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| Science & Technology |
| F-117A retired after 25 years |
| 2006-11-03 |
| Almost as furtively as it flew above war zones from Bosnia to Baghdad, America's F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter has retired from active duty. The years had snuck up on it. Though it remained cutting-edge contemporary in many people's minds, the Nighthawk had hit the quarter-century mark. At a discreet "Silver Stealth" ceremony at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico this week, some of the people who built, serviced and flew the plane marked the end of its 25-year career. Much of the F-117A's innermost workings remain top-secret but it was outstripped by newer, even more space-age technology. All that remained was its public image. Its successor, the F-22 Raptor, appeared on the last day of the Canadian International Air Show in Toronto in September, its first foray outside the United States. The Raptor looks more like a conventional jet than the F-117A and didn't cause much excitement, other than among hard-core aviation buffs. When the Nighthawk made its Toronto debut in 1993, as it whispered over Ontario Place the crowd went crazy, pointing and yelling, "Stealth! Stealth!" With its odd shape — awkward angles calculated to baffle enemy radar — the Nighthawk hardly looked like a plane at all; more like a prop from a sci-fi TV show or something you'd fold from paper and then complain because it didn't fly. But fly it most certainly did. Gen. Lloyd "Fig" Newton, one of the first F-117A pilots, said it had "capabilities that had never been known before," American Forces Press Service reported. "If we needed the door kicked in, the stealth was the one to do it." The Nighthawk entered service in 1982. It could slither through the most sophisticated radar on bombing missions that left survivors literally not knowing what had hit them. It flew over Bosnia, Panama, Iraq — the only plane to attack downtown Baghdad — and Afghanistan and "reshaped how the air force looked at strategic warfare," said Lt.-Col. Chris Knehans, commander of the 7th Fighter Squadron at Holloman. It was a "decapitation strike" by stealth fighters on Baghdad in March 2003 that began the war on Iraq. The F-117A was referred to as a fighter, though its main roles were bombing and reconnaissance. It wasn't particularly fast, not quite able to break the sound barrier. The twin-engine plane was rushed into being. It made its first flight June 18, 1981, after only 31 months in development. There were reportedly 55 built, the last being delivered in 1990. In 1992, Nighthawks flew non-stop from Holloman to Kuwait, an 18-hour flight that remains a record for single-seat fighters. Paul Cabot, curator of the Toronto Aerospace Museum, said the fact that the F-117A has lasted 25 years shows how combat aviation has changed from the 1960s, when aircraft designs had a much shorter shelf life. "Planes now are designed to be the deliverer of weapons and not the weapon itself," he said. "They can stand off and deliver a weapon from a distance so they don't see all that much of battle. There have been developments in radar so maybe the F-117A had started showing up. That's something we won't be told." |
| Posted by:Steve White |
#12 Stealthiness:The U.S. Air Force has revealed just how “stealthy” the F-22 is. It’s RCS (Radar Cross Section) is the equivalent, for a radar, to a metal marble. The less stealthy (and much cheaper) F-35, is equal to a metal golf ball. The F-35 stealthiness is a bit better than the B-2 bomber, which, in turn, was twice as good as that on the even older F-117. From the above we can see that there has been significant improvement in stealthiness over the last 25 years. Both the F-22 and the F35 are better platforms than the F-117. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2006-11-03 20:02 |
| #11 Tr-3 Mantra also. several reports of 'strange' aircraft that landed many yrs ago in England and rushed to heavily guarded hangar for repairs. grainy pix seem to confirm a generally triangular shaped aircraft. web search for 'aurora' or 'blackstar' will lead the interested viewer to many sites, some are pretty well researched and documented, others are good for a laugh. you decide which is which. skeptical that the SR-71 was tossed w/out replacements; just doesn't fit the USAF M.O. of wanting all the neatest toys. |
| Posted by: USN, ret. 2006-11-03 16:40 |
| #10 Aurora. Large, triangular aircraft probably using a methane-based engine. Thought to be launched off the back of something that looks a lot like the ole B-36. Has a very distinctive exhaust pattern (donuts on a string). Constantly denied. Sighted often enough to make one wonder (though most sightings appear to be either the launch aircraft or the refueling tanker although in one case at least the refueling tanker and the black triangle were seen together over the North Sea). I've seen a vehicle high in the skies over Northern California at about 11am on Saturday moring with that distinctive donuts-on-a-string contrail. The one I saw looked a lot more like a conventional lifting body than a black triangle, however so it likely was not Aurora. It's also likely that Aurora is just a cover codename for a deeper black project and that isn't the real or official name of the vehicle combination. |
| Posted by: FOTSGreg 2006-11-03 15:41 |
| #9 How about good old financial constraints? the USAF has the F-22, wants the F-35, cannot afford all the toys , so shelves the Nighthawk. Look for some sort of countermeasure upgrade, or other verbiage, for either platform. Remember, they also put the A-10 away and they almost went to the boneyard for good, but when the Army said they wanted them for CAS, all at once the AF fired them back up again. And there are several upgrades in the pipeline for the Warthog. I suspect there is another stealthier, classifed aircraft out there doing a lot of work formerly done by both the 117 and the SR-71. |
| Posted by: USN, ret. 2006-11-03 14:31 |
| #8 they just sat there while the on-board navigation system did all the work. Sounds like a good platform for building an AFA (Autonomous Flying Asskicker). I say give them to those little scamps at MIT and let 'em go wild. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2006-11-03 10:36 |
| #7 She was a great bird, but had her limits. Only could carry two bombs internally, subsonic speed, couldn't defend herself. That's why they only flew at night. Pilots didn't really like flying it, they just sat there while the on-board navigation system did all the work. Heard complaints about being bored during the flight, except during the run in to the target. Not surprised the AF shoved the old girl out the door, like they tried to do with the A-10. Can't be a "real pilot" unless you can shoot somebody down. I worked for the 49th Training Sq at Holloman back in the early 90's and heard it first hand. Wouldn't surprise me if some of the 117's attack missions are ready to be assumed by a stealth drone (to be named later). |
| Posted by: Steve 2006-11-03 09:56 |
| #6 Gen. Lloyd "Fig" Newton Gawd I love those nicknames. |
| Posted by: eLarson 2006-11-03 09:51 |
| #5 ...I had expected the Nighthawk to stay in service for a few more years, but my understanding now is that the F-22A has shown itself to be even stealthier than the Black Lady, and that the first batch of Raptor Drivers are quietly getting attack training (the first unit, 1FW at Langley AFB VA, has traditionally been a pure air superiority outfit, though when I was there in the late 80s they were occasionally laying down practice bombs with their F-15Cs.). Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2006-11-03 09:12 |
| #4 One assumes it is retired because its replacements are significantly better at its jobs. The replacement may be the F-22, of which airframe #100 is currently in fabrication. Then again, we may not have any idea of what its replacement is (I seem to recall a 'gee whiz' article recently about a real-life 'invisibility cloak' fabric, for instance). |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2006-11-03 08:51 |
| #3 if this jet is still good at its job then why retire it.now if it was crashing every 2 times they went up i could see . |
| Posted by: sinse 2006-11-03 08:01 |
| #2 Pass them over to us Brits , we like hand-me-downs .. 25 years young for the RAF is nothing new. Just take a look at our airforce , Im suprised we aint still flying the old Sopwith Camels Anyway , enough rantings , and goodbye to an amazing plane |
| Posted by: MacNails 2006-11-03 07:44 |
| #1 Give the 'old girl' a warm sendoff, complete with roses, wine and a single tear! |
| Posted by: smn 2006-11-03 04:06 |