The F 117 Nighthawk!

Описание: The F-117 Nighthawk is a seminal aircraft in aviation history, renowned as the world's first operational stealth aircraft designed specifically to evade radar detection. Developed in extreme secrecy by Lockheed's famous Skunk Works division during the late 1970s and 1980s, it features a distinctively angular, faceted design. These sharp, flat surfaces were engineered to scatter radar waves, giving the aircraft a radar cross-section comparable to that of a small bird or a marble. Despite its "F" designation—which typically stands for fighter—the Nighthawk was strictly a ground-attack aircraft, carrying precision-guided bombs internally to maintain its stealth profile while lacking afterburners or air-to-air radar.



Operationally, the F-117 gained worldwide fame during the Gulf War in 1991, where it flew critical missions over Baghdad, dismantling Iraqi air defense networks with high precision while remaining virtually invisible to enemy radar. It also saw combat in Panama and Yugoslavia, where one was famously shot down in 1999. Although the US Air Force officially retired the fleet in 2008 to make way for newer stealth platforms like the F-22 Raptor, the Nighthawk’s legacy endures. Interestingly, the aircraft remains in limited use today for training and research purposes, often spotted flying over test ranges in the American Southwest long after its official sunset.