The F-117A Nighthawk is the world's first operational aircraft
designed to exploit low-observable stealth technology. The unique design of the
single-seat F-117A provides exceptional combat capabilities. About the size of
an F-15 Eagle, the twin-engine aircraft is powered by two General Electric F404
turbofan engines and has quadruple redundant fly-by-wire flight controls. Air
refuelable, it supports worldwide commitments and adds to the deterrent strength
of the U.S. military forces.
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. Lockheed-Martin delivered 59 stealth fighters
to the Air Force between August 1982 and July 1990. Five additional test
aircraft belong to the company.
The stealth fighter attacked the most heavily fortified targets during
Desert Storm (January-February 1991) , and it was the only coalition jet allowed
to strike targets inside Baghdad's city limits. The F-117A, which normally packs
a payload of two 2,000-pound GBU-27 laser-guided bombs, destroyed and crippled
Iraqi electrical power stations, military headquarters, communications sites,
air defense operation centers, airfields, ammo bunkers, and chemical, biological
and nuclear weapons plants.
Although only 36 stealth fighters were deployed in Desert Storm and
accounted for 2.5 percent of the total force of 1,900 fighters and bombers, they
flew more than a third of the bombing runs on the first day of the war. In all
during Desert Storm, the stealth fighter conducted more than 1,250 sorties,
dropped more than 2,000 tons of bombs, and flew more than 6,900 hours. More than
3,000 antiaircraft guns and 60 surface-to-air missile batteries protected the
city, but despite this seemingly impenetrable shield, the Nighthawks owned the
skies over the city and, for that matter, the country.
