F-117PAGE

F-117 NIGHTHAWK

The first F-117A was delivered in 1982, and the last delivery was in the summer of 1990. The F-117A production decision was made in 1978 with a contract awarded to Lockheed Advanced Development Projects, the "Skunk Works," in Burbank, Calif. The first flight was in 1981, only 31 months after the full-scale development decision. Air Combat Command's only F-117A unit, the 4450th Tactical Group, (now the 49th Fighter Wing, Holloman Air Force Base, N.M.), achieved operational capability in October 1983. Streamlined management by Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, combined breakthrough th technology with concurrent development and production to rapidly field the aircraft. The F-117A program has demonstrated that a th aircraft can be designed for reliability and maintainability. The aircraft maintenance statistics are comparable to other tactical fighters of similar complexity. Logistically supported by Sacramento Air Logistics Center, McClellan AFB, Calif., the F-117A is kept at the forefront of technology through a planned weapon system improvement program located at USAF Plant 42 at Palmdale, Calif.

Used successfully in the Gulf War with 1,270 missions, the F-117A is a single-seat 'stealthy' precision attack fighter which was kept secret for many yaers. A total of 56 F-117As are in service. Undetectable by radar, the F-117A was designed to perform surgical strikes against heavily defended targets--to get in and out very quickly and not be vulnerable. Despite undertaking hundreds of missions in the Gulf war, no stealth ever suffered even a single bullethole.

For more than 50 years, The Skunk Works has earned a reputation for being just beyond the leading edge of technology by developing a successful series of prototype and limited production aircraft. Many of these projects were considered incredible, if not impossible, feats of engineering for their time.

[ Home | Kelly | F-16 | T-birds | Free Photo | X | F-22 | X-33 ]

THE PROPER USE OF THE B2

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws