F-117 Nighthawk
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The Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk is the world's first operational aircraft completely designed around stealth technology. Flown only by the United States Air Force, it is a direct descendant of the Have Blue stealth prototype program.
The F-117A was widely publicized during the Gulf War. It is scheduled to be replaced by the F-22 Raptor between 2008 and 2020.
Designation
The "F-" designation has never been officially explained. There are several theories. The USAF has always been more proud of its fighters than its ground-attack aircraft, which are sometimes denigrated as "mud movers." Officials may have felt that they could more easily generate political and military support for the radical new aircraft if it were called a "fighter" rather than a bomber or attack plane. The "F-" designation may also have been part of the attempt to keep the Nighthawk secret (the program was classified until the late 1980s). During development the term 'LT', for Logistics Trainer, was often used.
Also a recent televised documentary quoted a senior member of the F-117A development team as saying that the top-notch fighter pilots required to fly the new aircraft were more easily attracted to an F- plane, as opposed to a B- or A- aircraft. There has been something of a class distinction between fighter and bomber crews, particularly in the days of the Strategic Air Command (1945-1991), and flying one type often limited a pilot's prospects for flying the other.
The USAF maintains that the F-117A can carry air-to-air missiles, giving it air-to-air combat capability in addition to its primary air-to-ground mission. While that may be technically true, the aircraft is of unknown capability in air-combat. It is likely a poor dogfighter, but there is no expert opinion on its other abilities.
There is some conjecture about its abilities. It is said that it cannot turn at greater than 5 g though the information is classified. It lacks the radar to guide longer-range missiles, and does not carry shorter-range ones for self-defense. USAF officials once considered putting AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles on the F-117 — pilots were even trained to fire them — but there is no evidence that AIM-9s have ever been loaded aboard. Its stealth capabilities makes it hard to locate by other fighters and target with radar tracking air-air missiles.
Design and operation
Among the penalties for stealth are 30% lower engine power and a very low wing aspect ratio, thanks to the high sweep angle needed to deflect incoming radar waves to the sides.
The F-117A is equipped with sophisticated navigation and attack systems integrated into a digital avionics suite. It carries no radar, which lowers emissions and cross-section. It navigates primarily by GPS and high-accuracy inertial navigation. Missions are coordinated by an automated planning system that can automatically perform all aspects of a strike mission, including weapons release. Targets are acquired by a thermal imaging infrared system, slaved to a laser that finds the range and designates targets for laser-guided bombs.
The F-117A's split internal bay can carry 5,000 lb (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, two Wind-Corrected Munition Dispensers (WCMD), or two Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), a GPS/INS-guided stand-off bomb. It can theoretically carry two examples of nearly any weapon in the USAF inventory, including the B61 nuclear bomb. There are a number of bombs that it cannot carry, either because they are too large to fit in its bomb bay, or are incompatible with the F-117's carry system.
History
The F-117A production decision was made in 1973 with a contract awarded to Lockheed Advanced Development Projects, the "Skunk Works," in Burbank, California led by Ben Rich. The first flight was in 1977, only 31 months after the full-scale development decision. The first F-117A was delivered in 1982, operational capability was achieved in October 1983, and the last delivery was in the summer of 1990. The Air Force denied the existence of the aircraft until 1988, then in April 1990 an example was put on public display at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, attracting tens of thousands of spectators.Current inventory is 54 airplanes. 36 of those are combat ready, the rest are for training, etc.
During the program's early years, the F-117A fleet was based at Tonopah Test Range, Nevada from 1984 to mid-1992, where it served under the 4450th Tactical Group, absorbed by the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing in 1989. In 1992, the entire fleet was transferred to Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, where it was placed under the command of the 49th Fighter Wing. The move eliminated the need for Key Air flights, which flew 22,000 passenger trips on 300 flights from Nellis to Tonopah per month.
As the Air Force has stated [link], "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." The aircraft maintenance statistics are comparable to other tactical fighters of similar complexity. Logistically supported by Sacramento Air Logistics Center, McClellan AFB, California, the F-117A is kept at the forefront of technology through a planned weapon system improvement program located at USAF Plant 42 at Palmdale, California.
Combat
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 an F-117 dropped two bombs on Rio Hato airfield. Later, during the Gulf War, it performed well by dropping smart bombs on Iraqi military targets. It has since been used in the Kosovo War in 1999, the Operation Enduring Freedom and in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.Combat losses
One F-117 has been lost in combat, to Serbian/Yugoslav forces. On March 27, 1999, during the Kosovo War, the 3rd Battalion of the 250th Missile Brigade under command of colonel Zoltán Dani, equipped with the Isayev S-125 'Neva-M' (NATO designation SA-3 'Goa'), downed F-117A serial number 82-806 with a Neva missile. According to Wesley Clark and other NATO generals, Yugoslav air defense tracked F-117s with old Russian radars operating on long wavelengths. This, combined with the loss of stealth when the jets got wet or opened their bomb bays, made them highly visible on radar screens. The pilot survived and was later rescued by NATO forces. However, the wreckage of the F-117 was not promptly bombed, and the Serbs are believed to have invited Russian personnel to inspect the remains, inevitably compromising the US stealth technology. [link]A second F-117A was also damaged during a raid in the Kosovo War, and although it made it back to its base, it never flew again. [link]
