Nighthawk Background

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 Nighthawk program has demonstrated 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, Calif., the Nighthawk is kept at the forefront of technology through a planned weapon system improvement program located at USAF Plant 42 at Palmdale, Calif.

Nighthawk History

Officially named F-117A Nighthawk, but better known to the world as the stealth fighter, the Nighthawk made its combat debut Dec. 19, 1989, when six F-117As left their base in Nevada, headed for Panama. Two of the F-117As were turned back when their mission was canceled, two flew as back-up and returned to base when it was seen they were not needed, and the last pair flew to the Central American nation in support of U.S. combat operations in progress.

The stealth fighter would earn fame, however, over a year later when several struck deep into the heart of Iraq, striking Baghdad live on television during the opening hours of Operation Desert Storm. Throughout the Gulf War, the F-117As would be assigned the toughest and highest priority targets, including SAM and SCUD launchers, radar sites, Iraqi command/control/ communications facilities, bridges, and hardened aircraft shelters and bunkers.

By the end of the war the stealth fighter had performed over 40 percent of the allies' strategic bombing raids in more than 1,200 sorties, delivering more than 2,000 tons of ordnance without the loss of a single plane. Not one was even fired upon as the revolutionary plane flew into the aviation history books.

The F-117A Nighthawk began its life in 1978 when Lockheed Advanced Development Projects, famously known as "Skunk Works," was awarded the contract to develop an aircraft that would be almost invisible to radar. The prototype flew the same year, but was lost when the pilot had to eject at 10,000 feet over the Nevada desert. The second prototype was more successful and achieved as near a state of radar invisibility as possible.

In 1981, 31 months after the decision was made to go ahead with full-scale development the first flight of the super-secret plane was made, and in October 1983 the Air Force's only F-117A unit, the 4450th Tactical Group (now designated the 45th Fighter Wing) achieved operational capability.

The F-117A Nighthalk is a unique aircraft, with its surfaces and edge profiles optimized to reflect enemy radar away from the radar detectors. Coated with radar absorbing materials, the radar cross-section of the F-117A has been estimated at between 10 and 100 square cm, or about the size of a small bird, making it nearly invisible to enemy air defenses.

Close in size to the F-14 Tomcat, the Nighthawk is powered by a pair of 48 k-N General Electric F404-GE-F1D2 turbofans, which are derivatives of the F404-GE-400 engines used to power the F/A-18 Hornet. To keep the aircraft as invisible as possible, the engine exhaust area is wide and flat, with the air intakes on both sides of the fuselage covered by gratings coated with radar absorbent material. The Nighthawk's two large tail fins lean outwards, obstructing infrared and radar returns of the engine exhaust area.

The Nighthawk has a one-man crew, and the cockpit is outfitted with a Kaiser Electronics heads-up display (HUD). The flight deck is equipped with a large video monitor displaying infrared images from the plane's onboard sensors and a full-color moving map developed by the Harris Corporation.

To keep the plane as invisible as possible to enemy detection the F-117A does not rely on radar for navigation or targeting. The plane is equipped with a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) and a downward looking infrared (DLIR) with a laser designator, and uses a Honeywell inertial navigation system.

Along the front of the aircraft are multi-channel pitot-static tubes, with multiple ports along the length of the tubes that provide differential pressure readings that the flight control computers compare to provide the Nighthawk's flight data.

When going into battle, the F-117A can carry up to 4,000 pounds and a variety of weapons in the internal weapons bay, including the BLU-109B low-level laser guided bomb, GBU-10 and GBU-27 laser-guided bomb units and the AGM-65 and AGM-88 HARM air-to-surface missiles

The F-117A's top speed has been released as high subsonic, with its cruising speed as 684 mph. The Nighthawk has an unlimited range for operations when using aerial refueling.

Mission

Nighthawk Features

The F-117A can employ a variety of weapons and is equipped with sophisticated navigation and attack systems integrated into a state-of-the-art digital avionics suite that increases mission effectiveness and reduces pilot workload. Detailed planning for missions into highly defended target areas is accomplished by an automated mission planning system developed, specifically, to take advantage of the unique capabilities of the F-117A.

General Characteristics

Image Provided by U.S.A.F.

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