The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is a stealth ground attack aircraft formerly operated by the United States Air Force. The F-117A's first flight was in 1981, and it achieved Initial Operational Capability status in October 1983. The F-117A was "acknowledged" and revealed to the world in November 1988.
A product of the Skunk Works and a development of the Have Blue prototype, it became the first operational aircraft initially designed around stealth technology. The F-117A was widely publicized during the Gulf War of 1991.
The Air Force retired the F-117 on 22 April 2008, primarily due to the acquisition and eventual deployment of the more effective F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II.
F-117 Nighthawk Specifications
General characteristics- Crew: 1
- Length: 69 ft 9 in (20.08 m)
- Wingspan: 43 ft 4 in (13.20 m)
- Height: 12 ft 9.5 in (3.78 m)
- Wing area: 780 ft² (73 m²)
- Empty weight: 29,500 lb (13,380 kg)
- Loaded weight: 52,500 lb (23,800 kg)
- Powerplant: 2× General Electric F404-F1D2 turbofans, 10,600 lbf (48.0 kN) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: Mach 0.92 (617 mph, 993 km/h)
- Cruise speed: Mach 0.92
- Range: 930 NM (1720 km)
- Service ceiling: 69,000 ft (20,000 m)
- Wing loading: 65 lb/ft² (330 kg/m²)
- Thrust/weight: 0.40
Armament
- 2 × internal weapons bays with one hardpoint each (total of two weapons) equipped to carry:
- Bombs:
- BLU-109 hardened penetrator
- GBU-10 Paveway II laser-guided bomb
- GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bomb
- GBU-27 Paveway III laser-guided bomb
- JDAM INS/GPS guided munition
About the size of an F-15C Eagle, the single-seat F-117A is powered by two non-afterburning General Electric F404 turbofan engines, and has quadruple-redundant fly-by-wire flight controls. It is air refuelable. To lower development costs, the avionics, fly-by-wire systems, and other parts are derived from the F-16 Fighting Falcon, F/A-18 Hornet and F-15E Strike Eagle.
Among the penalties for stealth are lower engine power thrust, due to losses in the inlet and outlet, a very low wing aspect ratio, and a high sweep angle (50°) needed to deflect incoming radar waves to the sides. With these design considerations and no afterburner, the F-117 is limited to subsonic speeds.
The F-117A is equipped with sophisticated navigation and attack systems integrated into a digital avionics suite. It carries no radar, which lowers emissions and cross-section. It navigates primarily by GPS and high-accuracy inertial navigation. Missions are coordinated by an automated planning system that can automatically perform all aspects of a strike mission, including weapons release. Targets are acquired by a thermal imaging infrared system, slaved to a laser that finds the range and designates targets for laser-guided bombs.
The F-117A's split internal bay can carry 5,000 lb (2,300 kg) of ordnance. Typical weapons are a pair of GBU-10, GBU-12, or GBU-27 laser-guided bombs, two BLU-109 penetration bombs, or two Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), a GPS/INS guided stand-off bomb.
