I wrote that Israel would figure out how to attack Iran given the high nuclear stakes despite its lack of aerial refueling. Israel thought outside the box and solved their problem.
This observation, at least, is spot on:
[Israel's air force is made up of] earnest professionals who accept the limitations of their equipment and strive to overcome them — for example with unique air-launched ballistic missiles used as range extenders.
It has long been said that Israel would need a hundred sorties to make a strike worthwhile. Lack of aerial refueling was said to be a handicap that Israel could not overcome.
I thought Israel could work around that. If aerial refueling was so critical, I argued, Israel would have prioritized that. Instead, Israel worked around that limit.
Yes, America stepped in to smash up Fordow and another target with MOPs unique to America's arsenal (and another with mere cruise missiles). I suspect that was done for the purpose of ending the campaign for American interest in forestalling Israel attempting to carry out their plan.
I don't believe Israel started the campaign with no idea how the final Fordow piece could be dealt with. Perhaps one day we'll learn about that.
NOTE: TDR Winter War of 2022 coverage continues here.
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NOTE: I made the image with Bing.
