defense

F-117A Nighthawk, "Called Back to Duty While Enjoying Retirement"

The USAF officially 'retired' its fleet of F-117A Nighthawk stealth attack jets in April 2008, but has now decided to bring the Nighthawk back into flight service to support "limited research and training activities" until at least 2034, when the necessary overhaul of the stockpile aircraft has begun to prepare them for flight.

It was the world's first stealth aircraft. It entered the military aviation literature like a science fiction movie character. Exaggerated scenarios were written about its capabilities. It was developed by Lockheed's secret Skunk Works division. It made its first flight in 1981 and entered service in 1983 (see Ref.-1 for detailed information on Skunk Works).

It participated in the Panama Operation in 1989 and the Gulf Operation in 1991. In 1999, an F-117A was shot down by a ground-launched SA-3 during the NATO operation in Yugoslavia. The F-117A was later used in Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001 and Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. It was famous for its motto: "Escape now and save yourselves". Their missions were as secretive as they were secretive, and the wives and relatives of pilots and maintenance personnel thought they were working on F-5Es.

His code name, Nighthawk, meant someone who had a habit of staying up late at night.

The USAF Media Operations Unit announced in January 2023 that the F-117A would be kept in operational non-combat service until 2034. The F-117As, which are not selected for combat missions but to support research and training activities, will be flown in this role until they are taken out of service. If needed, they will be extended again.

The announcement comes after the US Air Force Test Center (AFTC) at Edwards AFB in California issued a Request for Information (RFI) for the provision of F-117A Maintenance and Logistics Support Services in 2022. Interested industrial companies were invited to submit project proposals that would meet AFTC's requirements that year.

The purpose of the RFI was to "identify potential suppliers with the experience and capabilities to support a ten-year F-117A Maintenance and Logistics Support Services contract at the Nevada Tonopah Test Range (NTTR)." Work under this contract is expected to begin on January 1, 2024 and be active through 2034, unless the USAF deems it necessary to further extend F-117A operations.

Satellite Image of the NTTR.

The US Air Force Materiel Command has declared that the selected contractor must provide F-117A T-2 modification services, including configuration changes to the aircraft to support Development Test and Evaluation programs and for research and development operations.

In 1983, a total of 59 F-117As entered operational service with the USAF. The USAF kept the Nighthawk and its operations secret until it was officially publicized in 1988. The USAF decommissioned and retired the Nighthawk in 2008. However, some observers recorded a video of the F-117A flying at the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) in 2010 and shared it on open information sources.

But some F-117As have been seen flying over both Nevada and neighboring California since their reappearance in 2010. For almost a decade, the USAF has never explained what it was doing with this platform, despite multiple sightings in the two states.

We now know that the USAF's Nighthawks, which are still airworthy, are used as stealthy aggressor aircraft and help train active combat pilots on how to engage low observable (LO) aircraft in Dissimilar Air Combat Training (DACT), an important part of their training. This training has become even more critical and important for the USAF as both China and Russia are deploying their own fifth-generation fighters.

Along with airworthy examples flown by US Air Force test pilots, all of the USAF's remaining F-117As, with the exception of those in the museum and the AMARG "Boneyard", are kept in long-term Type 1000 storage conditions at the enormous NTTR (Nevada Test and Training Range) near Nellis AFB, Nevada. The NTTR is also known as Area 52 and, like Area 51, is a highly classified area (see Ref.-2 for more information on AMARG and Type 1000 storage).

F-117A left AMARG in a hurry and forgot his shoes in the parking lot!

Due to the intense training needs arising, the US Government has authorized the return of the Nighthawk to operational service as needed, and the USAF has announced that F-117As in the Type 1000 storage classification can be reactivated within 30 to 120 days.

Very soon the veteran F-117A will be seen in the sky again, but of course the radars will not see it again!

Conclusion:

The F-117A once again proved the importance of keeping decommissioned aircraft in stockpile (anti-corrosion storage method) so that they can be reused when necessary, rather than being scrapped.