hardest part was maintaining the advantage of surprise. You have to strike a balance between secrecy and preparation, so many air force commanders didn’t even know about the operation until almost the last minute,” he said.

But also, “We are trained for every situation, even the most difficult.”

On March 31, the IDF Spokesperson said that 100% of the “critical” and “important” targets on the air force’s list in Iran had been destroyed.

And in fact, as recently as mid-March, IDF sources said that more than 75% of these targets had been destroyed.

If so, what have R and his F-15s and F-16s been bombing since then, and why were their strikes necessary?

R responded by explaining the difference between their fleet’s attacks on Iran during the June 2025 war and their current attacks. “The difference between Rising Lion and now is huge. If you take dentistry, for example. Rising Lion was an emergency dental filling targeted to eliminate an immediate threat,” he said.

“This is a complete root canal. There are no random or arbitrary attacks. There is always order and priority. We also want to put more pressure on Iran so that its commanders are reduced to third- or fourth-class replacements. Intelligence tells us they feel hunted,” R said.

He later said: “We want to take away the entire military industry. We have completed the critical and vital objectives, but we have not completed all the objectives yet. We are ready for a longer war if necessary, we were ready before. We have the spirit of a warrior.”

R noted that before the current war, “Iran’s military industry was 50 times larger than Israel’s before the IDF started bombing.”

“Iran is a great power. The 100 major headquarters of the Revolutionary Guard, Basij and the Ministry of Internal Security are very large and each is the size of Israel’s main military headquarters.”

Does Israel have air superiority over Iran?

‘R’ takes great pride in the fact that its air force achieved overall air superiority over the Islamic Republic in just 24 hours during this conflict.

This meant that drones and other aircraft could fly lower to reach their target and even fly above certain targets, especially moving and dynamic targets.

But “even air superiority is not 100%. The Iranians are learning and have gotten better,” he added.

R didn’t need the recent shooting down of two US aircraft by Iran, including one of its sister F-15s, to understand the constant danger their fleet remained in.

By saying that Iranian air defenses “opened fire on almost every wave of attacks,” he opened up to the public a picture that he had not generally seen or heard of.

R had to dodge the anti-aircraft guns that Iran fired at him.

Describing his experience, he said: “You are on the border, 1,500 kilometers from home. We had already achieved our goals. I felt the need to focus on my professional skills.”

“Some are getting temporarily nervous right now [when evading Iranian air defenses]. I am very proud of how our pilots overcame their fear. They have deep character and courage. “All pilots are still fighting to be in the next attack wave,” but only a certain number of pilots can fly in each wave and there is a rotation.

“Flying to Iran is very complex. It’s a long-haul flight and there are unusual dilemmas along the way. Many of the other countries and territories you have to fly over or near are also enemy territory. Also, planes have a soul and all kinds of physical needs and refueling and other maintenance issues” make flying to Iran much more challenging than typical close-in air force flights.

Moreover, he said: “We trained for a very long time for this, but seven hours in the cockpit is too much. This is not business class and going to the toilet is a challenge.”

When asked if it was too risky for him to fly his squadrons to Iran as the commander of the entire Hatzerim base, R answered directly: “As the commander, you have to lead your soldiers ‘into the field.’ I can feel the missiles, the enemy, the challenges in real time, the whole atmosphere, and what it’s like to refuel in the air, whether with the Israeli team or the US team.”

Working with the US Air Force

When asked to explain its relations with the US air force, he replied: “This is truly historic and unprecedented. Israel has never worked directly operationally with another country’s air force. The United States has never worked with another country in this way either; military relations are truly cordial.”

“I personally was on my way to attack Iran and was refueling over Iraq while US forces were speaking to them in English and telling me the whole story of my mission,” he said.

Additionally, R said, “This isn’t just me releasing official approved messages. I’m really proud and honored by it.” Fight shoulder to shoulder with CENTCOM. “Every air force has its own advantages, but we are the two most powerful air forces in the world.”

“We will not stop. It is not over. We will achieve our military goals. Iran will not get any discounts.”

R also said he was proud of the diverse group of Israelis who lead the Hatzerim, including men, women, religious, secular, Ashkenazim, Sephardim, groups of all ethnicities, even a 67-year-old reservist; This is how we will win!”

He also said he was honored by the service of all the logistics, maintenance and engineering soldiers who made the operation of Hatzerim possible, beyond the pilots in the cockpit.

These include potentially hundreds of soldiers, especially when Israeli intelligence command and operations command soldiers who help locate and plan targets.

“Maintenance and logistics staff work 24 hours a day,” he said.

Are their pilots running low after five weeks of unprecedented long-range bombing missions?

R said his pilots would understand the importance of this moment. My hatzer won’t stop. Even if we have to keep flying on Shavuot [on May 22] “We are ready and we have enough ammunition.”

He said that on the night of Passover, his pilots were over Iran to do what they could to reduce the regime’s threat to the nation during one of the liberation holidays.

He said that when he gets into the cockpit or sends pilots into battle, he always keeps in mind that they are fighting for his children and grandchildren, one of his own children who has special needs and has a very difficult time with missile sirens.

Emphasizing the unique danger of the regime, he noted that many Israeli adversaries have said they would like to eradicate Israel, but that only Iran is truly acting in a way that this could be possible (pursuing nuclear and mass scale ballistic missile weapons) and truly believes that it can accomplish its goal.

He continued: “We need to get rid of this regime. Not only for the existence of Israel, but for humanity. We saw what they did in the last protests to massacre their own people. This is for the good, the ‘light’ side of humanity.”