Lockheed Martin F-117 Nighthawk

Kat Tsun said:
CiTrus90 said:
I was today years old when I learned F-117s can go supersonic:
View attachment 692188

Source:
Defense Suppression
Building Some Operational Concepts
STANLEY J. DOUGHERTY, MAJOR, USAF
School of Advanced Airpower Studies
https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA364843.pdf

I also learned that looking for pdfs on dtic, ntrs, etc. it's terribly addictive and highly dispersive, since I keep stumbling from one rabbit hole into another...
Click to expand...

Most jet planes can go supersonic at least once TBF.
Click to expand...
With no afterburner and less-than-optimum aerodynamics, it would only be supersonic in a dive.
 
All these people that seem unable to understand "retired from combat status" does NOT mean "scrap them all right now".


For one example...
The F9F-6/7/8 Cougar was retired from all USN & USMC combat squadrons in the mid-1960s (reserve units, they left the active squadrons in 1960).

TF-9Js (F9F-8Ts) 2-seat trainers finally left service in USN & USMC training squadrons in 1974.

Despite this, TF-9Js of H&MS-13 (USMC headquarters & maintenance squadron) were used in combat in the Forward Air Controller role in Vietnam in 1967-68, directing air strikes against VC positions in South Vietnam.
 
I cannot believe that it is 43 years since the Lockheed F-117A was still in production in the old Skunk Works site in Burbank, you are right in saying that time flies piginapoke. Also I can still remember when the F-117A was revealed to the public back in 1988 with that grainy photo, my jaw instantly dropped.
 
Time flies, huh? I wasn't alive back then but I wonder what Soviet commanders first thought of it after an analysis. They must've been scared shitless thinking the Americans invented a new and almost riskless way of being the first to deliver nuclear payload in a doomsday scenario.
 
www.dvidshub.net

F-117 Nighthawks arrive at JBER for Northern Edge 23-1

A U.S. Air Force F-117 Nighthawk lands at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska during Northern Edge 23-1, May 10, 2023. NE 23-1 provides an opportunity for joint, multinational and multi-domain operations designed to implement high-end, realistic war fighter training, develop and improve...
www.dvidshub.net www.dvidshub.net
theaviationist.com

F-117 Stealth Jets (Fitted With Radar Reflectors) In New Photos From Alaska Exercise

The F-117s have operated from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson for NE 23-1 earlier this month. But the most interesting thing is the presence of the
theaviationist.com theaviationist.com
www.thedrive.com

F-117 Nighthawks Soar Over Alaska

F-117s have been expanding the geographical footprint of their post-retirement operations and have now ventured outside the lower 48 states.
www.thedrive.com www.thedrive.com
https://twitter.com/x/status/1660727962570829825
View: https://twitter.com/space_osint/status/1660727962570829825
 
aonestudio said:
www.dvidshub.net

F-117 Nighthawks arrive at JBER for Northern Edge 23-1

A U.S. Air Force F-117 Nighthawk lands at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska during Northern Edge 23-1, May 10, 2023. NE 23-1 provides an opportunity for joint, multinational and multi-domain operations designed to implement high-end, realistic war fighter training, develop and improve...
www.dvidshub.net www.dvidshub.net
theaviationist.com

F-117 Stealth Jets (Fitted With Radar Reflectors) In New Photos From Alaska Exercise

The F-117s have operated from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson for NE 23-1 earlier this month. But the most interesting thing is the presence of the
theaviationist.com theaviationist.com
www.thedrive.com

F-117 Nighthawks Soar Over Alaska

F-117s have been expanding the geographical footprint of their post-retirement operations and have now ventured outside the lower 48 states.
www.thedrive.com www.thedrive.com
https://twitter.com/x/status/1660727962570829825
View: https://twitter.com/space_osint/status/1660727962570829825
Click to expand...
You are looking at the drag chute doors.
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/1687592664315678720
View: https://twitter.com/aniemyer/status/1687592664315678720

theaviationist.com

F-117 Stealth Jets Are Taking Part In Northern Lightning 2023 - The Aviationist

Three F-117 jets have deployed to Duluth Air National Guard Base, Minnesota, to take part in Northern Lightning 2023. Northern Lightning is one of seven Air National Guard joint accredited exercises held at a Combat Readiness Training Center. From August 7 to August 18, 2023, Volk Field Combat...
theaviationist.com theaviationist.com
 
When was Have Blue declassified? Im pretty sure it wasn't declassified when the F-117 was in 1988.
 
F-117 program was publicly acknowledged in 1988 and a single misleading photo unveiled.

Photos of Have Blue and a brief outline of the program were published in Aviation Week, April 22 1991.
 
Foo Fighter said:
Apart from cost and crew concerns, any reason why they cannot act as targets for training current crews?
Click to expand...
As I understand it, that's exactly what they're doing. Being used as a target and aggressor aircraft to train for LO opponents.


rooster said:
Everyone knows I am just an enthusiast here. That said, why are we keeping the nighthawks flying when there are better options for "stealth" platforms to train against? What happened to the Boeing and NG drones, for example? If they are just keeping - I am guessing - 3 or 4 nighthawks flying, isn't it more costly than the drones we had built and flown?
Click to expand...
Partly because the exact type of storage requires the various planes to be kept in a flying state, fully assembled, etc.

The Nighthawks are also fully paid for and have adjustable RCS via different sized radar reflectors. As I understand it, even without RAM treated skin, the head-on RCS is just about zero.


CiTrus90 said:
I was today years old when I learned F-117s can go supersonic:
View attachment 692188

Source:
Defense Suppression
Building Some Operational Concepts
STANLEY J. DOUGHERTY, MAJOR, USAF
School of Advanced Airpower Studies
https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA364843.pdf

I also learned that looking for pdfs on dtic, ntrs, etc. it's terribly addictive and highly dispersive, since I keep stumbling from one rabbit hole into another...
Click to expand...
I was under the impression that the flight control software spazzed out when the bird went supersonic, due to how pressures changed around the air data probes.

One that crashed early in the program went supersonic right before it impacted.
 
Ninja said:
When was Have Blue declassified? Im pretty sure it wasn't declassified when the F-117 was in 1988.
Click to expand...

HAVE BLUE was declassified in accordance with DD254 Contract #F33657-79-C-0027 on December 31, 1990.

A number of photos, some historical information, and a few videos have been released.
 
Can anyone verify if these patches from ebay are legit and are not made up?
 

Attachments

  • s-l400-2.jpg
    s-l400-2.jpg
    32.2 KB · Views: 44
  • s-l400-3.jpg
    s-l400-3.jpg
    48.7 KB · Views: 67
Last edited:
Yes, those are both genuine. The silk-screened emblem was the original version that was sometimes called the "blood patch" because of the crimson background. The fully embroidered version was produced later, but before the 4450th Tactical Group was reorganized as the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing.

Ninja said:
I did a presentation project on the F117, didn't get a 100%, but rather a 200%!!! Anyways, can anyone verify if these patches from ebay are legit and are not made up?
Click to expand...
 
Does anyone have a video of the F-117 being revealed on Nov. 10 1988? Ive only been able to see a snippet of that glorious day in an F-117 documentary.
 
Alex Hollings from Sandboxx has put out this video about why the F-117 was never actually retired:


The Lockheed Martin F-117 Nighthawk officially retired from service in 2008... But since then, lots of people have spotted the legendary stealth aircraft operating in the airspace over the American southwest... What gives?
Click to expand...
 
NMaude said:
Alex Hollings from Sandboxx has put out this video about why the F-117 was never actually retired:
Click to expand...

The reason they were put into Type 1000 storage was that Congress ordered it. This is a matter of public record. The Air Force did not want the F-117s around at all and resisted putting them into flyable storage, but ended up following the orders given by the legislature.

In order to meet the requirements of Type 1000 storage some number of the aircraft have to be flown periodically, basically to prove that they can still fly.

Some of those F-117s have been used to conduct flight test missions supporting technology development. This is also a matter of public record. The federal government has been open about this for many years.

If you look closely at the Dark Knights F-117s you may notice they do not have the RAM coatings that operational F-117s had. RAM coatings and most fillers are no longer applied to the F-117s, as there is no longer a capability or need to do so.

The idea that "retired" F-117s were used in combat is silly. There is no force of pilots and maintainers constantly training to maintain any combat capability. The software necessary to use the F-117 operationally uses an old, insecure, problematic operating system that DoD can't support, etc.
 
quellish said:
The software necessary to use the F-117 operationally uses an old, insecure, problematic operating system that DoD can't support, etc.
Click to expand...

What is the OS? It's not something produced by Microsoft is it?
 
quellish said:
RAM coatings and most fillers are no longer applied to the F-117s, as there is no longer a capability or need to do so.
Click to expand...

Didn't they test out the new "chrome skin" on the F-117 as well? And when will we get some kind of clue as to what kind of airframes had the "toxic death" coating that ended up in lawsuit inducing burn pits?
 

Similar threads

Please donate to support the forum.

Back
Top Bottom