gambit
Professional
First...My comment will have no bearing on Israel. Personally, I have no ties to Israel, and I view the state of Israel as strictly a geopolitical partner.A few questions:
1. Was there ever a reasonable scenario in which a fleet of modern aircraft would have survived a war against the US or Israel? Or both, in this case?
Now...In what context do you mean 'modern'? US airpower includes platforms that predate 'stealth', of which some ME air forces already have, such as the F-15, for example. If we put aside the F-22/35 and B-2, that would still put US airpower magnitudes above most air forces. Does any potential US adversary, and that includes China, have the equivalent of the F-15EX, the most modern of that platform? Now we add in the F-22/35 and B-2.
In any war, the goal is to overwhelm the enemy in all arenas, as much as possible.
No. What you are asking is EXTREMELY complex in terms of logistics. The most 'modern' platform, and I used that word generously, the Iranian has is the F-14. The Iranians, to their credit, have done well keeping whatever few F-14s they have flying, but not because of Western sources.2. Was it ever possible to maintain and upgrade a fleet of such aircraft over a prolonged period of time (say 25 years) while under the world's most severe sanctions regime?
If you have to import your defense, as how most of the world's militaries are, you are at the mercy of your suppliers.
Yes. An air base is more vulnerable to any form of sabotage than a missile base.3. Would air power of this kind be subject to greater or less acts of deliberate sabotage over this period of time than an indigenous missile capability?








