The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is a retired American single-seat, subsonic, twin-engined, 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 commenced in the 1970s as a means of countering increasingly ...

Operation Nighthawk Landing is a Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute and Lockheed Martin Skunk Works® project to permanently install an F-117 Nighthawk for public display at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California. The project was completed on Dec. 7, 2019, and made possible by the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force’s permanent loan of F-117 #803 nicknamed ...

The entry into service of the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is a pivotal moment in aviation history. As the world’s first operational stealth aircraft, it ushered in a complete paradigm shift in air warfare.

The Lockheed F-117A was developed in response to an Air Force request for an aircraft capable of attacking high value targets without being detected by enemy radar. By the 1970s, new materials and techniques allowed engineers to design an aircraft with,

Milestones F-117 Nighthawk Fast Facts November 2019 World’s First Operational Stealth Aircraft Flew from Holloman AFB in New Mexico to Kuwait with Aerial Refueling

Jan 1, 2020 · US Air Force Groundbreaking Design: Its unique design is the product of over a decade of development by Lockheed Martin. Screens covering its jet outlets, effectively dispersing exhaust, make the F-117’s greatly reduced radar cross section possible .

Oct 20, 2021 · The F-117 Nighthawk reached initial operating capability in 1983, meaning the platform was already flying some missions in the early 1980s. By 1988, the U.S. Air Force still hadn’t admitted that ...

Mar 30, 2025 · F-117, single-seat, twin-engine jet fighter-bomber built by the Lockheed Corporation (now part of the Lockheed Martin Corporation) for the U.S. Air Force.It was the first stealth aircraft—i.e., an aircraft designed entirely around the concept of evading detection by radar and other sensors. After a difficult development period, during which several prototypes crashed during testing, the ...

Jul 3, 2019 · Development . Development of the F-117 began as a top secret "black project" at Lockheed's famed Advanced Development Projects unit, better known as the "Skunk Works." First developing a model of the new aircraft in 1975 dubbed the "Hopeless Diamond" due to its odd shape, Lockheed built two test aircraft under the Have Blue contract to test the design's radar-defying properties.

Operation Nighthawk Landing Fast Facts November 2019 • • • • • A Lockheed Martin Skunk Works® and Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute