Jet Eyes

Northrop-Loral

USAF

F-19

‘Specter’ Stealth Fighter

S/N: AF4125

 

Unobtanium Skin Tag

 

  The F-19 was developed in the 1980’s with the intent to produce an advanced fighter with the radar cross-section and IR heat signature below that of a low-flying goose

 

Noise emissions were notoriously so quiet that it couldn’t be heard until it was on short finals to home base

 

On-board avionics included an array of radar, infra-red and laser/electro-optic sensors providing a capability to conduct strikes in any weather, at any time of day or night

 

The F-19 was considered a stand-alone attack weapon protected by advanced threat assessment radar warning coupled with power managed, load-shedding, solid state transceivers, IR/laser countermeasures, decoys and an arsenal of ‘smart’ weaponry

 

Basically, it was designed to out-gun its opponent while out-living the cockroach

 

It was also the first US-based fighter plane to feature a 21 bar, 1500W rapid-heat auto espresso capsule machine. Its dual pump functionality allowed for the perfect bloom pour at any flight or mission phase

 

While the USAF proposed the F-19 designation, it was initially skipped contrary to the Tri-Service fighter aircraft designation sequence

This was actually at Northrop's request, maintaining an even number to avoid confusion with the MiG-19 and Soviet odd-numbered designations

It was thought by many popular media outlets that convention would see this designation allocated to the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk

 

Since the unification of the numbering system in 1962, US fighters have been designated by consecutive numbers, beginning with the F-1 Fury. F-13 was never assigned to a fighter due to triskaidekaphobia, though the designation had previously been used for a reconnaissance version of the B-29. After the F/A-18 Hornet, the next announced aircraft was the F-20 Tigershark

The USAF proposed the F-19 designation for the fighter, but Northrop requested "F-20" instead

The USAF finally approved the F-20 designation in 1982

 

 

The US received the first Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk stealth attack aircraft in 1982. During the decade many news articles discussed what they called the "F-19"

The Testor Corporation even produced an F-19 scale model. The company had decades of experience in producing highly detailed models that pilots and aerospace engineers purchased, utilising its sources in US military and defence contractors. The CBS Evening News with Dan Rather and other media discussed the model after its January 1986 introduction

When the real stealth aircraft crashed in California in July 1986, news stories used the model to depict it. Representative Ron Wyden asked the chairman of Lockheed Corporation why an aircraft that Congressmen could not see was sold as a model aircraft. The publicity helped to make it the best-selling model aircraft of all time, but its smooth contours bore little resemblance to the F-117 and its angular panels. The F-117 designation was publicly revealed with the actual aircraft in November 1988

 

Other Notable Appearances in Media

 

In his 1986 novel Red Storm Rising, Tom Clancy featured the "F-19A Ghostrider" (nicknamed "Frisbee" by the pilots and crew) as a secret weapon used to combat a Soviet invasion of Germany

Monogram models also released the "F-19A Specter" in 1987 based on the design by Loral Inc

In 1987 MicroProse released the video game Project Stealth Fighter and the 1988/1990 successor F-19 Stealth Fighter, both featuring an imagining of F-19 capabilities, with artwork based on the Testor Corporation model kit

In 1988 an F-19 was released in the G.I. Joe toy line, called the "X-19 Phantom". Included was a pilot codenamed Ghostrider. The G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toy the "Phantom X-19" was loosely based on the Testor model

The 1989 video game David Wolf: Secret Agent involves the disappearance of the SF-2a "Shadowcat" stealth fighter, whose appearance was loosely based on the Testor model. A similar outcome occurred in the 1990 game Operation Stealth

An F-19 was the alternate mode of the Decepticon character Whisper in Marvel Comics' 1989 Transformers comic book series during the Transformers: Generation 1 era

The Toyline Ring Raiders, produced by Matchbox, made extensive use of the F-19 and F-19A on multiple occasions from 1989. The main hero Victor Vector flew a personal F19 named Victory 1. The antagonistic pilot Cutthroat used an F-19A with the designation Bayonet. In the so-called "Wing Packs", in which every main pilot got his own squadron, F-19 and F-19A fighters were part of many sets

The 1990 videogame Air Diver featured an "F-119D Stealth Fighter" that strongly resembled the Monogram F-19 model

The Testors F-19 appears briefly in the animated opening for the Australian TV show Beyond 2000 around the same era

The Tyco Fast Traxx remote control car from 1991 had a resemblance to the F-19 fighter jet

Die cast toy of F-19 produced by ERTL in the 1990s

An F-19 appears in Dan Dare as a Mark Two Stealth low profile penetrator, flown at Space Fleet's annual aerospace show by Colonel Dan Dare and nicknamed a "mud mover" by Digby. A modified F-19 design with a retro-futuristic cockpit is also seen used as part of an airframe crash test demonstration at the show

The videogame RoboCop: Rogue City shows the F-19A Specter at an OCP expo centre

The Alabama Air National Guard’s 117^th Intelligence Squadron uses the F-19A Specter on their squadron logo

 

 

Limited to only 99 tags which sold out almost immediately – S/N 40

 

 Priced in AUD 

Free postage for 'Disgruntled Aussies'

Combined postage with other sale items encouraged for my O/S friends

 

Don’t be lazy, don’t miss out again!

 

 

AF: April Fools

4122: 4/1/22

Cut from the skin of an AH-1 Cobra helicopter in the Jet Eyes ‘Fighter Tag’ shape

 

 

Further Reading

In 1936, British radar pioneer Robert Watson Watt, noted that measures to reduce an objects radar cross-section (RCS) could be used to evade radar detection. In 1962, Pyotr Ufimtsev - a Soviet mathematician, published a seminal paper titled Method of Edge Waves in the Physical Theory of Diffraction in the journal of the Moscow Institute for Radio Engineering, in which he showed that the strength of the radar return from an object is related to its edge configuration, not its size. Ufimtsev was extending theoretical work published by the German physicist Arnold Sommerfeld, demonstrating that he could calculate the RCS across a wings surface and along its edge. The obvious and logical conclusion was that even a large aircraft could reduce its radar signature by exploiting this principle. However, the resulting design would make the aircraft aerodynamically unstable, and the state of computer technology in the early 1960s could not provide the kinds of flight computation required to allow aircraft such as the F-117 and B-2 Spirit to stay airborne. By the 1970s, Lockheed analyst Denys Overholser discovered Ufimtsev's paper. Advancements in avionics also contributed to making the development of a stealth airplane possible

The F-117 was conceived after the Vietnam War, where increasingly sophisticated Soviet SAMs had downed heavy bombers. The heavy losses inflicted upon the Israeli Air Force in the 1973 Yom Kippur war also contributed to a 1974 Defense Science Board assessment that in case of a conflict in Central Europe, air defences would likely prevent NATO air strikes on targets in Eastern Europe

It was a black project, ultrasecret program for much of its life. The project began in 1975 with a model called the "Hopeless Diamond" (a wordplay on the Hope Diamond because of its appearance). The following year, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) issued Lockheed Skunk Works a contract to build and test two Stealth Strike Fighters, under the code name "Have Blue". These subscale aircraft incorporated jet engines of the Northrop T-38A, fly-by-wire systems of the F-16, landing gear of the A-10, and environmental systems of the C-130. By bringing together existing technology and components, Lockheed built two demonstrators in record time and under budget at $35M for both aircraft. Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering William J. Perry was instrumental in shepherding the project

The maiden flight of the demonstrators occurred on 1^st December 1977. Although both aircraft crashed during the demonstration program, test data gathered proved positive. The success of Have Blue led the government to increase funding for stealth technology. Much of that increase was allocated towards the production of an operational stealth aircraft under the program code name Senior Trend

Senior Trend

The decision to produce the F-117 was made on 1^st November 1978, a contract being awarded to Lockheed Advanced Development Projects, popularly known as the Skunk Works, in Burbank, CA. The program was led by Ben Rich with Alan Brown as manager of the project. Rich called on Bill Schroeder, a Lockheed mathematician, and Overholser, a mathematician and radar specialist, to exploit Ufimtsev's work. The three designed a computer program called "Echo", which made possible the design an airplane with flat panels called facets, which were arranged so as to scatter over 99% of a radar's signal energy "painting" the aircraft

The first YF-117A, S/N: 79-10780, made its maiden flight from Groom Lake (Area 51), NV on 18^th June 1981, a mere 31 months after the full-scale development decision. The first production F-117A was delivered in 1982, and operational capability was achieved in October 1983. The 4450^th Tactical Group stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, NV was tasked with the operational development of the early F-117, and between 1981 and 1989, the group used LTV A-7 Corsair IIs for training, to bring all pilots to a common flight-training baseline and later as chase planes for F-117A tests

The F-117 was secret for much of the 1980s. Many news articles discussed what they called an "F-19" stealth fighter, and the Testor Corporation produced a very inaccurate scale model. When an F-117 crashed in Sequoia National Forest in July 1986, killing the pilot and starting a fire, the USAF established restricted airspace. Armed guards prohibited entry, including firefighters, and a helicopter gunship circled the site. All F-117 debris was replaced with remains of an F-101A Voodoo crash stored at Area 51. When another fatal crash in October 1987 occurred inside Nellis, the military again provided little information to the press

The USAF denied the existence of the aircraft until 10^th November 1988, when Assistant Secretary of Defense J. Daniel Howard displayed a grainy photograph at a Pentagon press conference, disproving the many inaccurate rumours about the shape of the "F-19". After the announcement, pilots could fly the F-117 during daytime and no longer needed to be associated with the A-7, flying the T-38 supersonic trainer for travel and training, instead. In April 1990, two F-117s flew to Nellis, arriving during daylight and publicly displayed to a crowd of tens of thousands

Five full-scale development aircraft were built, designated "YF-117A". The last of 59 production F-117s were delivered on 3^rd July 1990. As the USAF has stated, "Streamlined management by Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, combined breakthrough stealth technology with concurrent development and production to rapidly field the aircraft... The F-117A program demonstrates that a stealth aircraft can be designed for reliability and maintainability."

Designation

The operational aircraft was officially designated "F-117A". Most modern US military aircraft use post-1962 designations in which the designation "F" is usually an air-to-air fighter, "B" is usually a bomber, "A" is usually a ground-attack aircraft, etc. The F-117 is primarily an attack aircraft, so its "F" designation is inconsistent with the Department of Defense system. This is an inconsistency that has been repeatedly employed by the USAF with several of its attack aircraft since the late 1950s, including the Republic F-105 Thunderchief and General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark. A televised documentary quoted project manager Alan Brown as saying that Robert J. Dixon, a four-star USAF general who was the head of Tactical Air Command, felt that the top-notch USAF fighter pilots required to fly the new aircraft were more easily attracted to an aircraft designated as a fighter as opposed to a bomber or attack aircraft. Early on one potential air-to-air mission considered for the F-117 was to hunt down the Soviet A-50 "Mainstay" airborne warning and control system. However, this was not deemed to be effective and this mission was passed to the nascent Advanced Tactical Fighter, which eventually became the F-22 Raptor

The F-117 designation seems to indicate that it was given an official designation prior to the 1962 US Tri-Service Aircraft Designation System and could be considered numerically to be a part of the earlier Century Series of fighters. The assumption prior to the revealing of the aircraft to the public was that it would likely receive the F-19 designation, as that number had not been used, but no other aircraft were to receive a "100" series number following the F-111. Soviet fighters obtained by the US via various means under the Constant Peg program were given F-series numbers for their evaluation by US pilots, and with the advent of the Teen Series fighters, most often Century Series designations

As with other exotic military aircraft types flying in the southern Nevada area, such as captured fighters, an arbitrary radio call of "117" was assigned. This same radio call had been used by the enigmatic 4477^th Test and Evaluation Squadron, aka the "Red Hats" or "Red Eagles" that had often flown expatriated MiG jet fighters in the area, but no relationship existed between the call and the formal F-19 designation then being considered by the USAF. Apparently, use of the "117" radio call became commonplace and when Lockheed released its first flight manual (the USAF "dash one" manual for the aircraft), F-117A was the designation printed on the cover

Design

When the USAF first approached Lockheed with the stealth concept, Skunk Works Director Kelly Johnson proposed a rounded design. He believed smoothly blended shapes offered the best combination of speed and stealth. However, his assistant Ben Rich, showed that faceted-angle surfaces would provide a significant reduction in radar signature and the necessary aerodynamic control could be provided with available computation technology. A May 1975 Skunk Works report, "Progress Report No. 2, High Stealth Conceptual Studies", showed the rounded concept that was rejected in favour of the flat-sided approach. The resulting unusual design surprised and puzzled experienced pilots; a RAF pilot who flew it as an exchange officer stated that when he first saw a photograph of the still-secret F-117, he "promptly giggled and thought [to himself] 'this clearly can't fly'"

The single-seat F-117 is powered by two non-afterburning GE F404 turbofan engines. They were extensively modified to suit a stealth aircraft, such as cooler operational temperature, and somewhat resembled a turbojet. The engine was redesigned to produce a minimum of mass thrust, which eased the task of designing a suitable inlet and nozzle. To obscure the engine from enemy radar, a conductive metal mesh grill was installed in the intake, while the exhaust gases were intentionally mixed with cool air to lower the thermal signature

The aircraft is capable of air-air refuelling and features a V-tail. The maximum speed is 1003 km/h or 541kn at high altitude, the maximum rate of climb is 2820 feet per minute and the service ceiling is 43000 to 45000 feet.  The cockpit was quite spacious with ergonomic displays and controls, but the field of view was somewhat obstructed with a large blind spot to the rear

Avionics

Early stealth aircraft were designed with a focus on minimal radar cross-section rather than aerodynamic performance. Because of this, the F-117 is aerodynamically unstable in all three aircraft principal axes and requires constant flight input corrections from a fly-by-wire (FBW) flight system to maintain controlled flight. It is equipped with quadruple-redundant FBW flight controls. To lower development costs, the avionics, FBW systems and other systems and parts were derived from the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet and McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle. To maintain a high level of secrecy, components were often rerouted from other aircraft programs, ordered using falsified addresses and other details, while $3M worth of equipment was removed from USAF storage without disclosing its purpose

YF-117A cockpit

The aircraft is equipped with sophisticated navigation and attack systems integrated into a digital avionics suite. 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 an attack mission, including weapons release. Targets are acquired by a thermal imaging, infrared system, paired with a laser rangefinder/laser designator that finds the range and designates targets for laser-guided bombs. The F-117's split internal bay can carry 5000lb of ordnance. Typical weapons are a pair of GBU-10, GBU-12, or GBU-27 laser-guided bombs, two BLU-109 penetration bombs, or post 2006, two Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) GPS/INS-guided stand-off bombs

Stealth

The F-117 has an RCS around 0.001m2. Among the penalties for stealth are subsonic speeds to prevent frame heating, heat on the engine inlet and outlet prevent certain thrusting manoeuvres, a very low wing aspect ratio and a high sweep angle of 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. Additionally, to maintain its low observability the F-117 was not equipped with radar. This was on account of an active radars ability to be detectable through emissions and the radar antennas characteristic to act as a reflector of radar energy regardless of being inactive. Whether it carries any radar detection equipment remained classified as of 2008

Its faceted shape (made from two-dimensional flat surfaces) resulted from the limitations of the 1970s-era computer technology used to calculate its RCS. Later supercomputers made subsequent aircraft like the B-2 bomber made use curved surfaces while maintaining stealth characteristics, through the use of more advanced computational resources to perform the additional calculations. The radio-wave absorbing materials covering the F-117 weighed almost one ton and were held in place by glue. The gaps between the sheets are filled with a kind of putty material called "butter"

An exhaust plume contributes a significant infrared (IR) signature. The F-117 reduces IR signature with a noncircular tail pipe (slit shape) to minimize the exhaust cross-section and maximize the mixing of hot exhaust with cool, ambient air. The F-117 lacks afterburners, because the hot exhaust would increase the infrared signature, breaking the sound barrier would produce an obvious sonic boom and surface heating of the aircraft skin would also increase the IR footprint. As a result, its performance in air combat manoeuvring required in a dogfight would never match that of a dedicated fighter aircraft. This was unimportant in the case of the F-117, since it was a dedicated attack aircraft

Passive (multistatic) radar, bistatic radar, and especially multistatic radar systems detect some stealth aircraft better than conventional monostatic radars, since 1^st generation stealth technology (such as the F-117) reflects energy away from the transmitter's line of sight, effectively increasing the RCS in other directions, which the passive radars monitor

Operational history

During the program's early years of 1984 to mid-1992, the F-117 fleet was based at Tonopah Test Range Airport, NV where it served under the 4450^th Tactical Group; Air Combat Command's only F-117A unit. The unit was headquartered at Nellis AFB. A-7 Corsair II aircraft were used for training. Most personnel and their families lived in Las Vegas. This required commercial air and trucking to transport personnel between Las Vegas and Tonopah each week. The 4450^th was absorbed by the 37^th Tactical Fighter Wing in 1989. In 1992 the entire fleet was transferred to Holloman AFB, NM under the command of the 49^th Fighter Wing

The F-117 reached initial operating capability status in 1983. Nighthawk pilots called themselves "Bandits". Each of the 558 Air Force pilots who have flown the F-117 has a Bandit number, such as "Bandit 52", that indicates the sequential order of their first flight in the F-117. Pilots told friends and families that they flew the Northrop F-5 in aggressor squadrons against Tactical Air Command

The F-117 has been used several times in war. Its first mission was during the US invasion of Panama in 1989. During that invasion, at least two F-117s dropped bombs on Rio Hato airfield

The aircraft was operated in secret from Tonopah for almost a decade. After the Gulf War all aircraft moved to Holloman in 1992, but its integration with the USAFs non-stealth "iron jets" occurred slowly. As one senior F-117 pilot later said; "Because of ongoing secrecy, others continued to see the aircraft as 'none of their business, a stand-alone system'." The F-117 and members of the 49^th Fighter Wing were deployed to Southwest Asia on multiple occasions. On their first deployment, with the aid of aerial refuelling pilots flew nonstop from Holloman to Kuwait, around an 18.5-hour flight

Yugoslavia

One F-117 (S/N: 82-0806) was lost to enemy action. It was downed during an Operation Allied Force mission against the Army of Yugoslavia on 27^th March 1999. The aircraft was acquired by a fire-control radar at a distance of 8.1 mi and an altitude of 26000’. SA-3s were then launched by a Yugoslav version of the Soviet Isayev S-125 "Neva" (NATO name SA-3 "Goa") antiaircraft missile system. The launcher was run by the 3^rd Battalion of the 250^th Air Defence Missile Brigade under the command of Colonel Zoltán Dani. After the explosion, the aircraft became uncontrollable, forcing the pilot to eject. The pilot was recovered six hours later by a USAF Pararescue team. The stealth technology from the downed F-117 has reportedly been studied by Russia and possibly China. The US did not attempt to destroy the wreckage, senior Pentagon officials claimed that its technology was already dated and no longer important to protect

American sources state that a second F-117 was targeted and damaged during the campaign, allegedly on 30^th April 1999. The aircraft returned to Spangdahlem Air Base, but it supposedly never flew again. The USAF continued using the F-117 during Operation Allied Force

Iraq and Afghanistan

During the Gulf War in 1991, the F-117 flew roughly 1300 sorties and scored direct hits on what the US called 1600 high-value targets in Iraq over 6905 flight hours. Leaflet drops on Iraqi forces displayed the F-117 destroying ground targets and warned "Escape now and save yourselves". Only 229 Coalition tactical aircraft could drop and designate laser-guided bombs, of which 36 F-117s represented 15.7% and only the USAF had the I-2000 bombs intended for hardened targets. So, the F-117 represented 32% of all coalition aircraft that could deliver such bombs.  Notably, F-117s were involved in the Amiriyah shelter bombing, killing at least 408 civilians

Much media attention was given to the bombing of telecommunications, water, and transportation infrastructure in Baghdad. Stealth bombers were used due to the perimeter of Baghdad being heavily defended with antiaircraft weapons. The bombings quickly became part of a propaganda battle, with media highlighting the killing of civilians and American claims that stealth bombing was highly effective at destroying military targets. Post-war records show that the F-117 had 18 times more targets per aircraft than non-stealth aircraft

Outside of Baghdad, the F-117 bombing was primarily used to destroy airfields and it was used in conjunction with other air munitions. Overall, 42 F-117s dropped 2077 bombs in Desert Storm. This accounts for about a third of USAF guided bombing

Early claims of the F-117s effectiveness were later found to be overstated. Initial reports of F-117s hitting 80% of their targets were later scaled back to "41–60%".  On the first night, they failed to hit 40% of their assigned air-defence targets, including the Air Defense Operations Centre in Baghdad, and eight such targets remained functional out of 10 that could be assessed.  In the Desert Storm white paper, the USAF stated "the F-117 was the only airplane that the planners dared risk over downtown Baghdad" and that this area was particularly well defended. (Dozens of F-16s were routinely tasked to attack Baghdad in the first few days of the war).  In fact, most of the air defences were on the outskirts of the city and many other aircraft hit targets in the downtown area, with minimal casualties when they attacked at night like the F-117. They avoided the optically aimed antiaircraft cannon and infrared SAMs, which were the biggest threat to Coalition aircraft

The F-117 was used during Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001. The Taliban lacked a modern Air Force. After the initial bombing campaign in October, targets justifying F-117 usage were limited as was the use of the F-117

The first bombs dropped in the 2003 Operation Iraqi Freedom were from two F-117 on the Dora Farms in an attempt to assassinate Saddam Hussein. The F-117 was chosen to deliver a bunker buster payload because nearby Baghdad was heavily fortified with antiaircraft weapons, and US intelligence indicated Saddam Hussein's bunker was too reinforced for missiles. The EGBU-27 Advanced Paveway III bunker buster is an unusual payload for the F-117. Post facto intelligence showed that Saddam Hussein had been at Dora Farms, but left several hours prior to the bombing. During this time, the Air Force estimated the operational cost as $35000 per JDAM-style bomb delivered by the F-117

Program Closeout

The loss of an F-117 in Serbia caused the USAF to create a subsection of their existing weapons school to improve tactics. More training was done with other units, and the F-117 began to participate in Red Flag exercises. Though advanced for its time, the F-117's stealthy faceted airframe required a large amount of maintenance and was eventually superseded by streamlined shapes produced with computer-aided design. Other weapons systems began to take on the F-117s roles, such as the F-22 Raptor gaining the ability to drop guided bombs. By 2005 the aircraft was used only for certain missions, such as if a pilot needed to verify that the correct target had been hit, or when minimal collateral damage was vital

The USAF had once planned to retire the F-117 in 2011, but Program Budget Decision 720 (PBD 720), dated 28^th December 2005 proposed retirement by October 2008 to free up an estimated $1.07B to buy more F-22s. PBD 720 called for 10 F-117s to be retired in FY2007 and the remaining 42 in FY2008, stating that other USAF planes and missiles could stealthily deliver precision ordnance, including the B-2 Spirit, F-22, and JASSM. The planned introduction of the multirole F-35 Lightning II also contributed to the retirement decision

In late 2006, the USAF closed the F-117 formal training unit, and announced the retirement of the F-117. The first six aircraft to be retired took their last flight on 12^th March 2007 after a ceremony at Holloman AFB to commemorate the aircrafts career. Brigadier General David L. Goldfein, commander of the 49^th Fighter Wing said at the ceremony, "With the launch of these great aircraft today, the circle comes to a close—their service to our nation's defence fulfilled, their mission accomplished, and a job well done. We send them today to their final resting place—a home they are intimately familiar with—their first, and only, home outside of Holloman."

A pair of specially painted F-117s sporting a US flag theme on their bellies fly off from their last refuelling by the Ohio Air National Guard's 121^st Air Refuelling Wing

Unlike most other USAF aircraft that are retired to Davis-Monthan AFB for scrapping, or dispersal to museums, most of the F-117s were placed in "Type 1000" storage in their original hangars at the Tonopah Test Range Airport. Their wings were removed and the aircraft stored in their original climate-controlled hangars. The decommissioning occurred in eight phases, with the operational aircraft retired to Tonopah in seven waves from 13^th March 2007 until the last waves arrival on 22^nd April 2008. Four aircraft were kept flying beyond April by the 410^th Flight Test Squadron at Palmdale for flight test. By August, two were remaining. The last F-117 (S/N: 86-0831) left Palmdale to fly to Tonopah on 11^th August 2008. With the last aircraft retired, the 410^th was inactivated in a ceremony on 1^st August 2008

Five aircraft were placed in museums, including the first four YF-117As and some remains of the F-117 shot down over Serbia. Through 2009 one F-117 had been scrapped (S/N: 79-0784) at the Palmdale test facility on 26^th April 2008. It was the last F-117 at Palmdale and was scrapped to test an effective method for destroying these planes

Congress had ordered that all F-117s mothballed from 30^th September 2006 onwards were to be maintained "in a condition that would allow recall of that aircraft to future service" as part of the 2007 National Defense Authorization Act. As of 2022, USAF plans to demilitarize three F-117s each year until 2034, when they should all be demilitarized

Post-retirement service

The USAF is currently using the aircraft in aggressor squadron and cruise missile training, and research and development. USAF has also slowed the retirement of its current inventory of about 45 F-117s to two to three units a year. This plan should extend the lifetime of the F-117 program to 2034. In March 2019, four F-117s reportedly had been secretly deployed to the Middle East in 2016, and that one had to make an emergency landing at Ali Al Salem, Kuwait sometime late that year

On 13^th September 2021, a pair of F-117s landed at Fresno Yosemite International Airport, CA. They were scheduled to train with the California Air National Guard F-15C/D Eagles of the 144^th Fighter Wing over the next few days. One aircraft had red letters on its tail, and the other had white letters. One of the two was observed to not be fitted with radar reflectors. That year the USAF published photographs on DVIDS, the first acknowledgement by the service that the aircraft continued to fly after its official retirement

In January 2022, two F-117s were observed in flight in the Saline Military Operating Area. One had portions of its exterior covered in a ‘mirror-like coating’ believed to be an experimental treatment to reduce the aircraft's infrared signature

In May 2022, an F-117 participated in exercise Savannah Sentry at the Air Dominance Center in Savannah, GA. It was a joint exercise with both active USAF and Air National Guard units. In a video documenting the exercise, an off-screen crew member stated that about 48 flyable F-117s are in USAF inventory. They stated that the F-117 is sometimes used in aggressor-type training roles and was brought to Savannah Sentry to participate in an "unclassified capacity". On 1^st February 2024, two F-117s were seen at testing range R-2508 in the Mojave Desert

 

 

 

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