NIGHTHAWK
F-117 STEALTH FIGHTER USAF DESERT STORM BOSNIA IRAQ AFGHANISTAN PANAMA
SOFTBOUND BOOK in ENGLISH by PAUL
F. CRICKMORE AND ALSION J. CRICKMORE
---------------------------------
Additional Information from
Internet Encyclopedia
The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is
a retired American single-seat, subsonic twin-engine stealth attack aircraft
developed by Lockheed's secretive Skunk Works division and operated by the
United States Air Force (USAF). It was the first operational aircraft to be
designed with stealth technology.
Work on what would become the
F-117 was commenced in the 1970s as a means of countering increasingly
sophisticated Soviet surface-to-air missiles (SAMs). During 1976, the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) issued Lockheed with a contract to
produce the Have Blue technology demonstrator, the test data from which
validated the concept. On 1 November 1978, it was decided to proceed with the
F-117 development program. A total of five prototypes would be produced; the
first of which performed its maiden flight during 1981 at Groom Lake, Nevada.
The first production F-117 was delivered in 1982, and its initial operating
capability was achieved in October 1983. All aircraft were initially based at
Tonopah Test Range Airport, Nevada.
The aircraft's faceted shape
(made from two-dimensional flat surfaces) heavily contributes to its relatively
low radar cross-section of about 0.001 m2 (0.0108 sq ft). To minimize its
infrared signature, it has a non-circular tail pipe that mixes hot exhaust with
cool ambient air and lacks afterburners; it is also restricted to subsonic
speeds as breaking the sound barrier would produce an obvious sonic boom that
would increase both its acoustic and infrared footprints. While its performance
in air combat maneuvering was less than that of most contemporary fighters, it
was strictly an attack aircraft despite being commonly referred to as the
"Stealth Fighter". For this reason, it is equipped with integrated
sophisticated digital navigation and attack systems, targeting being achieved
via a thermal imaging infrared system and a laser rangefinder/laser designator.
It is aerodynamically unstable in all three aircraft principal axes and thus
requires constant flight corrections via a fly-by-wire (FBW) flight system to
maintain controlled flight
Even years following its entry
to service, the F-117 was a black project, its existence being denied by USAF
officials. On 10 November 1988, the F-117 was publicly acknowledged for the
first time. Its first combat mission was flown during the United States
invasion of Panama in 1989. The last of 59 production F-117s were delivered on
3 July 1990. The F-117 was widely publicized for its role in the Gulf War of
1991, having flown approximately 1,300 sorties and scored direct hits on what
the US called 1,600 high-value targets in Iraq. F-117s also participated in the
conflict in Yugoslavia, during which one was shot down by a surface-to-air
missile (SAM) in 1999. It was also active during Operation Enduring Freedom in
2001 and Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. The USAF retired the F-117 in April
2008, primarily due to the fielding of the F-22 Raptor.[3] Despite the type's
official retirement, a portion of the fleet has been kept in airworthy
condition, and F-117s have been observed flying since 2009.
Development
In 1936, Robert Watson Watt, a
British engineer who invented radar, noted that measures to reduce an object's
radar cross-section (RCS) could be used to evade radar detection.[5] In 1964,
Pyotr Ufimtsev, a Soviet mathematician, published a seminal paper titled Method
of Edge Waves in the Physical Theory of Diffraction in the journal of the
Moscow Institute for Radio Engineering, in which he showed that the strength of
the radar return from an object is related to its edge configuration, not its
size.[6] Ufimtsev was extending theoretical work published by the German
physicist Arnold Sommerfeld. Ufimtsev demonstrated that he could calculate the
RCS across a wing's surface and along its edge. The obvious and logical
conclusion was that even a large aircraft could reduce its radar signature by
exploiting this principle. However, the resulting design would make the
aircraft aerodynamically unstable, and the state of computer technology in the
early 1960s could not provide the kinds of flight computers which would later
allow aircraft such as the F-117 and B-2 Spirit to stay airborne. By the 1970s,
when Lockheed analyst Denys Overholser found Ufimtsev's paper, computers and
software had advanced significantly, and the stage was set for the development
of a stealth airplane.
The F-117 was born after the
Vietnam War, where increasingly sophisticated Soviet surface-to-air missiles
(SAMs) had downed heavy bombers. The heavy losses inflicted by Soviet-made SAMs
upon the Israeli Air Force in the 1973 Yom Kippur war also contributed to a
1974 Defense Science Board assessment that in case of a conflict in Central
Europe, air defenses would likely prevent NATO air strikes on targets in
Eastern Europe.
It was a black project, an
ultra-secret program for much of its life; very few people in the Pentagon knew
the program even existed. The project began in 1975 with a model called the
"Hopeless Diamond" (a wordplay on the Hope Diamond because of its
appearance). The following year, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
(DARPA) issued Lockheed Skunk Works a contract to build and test two Stealth
Strike Fighters, under the code name "Have Blue". These subscale
aircraft incorporated jet engines of the Northrop T-38A, fly-by-wire systems of
the F-16, landing gear of the A-10, and environmental systems of the C-130.[19]
By bringing together existing technology and components, Lockheed built two demonstrators
under budget, at $35 million for both aircraft, and in record time.Undersecretary
of Defense for Research and Engineering William J. Perry was instrumental in
shepherding the project.
The maiden flight of the
demonstrators occurred on 1 December 1977.[22][23] Although both aircraft
crashed during the demonstration program, test data gathered proved
positive.[24][25] The success of Have Blue led the government to increase
funding for stealth technology. Much of that increase was allocated towards the
production of an operational stealth aircraft, the Lockheed F-117, under the
program code name "Senior Trend".
Senior Trend
The decision to produce the
F-117 was made on 1 November 1978, and a contract was awarded to Lockheed
Advanced Development Projects, popularly known as the Skunk Works, in Burbank,
California.[28][29] The program was led by Ben Rich, with Alan Brown as manager
of the project. Rich called on Bill Schroeder, a Lockheed mathematician, and
Overholser, a mathematician and Radar Specialist, to exploit Ufimtsev's work.
The three designed a computer program called "Echo", which made it
possible to design an airplane with flat panels, called facets, which were
arranged so as to scatter over 99% of a radar's signal energy
"painting" the aircraft.
The first YF-117A, serial number
79-10780, made its maiden flight from Groom Lake ("Area 51"), Nevada,
on 18 June 1981, only 31 months after the full-scale development decision. The
first production F-117A was delivered in 1982, and operational capability was
achieved in October 1983.[7][35] The 4450th Tactical Group stationed at Nellis
Air Force Base, Nevada, were tasked with the operational development of the
early F-117, and between 1981 (prior to the arrival of the first models) and
1989 they used LTV A-7 Corsair IIs for training, to bring all pilots to a
common flight training baseline and later as chase planes for F-117A tests.
The F-117 was secret for much of
the 1980s. Many news articles discussed what they called an "F-19"
stealth fighter, and the Testor Corporation produced a very inaccurate scale
model. When an F-117 crashed in Sequoia National Forest in July 1986, killing
the pilot and starting a fire, the USAF established restricted airspace. Armed
guards prohibited entry, including firefighters, and a helicopter gunship
circled the site. All F-117 debris was replaced with remains of a F-101A Voodoo
crash stored at Area 51. When another fatal crash in October 1987 occurred
inside Nellis, the military again provided little information to the press.
The USAF denied the existence of
the aircraft until 10 November 1988, when Assistant Secretary of Defense J.
Daniel Howard displayed a grainy photograph at a Pentagon press conference,
disproving the many inaccurate rumors about the shape of the "F-19".[38]
After the announcement, pilots could fly the F-117 during daytime and no longer
needed to be associated with the A-7, flying the T-38 supersonic trainer for
travel and training instead.[39] In April 1990, two F-117s flew to Nellis,
arriving during daylight and publicly displayed to a crowd of tens of
thousands.
Five Full Scale Development
(FSD) aircraft were built, designated "YF-117A".[42] The last of 59
production F-117s were delivered on 3 July 1990.[35][43] As the USAF has
stated, "Streamlined management by Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson
AFB, Ohio, combined breakthrough stealth technology with concurrent development
and production to rapidly field the aircraft... The F-117A program demonstrates
that a stealth aircraft can be designed for reliability and
maintainability."
Designation
The operational aircraft was
officially designated "F-117A".[44][5] Most modern U.S. military
aircraft use post-1962 designations in which the designation "F" is
usually an air-to-air fighter, "B" is usually a bomber, "A"
is usually a ground-attack aircraft, etc. (Examples include the F-15, the B-2
and the A-6.) The F-117 is primarily an attack aircraft,[1] so its
"F" designation is inconsistent with the Department of Defense
system. This is an inconsistency that has been repeatedly employed by the USAF
with several of its attack aircraft since the late 1950s, including the
Republic F-105 Thunderchief and General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark. A televised
documentary quoted project manager Alan Brown as saying that Robert J. Dixon, a
four-star USAF general who was the head of Tactical Air Command, felt that the
top-notch USAF fighter pilots required to fly the new aircraft were more easily
attracted to an aircraft with an "F" designation for fighter, as
opposed to a bomber ("B") or attack ("A") designation.
The designation
"F-117" seems to indicate that it was given an official designation
prior to the 1962 U.S. Tri-Service Aircraft Designation System and could be
considered numerically to be a part of the earlier "Century series"
of fighters. The assumption prior to the revealing of the aircraft to the
public was that it would likely receive the F-19 designation as that number had
not been used. However, there were no other aircraft to receive a
"100" series number following the F-111. Soviet fighters obtained by
the U.S. via various means under the Constant Peg program were given F-series
numbers for their evaluation by U.S. pilots, and with the advent of the Teen
Series fighters, most often Century Series designations.
As with other exotic military
aircraft types flying in the southern Nevada area, such as captured fighters,
an arbitrary radio call of "117" was assigned. This same radio call
had been used by the enigmatic 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron, also known
as the "Red Hats" or "Red Eagles", that often had flown
expatriated MiG jet fighters in the area, but there was no relationship to the
call and the formal F-19 designation then being considered by the USAF.
Apparently, use of the "117" radio call became commonplace and when
Lockheed released its first flight manual (i.e., the USAF "dash one"
manual for the aircraft), F-117A was the designation printed on the cover.
Design
When the USAF first approached
Lockheed with the stealth concept, Skunk Works Director Kelly Johnson proposed
a rounded design. He believed smoothly blended shapes offered the best
combination of speed and stealth. However, his assistant, Ben Rich, showed that
faceted-angle surfaces would provide a significant reduction in radar
signature, and the necessary aerodynamic control could be provided with
computer units. A May 1975 Skunk Works report, "Progress Report No. 2,
High Stealth Conceptual Studies", showed the rounded concept that was
rejected in favor of the flat-sided approach. The resulting unusual design
surprised and puzzled experienced pilots; a Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot who
flew it as an exchange officer stated that when he first saw a photograph of
the still-secret F-117, he "promptly giggled and thought [to himself]
'this clearly can't fly'".
The single-seat F-117 is powered
by two non-afterburning General Electric F404 turbofan engines. They were
extensively modified to suit a stealthy aircraft, such as to have a cooler
operational temperature, and somewhat resembled a turbojet instead.[54] The
engine was redesigned to produce a minimum of mass thrust, which eased the task
of designing a suitable inlet and nozzle. To obscure the engine from enemy
radar, a conductive metal mesh grill was installed upon in the intake while the
exhaust gases were intentionally mixed with cool air to lower the thermal
signature as well.
The aircraft is air refuelable
and features a V-tail. The maximum speed is 623 mph (1,003 km/h; 541 kn) at
high altitude, the max rate of climb is 2,820 feet (860 m) per minute, and
service ceiling is 43,000 to 45,000 feet (13,000 to 14,000 m).[56][57] The
cockpit was quite spacious, with ergonomic displays and controls, but the field
of view was somewhat obstructed with a large blind spot to the rear.[58] The
aircraft itself is approximately the size of an F-15 Eagle.
Avionics
Early stealth aircraft were
designed with a focus on minimal radar cross-section (RCS) rather than
aerodynamic performance, as such, the F-117 is aerodynamically unstable in all
three aircraft principal axes and require constant flight corrections from a
fly-by-wire (FBW) flight system to maintain controlled flight. It is equipped
with quadruple-redundant fly-by-wire flight controls. To lower development
costs, the avionics, fly-by-wire systems, and other systems and parts were
derived from the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, Boeing B-52
Stratofortress, McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet, and McDonnell Douglas F-15E
Strike Eagle. To maintain a high level of secrecy, components were often
rerouted from other aircraft programs, ordered using falsified addresses and
other details, while $3 million worth of equipment was removed from USAF
storage without disclosing its purpose.
Lockheed YF-117A cockpit at the
National Museum of the United States Air Force, Dayton, Ohio, USA
YF-117A cockpit
The aircraft is equipped with
sophisticated navigation and attack systems integrated into a digital avionics
suite. It navigates primarily by GPS and high-accuracy inertial navigation.[63]
Missions are coordinated by an automated planning system that can automatically
perform all aspects of an attack mission, including weapons release. Targets
are acquired by a thermal imaging infrared system, paired with a laser
rangefinder/laser designator that finds the range and designates targets for
laser-guided bombs. The F-117's split internal bay can carry 5,000 pounds
(2,300 kg) of ordnance. Typical weapons are a pair of GBU-10, GBU-12, or GBU-27
laser-guided bombs, two BLU-109 penetration bombs, or after 2006, two Joint
Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) GPS/INS guided stand-off bombs.
Stealth
The F-117 has a radar
cross-section (RCS) of about 0.001 m2 (0.0108 sq ft).[67] Among the penalties
for stealth are subsonic speeds to prevent frame heating, heat on the engine
inlet and outlet prevent certain thrusting maneuvers, a very low wing aspect ratio,
and a high sweep angle (50°) are needed to deflect incoming radar waves to the
sides.[13][68][69] With these design considerations and no afterburner, the
F-117 is limited to subsonic speeds. Additionally, to maintain its low
observability, the F-117 was not equipped with radar; not only would an active
radar be detectable through its emissions, but an inactive radar antenna would
also act as a reflector of radar energy. Whether it carries any radar detection
equipment remained classified as of 2008.
Its faceted shape (made from
two-dimensional flat surfaces) resulted from the limitations of the 1970s-era
computer technology used to calculate its RCS. Later supercomputers made it
possible for subsequent aircraft like the B-2 bomber to use curved surfaces
while maintaining stealth, through the use of far more computational resources
to perform the additional calculations.[71] The radar-absorbent flat sheets
covering the F-117 weighed almost one ton, and were held in place by glue, with
the gaps between the sheets filled with a kind of putty material called
"butter".
An exhaust plume contributes a
significant infrared signature. The F-117 reduces IR signature with a
non-circular tail pipe (a slit shape) to minimize the exhaust cross-section and
maximize the mixing of hot exhaust with cool ambient air.[73] The F-117 lacks
afterburners, because the hot exhaust would increase the infrared signature,
and breaking the sound barrier would produce an obvious sonic boom, as well as
surface heating of the aircraft skin which also increases the infrared
footprint. As a result, its performance in air combat maneuvering required in a
dogfight would never match that of a dedicated fighter aircraft; this was
unimportant in the case of the F-117 since it was a dedicated attack aircraft.
Passive (multistatic) radar,
bistatic radar and especially multistatic radar systems detect some stealth
aircraft better than conventional monostatic radars, since first-generation
stealth technology (such as the F-117) reflects energy away from the transmitter's
line of sight, effectively increasing the radar cross section (RCS) in other
directions, which the passive radars monitor.
Operational history
Early activities
During the program's early
years, from 1984 to mid-1992, the F-117 fleet was based at Tonopah Test Range
Airport, Nevada, where it served under the 4450th Tactical Group; Air Combat
Command's only F-117A unit.[75] The unit was headquartered at Nellis Air Force
Base. A-7 Corsair II aircraft were used for training. Most personnel and their
families lived in Las Vegas. This required commercial air and trucking to
transport personnel between Las Vegas and Tonopah each week.[76] The 4450th was
absorbed by the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing in 1989. In 1992, the entire fleet
was transferred to Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, under the command of
the 49th Fighter Wing.
The F-117 reached initial
operating capability status in 1983. The Nighthawk's pilots called themselves
"Bandits". Each of the 558 Air Force pilots who have flown the F-117
has a Bandit number, such as "Bandit 52", that indicates the
sequential order of their first flight in the F-117.[77] Pilots told friends
and families that they flew the Northrop F-5 in aggressor squadrons against
Tactical Air Command.
The F-117 has been used several
times in war. Its first mission was during the United States invasion of Panama
in 1989. During that invasion, at least two F-117s dropped bombs on Rio Hato
airfield.
The aircraft was operated in
secret from Tonopah for almost a decade, after the Gulf War, all aircraft moved
to Holloman in 1992however, its integration with the USAF's non-stealth
"iron jets" occurred slowly. As one senior F-117 pilot later said:
Because of ongoing secrecy others continued to see the aircraft as "none
of their business, a stand-alone system".[13] The F-117 and the men and
women of the 49th Fighter Wing were deployed to Southwest Asia on multiple
occasions. On their first deployment, with the aid of aerial refueling, pilots
flew non-stop from Holloman to Kuwait, a flight of approximately 18.5 hours.
Yugoslavia
One F-117 (AF ser. no. 82-0806)
was lost to enemy action. It was downed during an Operation Allied Force
mission against the Army of Yugoslavia on 27 March 1999.[83] The aircraft was
acquired by a fire control radar at a distance of 8.1 mi (13 km) and an
altitude of 26,000 ft (8 km). SA-3s were then launched by a Yugoslav version of
the Soviet Isayev S-125 "Neva" (NATO name SA-3 "Goa")
anti-aircraft missile system.[83][84][85] The launcher was run by the 3rd
Battalion of the 250th Air Defence Missile Brigade under the command of Colonel
Zoltán Dani.
After the explosion, the
aircraft became uncontrollable, forcing the pilot to eject.[83] The pilot was
recovered six hours later by a United States Air Force Pararescue team. The
stealth technology from the downed F-117 has reportedly been studied by
Russia,[88] and possibly China as well.[89] The U.S. did not attempt to destroy
the wreckage; senior Pentagon officials claimed that its technology was already
dated and no longer important to protect.
American sources state that a
second F-117 was targeted and damaged during the campaign, allegedly on 30
April 1999. The aircraft returned to Spangdahlem Air Base,[91] but it
supposedly never flew again. The USAF continued using the F-117 during
Operation Allied Force.
Iraq and Afghanistan
During the Gulf War in 1991, the
F-117 flew approximately 1,300 sorties and scored direct hits on what the U.S.
called 1,600 high-value targets in Iraq[2] over 6,905 flight hours.[95] Leaflet
drops on Iraqi forces displayed the F-117 destroying ground targets and warned
"Escape now and save yourselves".[39] Only 229 Coalition tactical
aircraft could drop and designate laser-guided bombs of which 36 F-117s
represented 15.7%, and only the USAF had the I-2000 bombs intended for hardened
targets. So the F-117 represented 32% of all coalition aircraft that could
deliver such bombs.[96]: 7374 Notably, F-117s were involved in the Amiriyah shelter
bombing, killing at least 408 civilians.
Much media attention was given
to the bombing of telecommunications, water, and transportation infrastructure
in Baghdad. Stealth bombers were used due to the perimeter of Baghdad being
heavily defended with anti-aircraft weapons. Part of the American strategy in
targeting the city's infrastructure was to make it unlivable for the populace.
The bombings quickly became part of a propaganda battle with media highlighting
the killing of civilians and American claims that stealth bombing was highly
effective at destroying military targets.[98] Post war records show that the
F-117 had 18 times more targets per aircraft than their non-stealthy peers.
Outside of Baghdad, the F-117
bombing was primarily used to destroy airfields and it was used in conjunction
with other air munitions. Overall, 42 F-117s dropped 2077 bombs in Desert
Storm. This accounts for about a third of USAF guided bombing.
Early claims of the F-117's
effectiveness were later found to be overstated.[100] Initial reports of F-117s
hitting 80% of their targets were later scaled back to "4160%".[96]: 132 On the first night, they failed
to hit 40% of their assigned air-defense targets, including the Air Defense
Operations Center in Baghdad, and 8 such targets remained functional out of 10
that could be assessed.[96]: 136137 In their Desert Storm white paper, the USAF stated that
"the F-117 was the only airplane that the planners dared risk over
downtown Baghdad" and that this area was particularly well defended.
(Dozens of F-16s were routinely tasked to attack Baghdad in the first few days
of the war.)[96]: 137138 In fact, most of the air defenses were on the outskirts
of the city and many other aircraft hit targets in the downtown area, with
minimal casualties when they attacked at night like the F-117;[96] they avoided
the optically aimed anti-aircraft cannon and infrared SAMs which were the
biggest threat to Coalition aircraft.
The F-117 was used during
Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001. The Taliban lacked a modern Air Force.
After the initial bombing campaign in October, targets justifying F-117 usage
were limited as was the use of the F-117.
The first bombs dropped in the
2003 Operation Iraqi Freedom were from two F-117 on the Dora Farms in attempt
to assassinate Saddam Hussein. The F-117 was chosen to deliver a bunker buster
payload because nearby Baghdad was heavily fortified with anti-aircraft
weapons, and US intelligence indicated Saddam Hussein's bunker was too
reinforced for missiles. The EGBU-27 Advanced Paveway III bunker buster is an
unusual payload for the F-117. Post-facto intelligence showed that Saddam
Hussein had been at Dora Farms, but left several hours prior to the bombing. During this time the Air Force estimated the
operational cost as $35,000 per JDAM style bomb delivered by the F-117.
Program closeout
The loss in Serbia caused the
USAF to create a subsection of their existing weapons school to improve
tactics. More training was done with other units, and the F-117 began to
participate in Red Flag exercises. Though advanced for its time, the F-117's stealthy
faceted airframe required a large amount of maintenance and was eventually
superseded by streamlined shapes produced with computer-aided design. Other
weapon systems began to take on the F-117's roles, such as the F-22 Raptor
gaining the ability to drop guided bombs.[3] By 2005, the aircraft was used
only for certain missions, such as if a pilot needed to verify that the correct
target had been hit, or when minimal collateral damage was vital.
The USAF had once planned to
retire the F-117 in 2011, but Program Budget Decision 720 (PBD 720), dated 28
December 2005, proposed retiring it by October 2008 to free up an estimated
$1.07 billion[107] to buy more F-22s. PBD 720 called for 10 F-117s to be
retired in FY2007 and the remaining 42 in FY2008, stating that other USAF
planes and missiles could stealthily deliver precision ordnance, including the
B-2 Spirit, F-22 and JASSM.[108] The planned introduction of the multi-role
F-35 Lightning II also contributed to the retirement decision.
In late 2006, the USAF closed
the F-117 formal training unit (FTU),[110] and announced the retirement of the
F-117.[111] The first six aircraft to be retired took their last flight on 12
March 2007 after a ceremony at Holloman AFB to commemorate the aircraft's
career. Brigadier General David L. Goldfein, commander of the 49th Fighter
Wing, said at the ceremony, "With the launch of these great aircraft
today, the circle comes to a closetheir service to our nation's defense
fulfilled, their mission accomplished and a job well done. We send them today
to their final resting placea home they are intimately familiar withtheir
first, and only, home outside of Holloman."
A pair of specially painted
F-117 Nighthawks sporting a United States flag theme on their bellies fly off
from their last refueling by the Ohio Air National Guard's 121st Air Refueling
Wing
Unlike most other USAF aircraft
that are retired to Davis-Monthan AFB for scrapping, or dispersal to museums,
most of the F-117s were placed in "Type 1000" storage[113] in their
original hangars at the Tonopah Test Range Airport.[83] At Tonopah, their wings
were removed and the aircraft are stored in their original climate-controlled
hangars.[112] The decommissioning occurred in eight phases, with the
operational aircraft retired to Tonopah in seven waves from 13 March 2007 until
the last wave's arrival on 22 April 2008.[114][83] Four aircraft were kept
flying beyond April by the 410th Flight Test Squadron at Palmdale for flight
test. By August, two were remaining. The last F-117 (AF Serial No. 86-0831)
left Palmdale to fly to Tonopah on 11 August 2008.With the last aircraft
retired, the 410th was inactivated in a ceremony on 1 August 2008.
Five aircraft were placed in
museums, including the first four YF-117As and some remains of the F-117 shot
down over Serbia. Through 2009, one F-117 had been scrapped; AF Serial No.
79-0784 was scrapped at the Palmdale test facility on 26 April 2008. It was the
last F-117 at Palmdale and was scrapped to test an effective method for
destroying F-117 airframes.
Congress had ordered that all
F-117s mothballed from 30 September 2006 onwards were to be maintained "in
a condition that would allow recall of that aircraft to future service" as
part of the 2007 National Defense Authorization Act. As of 2022, USAF plans to
demilitarize three F-117s each year until 2034 when they should all be
demilitarized.
Post-retirement service
The service is using the
aircraft in aggressor squadron and cruise missile training, and research and
development. USAF has also slowed the retirement of its current inventory of
about 45 F-117s to two to three units a year. This plan should extend the lifetime
of the F-117 program to 2034.[118][117] In March 2019, it was reported that
four F-117s had been secretly deployed to the Middle East in 2016 and that one
had to make an emergency landing at Ali Al Salem (OKAS), Kuwait sometime late
that year.
On 13 September 2021, a pair of
F-117s landed at Fresno Yosemite International Airport in California. They were
scheduled to train with the California Air National Guard F-15C/D Eagles of the
144th Fighter Wing over the next few days.[120] One aircraft had red letters on
its tail, and the other had white letters. One of the two was observed to not
be fitted with radar reflectors.[121] That year USAF published photographs on
DVIDS, the first acknowledgement by the service that the aircraft continued to
fly after its official retirement.
In January 2022, two F-117s were
observed in flight in the Saline Military Operating Area. One had portions of
its exterior covered in a "mirror-like coating" believed to be an
experimental treatment to reduce the aircraft's infrared signature.
In May 2023, an F-117
participated in exercise Savannah Sentry at the Air Dominance Center in
Savannah, Georgia. It was a joint exercise with both active USAF and Air
National Guard units. In a video documenting the exercise, an off-screen crew
member stated that there are approximately 48 flyable F-117s in USAF inventory.
They stated that the F-117 is sometimes used in aggressor-type training roles
and was brought to Savannah Sentry to participate in an "unclassified
capacity." On 1 February 2024, two F-117s were seen at testing range
R-2508 in the Mojave Desert.
Variants
F-117N "Seahawk"
The United States Navy tested
the F-117 in 1984 but determined it was unsuitable for carrier use.[39] In the
early 1990s, Lockheed proposed an upgraded carrier-capable F-117 variant dubbed
the "Seahawk" to the Navy as an alternative to the canceled A/F-X
program. The unsolicited proposal was received poorly by the Department of
Defense, which lacked interest in the single mission capabilities on offer,
particularly as it would take money away from the Joint Advanced Strike
Technology program, which evolved into the Joint Strike Fighter. The F-117N
would have differed from the land-based F-117 in several ways, such as the use
of "elevators, a bubble canopy, a less sharply swept wing and reconfigured
tail".[125][126] It would also be re-engined with General Electric F414
turbofans in place of the General Electric F404s. The aircraft would be
optionally fitted with hardpoints, allowing for an additional 8,000 lb (3,600
kg) of payload, and a new ground-attack radar with air-to-air capability. In
that role, the F-117N could carry AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles.
F-117B
After being rebuffed by the
Navy, Lockheed submitted an updated proposal that included afterburning
capability and a larger emphasis on the F-117N as a multi-mission aircraft,
rather than just an attack aircraft.[127] To boost interest, Lockheed also proposed
an F-117B land-based variant that shared most of the F-117N capabilities. This
variant was proposed to the USAF and RAF. Two RAF pilots formally evaluated the
aircraft in 1986 as a reward for British help with the American bombing of
Libya that year. RAF exchange officers began flying the F-117 in 1987,[39] but
the British declined an offer during the Reagan administration to purchase the
aircraft. This renewed F-117N proposal was also known as the A/F-117X.[130]
Neither the F-117N nor the F-117B were ordered.
Operators
22 F-117A aircraft from the 37th
Tactical Fighter Wing at Langley AFB, Virginia, prior to being deployed to
Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Shield
United States
United States Air Force
4450th Tactical Group Tonopah
Test Range, Nevada
4450th Tactical Squadron
(19811989)
4451st Tactical Squadron
(19811989)
4453rd Test and Evaluation
Squadron (19851989)
37th Tactical Fighter
Wing/Fighter Wing Tonopah Test Range
415th Tactical Fighter Squadron
(19891992)
416th Tactical Fighter Squadron
(19891992)
417th Tactical Fighter Training
Squadron (19891992)
49th Fighter Wing Holloman
AFB, New Mexico
7th Fighter Squadron (19922006)
8th Fighter Squadron (19922008)
9th Fighter Squadron (19932008)
412th Test Wing Edwards AFB,
California
410th Flight Test Squadron
(19932008)