On 10 November 1988, the F-117 was publicly acknowledged for the first time. It is aerodynamically unstable in all three aircraft principal axes and thus requires constant flight corrections via a fly-by-wire (FBW) flight system to maintain controlled flight.Įven years following its entry to service, the F-117 was a black project, its existence being denied by USAF officials. For this reason, it is equipped with integrated sophisticated digital navigation and attack systems, targeting being achieved via a thermal imaging infrared system and a laser rangefinder/ laser designator. While its performance in air combat maneuvering was less than that of most contemporary fighters, it was strictly an attack aircraft despite being commonly referred to as the "Stealth Fighter". To minimise its infrared signature, it has a non-circular tail pipe that mixes hot exhaust with cool ambient air and lacks afterburners it is also restricted to subsonic speeds as breaking the sound barrier would produce an obvious sonic boom that would increase both its acoustic and infrared footprints. The aircraft's faceted shape (made from two-dimensional flat surfaces) heavily contributes to its relatively low radar cross-section of about 0.001 m 2 (0.0108 sq ft). All aircraft were initially based at Tonopah Test Range Airport, Nevada. The first production F-117 was delivered in 1982, and its initial operating capability was achieved in October 1983. A total of five prototypes would be produced the first of which performed its maiden flight during 1981 at Groom Lake, Nevada. On 1 November 1978, it was decided to proceed with the F-117 development program. During 1976, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) issued Lockheed with a contract to produce the Have Blue technology demonstrator, the test data from which validated the concept. Work on what would become the F-117 was commenced in the 1970s as a means of countering increasingly sophisticated Soviet surface-to-air missiles (SAMs). It was the first operational aircraft to be designed with stealth technology. The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is a retired American single-seat, subsonic twin-engine stealth attack aircraft developed by Lockheed's secretive Skunk Works division and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF).
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