After the introduction of the Cobra, several upgrade programmes increased its capacity in order to extend its service life in the Israeli Air Force. The Tzefa D/E was the latest version of the Cobra in service with the IAF; it was basically an American AH-1F with minor modifications. In August 1996, a shipment of fourteen US Army surplus AH-1F Cobra helicopters arrived in Israel. These helicopters were intended to replace the ageing MD500 Defenders already in service with the IAF. These new models were mostly active in Lebanon, providing cover to ground forces and engaging pinpoint targets in the Judea and Samaria district and the Gaza Strip. The Tzefa was eventually retired in 2013 after being replaced by the more advanced AH-64A Apache.

Introduced in Update "Danger Zone", the Tzefa D/E has access to very decent ATGMs for its BR, alongside good flight performance. While its top speed may not be the best, it is very agile and will turn and manoeuvre faster than most helicopters, even those with a light airframe. Its cannon is a 20 mm rotary cannon with a very high fire rate but low penetration values; this means using it against MBTs even from the top is challenging, but SPAA and other lightly armoured targets are even more vulnerable to this cannon than they would be to a 30 mm one, thanks to its much higher fire rate. It also has access to a thermal imaging system as well as countermeasures, and it is recommended to use both chaff and flares in a mixed loadout to maximise chances of survival.