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142-527: System design was initiated on a mobile chassis in 1999, after NATO countries intervened in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, in which the stealth F-117 participated - one was shot down by S-125 Neva with help of P-18 radar - Russia started to perceive stealth aircraft as a possible future threat to their security. To counter that threat, they deemed that detection of such aircraft had to be made possible at greater ranges. Production started in 2010 and

284-617: 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 . Ufimtsev demonstrated that he could calculate

426-408: A radar cross-section (RCS) of about 0.001 m (0.0108 sq ft). Among the penalties for stealth are subsonic speeds to prevent frame heating, heat on the engine inlet and outlet prevent certain thrusting maneuvers, a very low wing aspect ratio , and a high sweep angle (50°) are needed to deflect incoming radar waves to the sides. With these design considerations and no afterburner ,

568-468: 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 5,000 pounds (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, after 2006, two Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) GPS/INS guided stand-off bombs. The F-117 has

710-548: A "black" program, it would probably never achieve a support structure similar to that for F-15s or F-111s. Sacramento Air Logistics Center was tasked in late 1983/early 1984 to prepare to take on full logistics and management responsibility for support of the F-117A. A depot was established in 1984 to accomplish repairs and install modifications on the aircraft. This depot, first located in Lockheed's Palmdale Plant 10 (PS-77), eventually took

852-532: A Nebo-M operated by the Russian Aerospace Forces' 3rd Radio Engineering Regiment on the Tarkhankut Peninsula in western Crimea, near Olenivka village, were the target of a Ukrainian boat raid. The Ukrainians blew up the radar system consisting of Nebo-M and Kasta-2E. On October 3, 2024 Ukrainian forces claimed to have destroyed a Nebo-M radar using an ATACMS missile; the location of the attack

994-770: A Slot Back I radar and the Fulcrum's infrared search and tracking system. Later in the decade, Air Force intelligence personnel were able to acquire more complete versions of the MiG-29, the result of spending money rather than fighting a war. In October 1997, the US purchased 21 fighter aircraft from the Republic of Moldova —including the MiG-29 UB. According to the National Air and Space Intelligence Center, after "undergoing years of study" and employing "all

1136-601: A ceremony at Holloman AFB to commemorate the aircraft's career. Brigadier General David L. Goldfein , commander of the 49th 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 defense 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." Unlike most other USAF aircraft that are retired to Davis-Monthan AFB for scrapping, or dispersal to museums, most of

1278-598: A contingent of Tonopah Test Range personnel remained in Saudi Arabia until late 1991. As a result of the deployment and the pending relocation to New Mexico, flying operations and staffing at the TTR declined significantly during 1991. Some of the support facilities which had been open 24 hours a day, such as the dining halls and library, began routinely closing at night. The second phase of real-world integration came in January 1990 with

1420-467: A few other minor instrument and safety modifications. Other than that, they were stock—down to their Warsaw Pact paint jobs. Two pilots of the 4477th died flying the Soviet planes. The pilots had no manuals for the aircraft, although some tried to write one. Nor was there a consistent supply of spare parts, which had to be refurbished or manufactured at high cost. What was learned during these projects prompted

1562-559: 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 with an "F" designation for fighter, as opposed to a bomber ("B") or attack ("A") designation. 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 (AWACS). However, this

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1704-462: A large blind spot to the rear. Early stealth aircraft were designed with a focus on minimal radar cross-section (RCS) rather than aerodynamic performance; because of this, the F-117 is aerodynamically unstable in all three aircraft principal axes and requires constant flight corrections from a fly-by-wire (FBW) flight system to maintain controlled flight. It is equipped with quadruple-redundant fly-by-wire flight controls. To lower development costs,

1846-632: A major operating location for the Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk . The first flight testing of the stealth YF-117A aircraft began in June 1981 at Groom Lake Nevada . However, Groom Lake had too many other operations going on to support an operational unit. The F-117 test unit remained at Groom until shortly after the 1991 Gulf War. In addition, there were security concerns because an operational unit based at Groom Lake would involve many more people who could now see things that they should not see. Therefore,

1988-469: A mostly unclassified "white world" program, though at no time would the general public be permitted near the TTR complex or on the Nellis Range. During this phase, daytime F-117 flying operations began. Previously, training sorties were flown at nighttime under radio silence and without air traffic control contact. The change to daytime, white-world flying required much less vigilance on the part of pilots and

2130-541: A new covert base had to be established for F-117 operations. In the summer of 1979, Tonopah Test Range Airport was selected to be the home of the Tactical Air Command 4450th Tactical Group (4450th TG). The mission of the 4450th at Tonopah was to guide the classified F-117A Stealth Fighter to an initial operating capability. Beginning in October 1979 Tonopah Test Range Airport was reconstructed and expanded. The base

2272-569: A new ground-attack radar with air-to-air capability. In that role, the F-117N could carry AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles. Tonopah Test Range Airport Tonopah Test Range Airport ( IATA : XSD , ICAO : KTNX , FAA LID : TNX ), at the Tonopah Test Range (Senior Trend project site PS-66 ) is 27  NM (50 km; 31 mi) southeast of Tonopah , Nevada , and 140 mi (230 km) northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada . It

2414-446: A non-circular tail pipe that mixes hot exhaust with cool ambient air and lacks afterburners ; it is also restricted to subsonic speeds as breaking the sound barrier would produce an obvious sonic boom that would increase both its acoustic and infrared footprints. While its performance in air combat maneuvering was less than that of most contemporary fighters, it was strictly an attack aircraft despite being commonly referred to as

2556-516: A number of years. It took a presidential authorization to begin off-range flights. In the event of an unscheduled landing, the pilots carried a signed letter from a senior Air Force general ordering the base or wing commander to protect the aircraft. In spite of the tight security, the Air Force was already making plans to “normalize” future support within the AF Logistics Command structure. As

2698-554: A pair of F-117s landed at Fresno Yosemite International Airport in California. They were scheduled to train with the California Air National Guard F-15 C/D Eagles of the 144th 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 USAF published photographs on DVIDS ,

2840-440: A radar's signal energy "painting" the aircraft. The first YF-117A, serial number 79-10780 , made its maiden flight from Groom Lake (" Area 51 "), Nevada, on 18 June 1981, only 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 4450th Tactical Group stationed at Nellis Air Force Base , Nevada , were tasked with

2982-497: A regiment was delivered to Volga region. In 2020, two regiments were deployed to the Far East and Naryan Mar. Another modernization of Nebo radar, Nebo-UM, that is a mobile 3D radar that works in meter range only, is being delivered to the air force since 2018. In 2018, a regiment was delivered to Voronezh and Novosibirsk and in 2020 to Rostov-on-Don. It is a complement to Rezonans-NE fixed meter-range radars, that have been constructed in

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3124-404: 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 computer units. A May 1975 Skunk Works report, "Progress Report No. 2, High Stealth Conceptual Studies", showed

3266-669: A routine navigation training flight. He headed southwest in an attempt to defect from Iraq to Israel. Crossing the Jordanian border, Jordanian interceptors were unable to catch him, and upon crossing the Israeli border, two Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Mirage III interceptors approached his aircraft. Captain Radfa lowered his landing gear, making a signal that he posed no threat, and he was attempting to defect. He landed his Soviet-built MiG-21 F-13 (Fishbed "E") fighter at Hatzor Airbase , Israel and

3408-411: A stealth aircraft, such as to have a cooler operational temperature, and somewhat resembled a turbojet instead. 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

3550-594: 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 a F-101A Voodoo crash stored at Area 51. When another fatal crash in October 1987 occurred inside Nellis,

3692-601: Is a major airfield with a 12,000 ft × 150 ft (3,658 m × 46 m) runway, instrument approach facilities, and nighttime illumination. The facility has over fifty hangars and an extensive support infrastructure. Tonopah is controlled by the USAF Air Combat Command . The known primary use of this airport is to shuttle government employees to the weapons test range from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas . The primary (paved) access to

3834-580: 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, it was reported that four F-117s had been secretly deployed to the Middle East in 2016 and that one had to make an emergency landing at Ali Al Salem (OKAS), Kuwait sometime late that year. On 13 September 2021,

3976-552: Is known that the USAF continues a Foreign Materiel Acquisition/Exploitation program, although the extent of acquisitions and operations of that program is not available. In March 1991, in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War , a team from the Joint Captured Materiel Exploitation Center arrived at Jalibah Southeast Air Base in Iraq. They returned with a MiG-29 nose, providing Air Force intelligence personnel with

4118-565: Is rumored that some were buried in the Nevada desert. In addition, a few were used for target practice on Air Force weapons ranges. In 2006, the Constant Peg program was declassified and the USAF held a series of press conferences about the former top secret US MiGs. It was revealed that the US MiGs flew more than 15,000 sorties and nearly 7,000 aircrew flew in training against dissimilar aggressors in

4260-467: The 410th Flight Test Squadron at Palmdale for flight test. By August, two were remaining. The last F-117 (AF Serial No. 86-0831) left Palmdale to fly to Tonopah on 11 August 2008. With the last aircraft retired, the 410th was inactivated in a ceremony on 1 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; AF Serial No. 79-0784

4402-622: The Air Force Flight Test Center , while Tactical Air Command 's were primarily United States Air Force Weapons School graduates. By mid-1968, the MiG-21 was far less of an enigma than it had been. Over 102 sorties were flown in the aircraft. On 12 August 1968, the IDF obtained two Syrian Air Force MiG-17 F ("Fresco C") fighters that had gotten lost during a training flight and landed inadvertently at Betzet Landing Field, Israel. The MiG-17

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4544-543: 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 anti-aircraft weapons. The bombings quickly became part of a propaganda battle with media highlighting the killing of civilians and American claims that stealth bombing

4686-522: The Army of Yugoslavia on 27 March 1999. The aircraft was acquired by a fire control radar at a distance of 8.1 mi (13 km) and an altitude of 26,000 ft (8 km). SA-3s were then launched by a Yugoslav version of the Soviet Isayev S-125 "Neva" (NATO name SA-3 "Goa") anti-aircraft missile system. The launcher was run by the 3rd Battalion of the 250th Air Defence Missile Brigade under

4828-463: The C-130 . By bringing together existing technology and components, Lockheed built two demonstrators under budget, at $ 35 million for both aircraft, and in record time. 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 December 1977. Although both aircraft crashed during

4970-721: The F-15 , the B-2 and the A-6 .) 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 ,

5112-615: The F-4 Phantom II , at the time the top-of-the-line fighter for both the USAF and United States Navy . In late 1967, a USAF Douglas C-124 landed in Israel, and the MiG was loaded into the cargo hold, and flown to Groom Lake . At Groom Lake, it was then re-assembled for flight, and evaluated in a series of test flights known as HAVE DOUGHNUT . The aircraft made its first flight at Groom Lake in January 1968. AFSC recruited its evaluation pilots from

5254-517: The Goldwater Range in Arizona. The Tonopah Test Range Airport, however, was only 70 miles to the northwest of Groom Lake and was on the controlled AEC Test Range, so it better fit the need for a new home. The AEC airport had the potential for improvement and expansion, with the only public land overlooking the base miles away. Although not as hidden as Groom Lake, the airport was remote enough to operate

5396-517: The Gulf War of 1991, having flown approximately 1,300 sorties and scored direct hits on what the US military described as 1,600 high-value targets in Iraq. F-117s also participated in the conflict in Yugoslavia , during which one was shot down by a surface-to-air missile (SAM) in 1999. It was also active during Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001 and Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. The USAF retired

5538-702: 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

5680-591: 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 defenses would likely prevent NATO air strikes on targets in Eastern Europe. It was a black project , remaining an ultra-secret program for much of its life. The project began in 1975 with a model called the "Hopeless Diamond" (a wordplay on

5822-470: 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 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron , also known as the "Red Hats" or "Red Eagles", that often had flown expatriated MiG jet fighters in

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5964-670: The US Navy to commence Top Gun exercises first at NAS Miramar , California and then NAS Fallon , Nevada . Shortly thereafter the Air Force commenced its Red Flag exercises at Nellis AFB , Nevada . Near the end of the Cold War the program was abandoned and the squadron was disbanded. Flight operations closed down in March 1988, although the 4477th was not inactivated until July 1990, according to one official Air Force history. The decision to shut down operations may have had something to do with

6106-433: The "Stealth Fighter". For this reason, it is equipped with integrated sophisticated digital navigation and attack systems, targeting being achieved via a thermal imaging infrared system and a laser rangefinder / laser designator . It is aerodynamically unstable in all three aircraft principal axes and thus requires constant flight corrections via a fly-by-wire (FBW) flight system to maintain controlled flight. Even in

6248-462: 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 anti-aircraft 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

6390-580: The 4447th TS "Red Hats" that flew "acquired" Soviet aircraft at Groom Lake, Nevada. One of the AT-38B Talons even served as a USAF Thunderbird in the 1970s. With the arrival of the T-38s, the squadrons Corsairs were retired; the borrowed A-7K being returned to the Arizona Air National Guard. Routine F-117A operations began in late 1982. Before each night's sorties, there would be a mass briefing of

6532-420: The 4450th Maintenance Squadron, based at Nellis. Some A-7s operated from Tonopah from the beginning, and care was taken to leave them outside the hangars, so that satellites passing overhead could see that Tonopah operated nothing more exciting than some Corsairs. There were approximately 20 aircraft, including a couple of A-7K trainers. In addition to providing an excuse for the 4450th's existence and activities

6674-467: The 4477th TEF was re-designated as the 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron and the operation was renamed again to Constant Peg . The squadron developed realistic combat training operations featuring adversary tactics, dissimilar air combat training, and electronic warfare. Planes kept coming in from other sources as well. No less than three Cuban pilots brought their MiGs to Florida . A number of Chinese made MiGs were purchased outright from China via

6816-448: The A-7's were also used to maintain pilot currency, particularly in the early stages when very few production F-117As were available. The pilots learned to fly chase on F-117A test and training flights, perform practice covert deployments, and practice any other purpose that could not be accomplished using F-117As, given the tight restrictions imposed on all F-117A operations. On off-range flights,

6958-610: 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 (FSD) aircraft were built, designated "YF-117A". The last of 59 production F-117s were delivered on 3 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

7100-602: The Air Dominance Center in Savannah, Georgia. 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 there are approximately 48 flyable F-117s 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 February 2024, two F-117s were seen at testing range R-2508 in

7242-621: The Arctic in Zapolyarniy, Indiga, Shoyna and Nova Zemlya, with another in Gremikha under construction. Other sources report deliveries of Nebo-M and Nebo-UM radars already in 2015 to Eastern military district. Different components of Nebo-M were deployed in Syria, where they were reported to have been used to track, among others, F-35 and F-22 (although the reports were from Russian sources). In August 2023,

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7384-495: The F-117 and B-2 Spirit to stay airborne. By the 1970s, when Lockheed analyst Denys Overholser found Ufimtsev's paper, computers and software had advanced significantly, and the stage was set for the development of a stealth airplane. The F-117 was conceived after the Vietnam War , where increasingly sophisticated Soviet surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) had downed heavy bombers. The heavy losses inflicted by Soviet-made SAMs upon

7526-504: 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 weapon systems began to take on the F-117's roles, such as the F-22 Raptor gaining the ability to drop guided bombs. By 2005, the aircraft

7668-508: The F-117 commenced in the 1970s as a means of countering increasingly sophisticated Soviet surface-to-air missiles (SAMs). During 1976, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) issued Lockheed with a contract to produce the Have Blue technology demonstrator, the test data from which validated the concept. On 1 November 1978, it was decided to proceed with the F-117 development program. A total of five prototypes would be produced;

7810-455: The F-117 in 2008, primarily due to the fielding of the F-22 Raptor . Despite the type's official retirement, a portion of the fleet has been kept in airworthy condition, and F-117s have been observed flying since being retired from combat. In 1936, Robert Watson Watt , a British engineer who invented radar , noted that measures to reduce an object's radar cross-section (RCS) could be used to evade radar detection. In 1962, Pyotr Ufimtsev ,

7952-434: The F-117 is limited to subsonic speeds. Additionally, to maintain its low observability, the F-117 was not equipped with radar; not only would an active radar be detectable through its emissions, but an inactive radar antenna would also act as a reflector of radar energy. Whether it carries any radar detection equipment remained classified as of 2008. Its faceted shape (made from two-dimensional flat surfaces) resulted from

8094-474: The F-117's 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-defense targets, including the Air Defense Operations Center in Baghdad, and 8 such targets remained functional out of 10 that could be assessed. In their Desert Storm white paper,

8236-458: The F-117) reflects energy away from the transmitter's line of sight , effectively increasing the radar cross section (RCS) in other directions, which the passive radars monitor. During the program's early years, from 1984 to mid-1992, the F-117 fleet was based at Tonopah Test Range Airport , Nevada, where it served under the 4450th Tactical Group ; Air Combat Command 's only F-117A unit. The unit

8378-507: The F-117. It was also a single-seat attack fighter, as the F-117 was programmed to be. It therefore would bring all pilots to a common flight training base line. The 4450th TG was the last active USAF unit to fly the A-7D. Along with the A-7Ds that came from England AFB, the group acquired one of the new A-7K twin-seat trainers from the Arizona Air National Guard for checkout flights at Nellis. A second A-7K

8520-470: 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 $ 35,000 per JDAM style bomb delivered by the F-117. 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

8662-399: The F-117; they avoided the optically aimed anti-aircraft 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

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8804-565: The F-117s were placed in "Type 1000" storage in their original hangars at the Tonopah Test Range Airport . At Tonopah, their wings were removed and the aircraft are 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 March 2007 until the last wave's arrival on 22 April 2008. Four aircraft were kept flying beyond April by

8946-505: The Joint Advanced Strike Technology program, which evolved into the Joint Strike Fighter . The F-117N would have differed from the land-based F-117 in several ways, such as the use of "elevators, a bubble canopy, a less sharply swept wing and reconfigured tail". It would also be re-engined with General Electric F414 turbofans in place of the General Electric F404s . The aircraft would be optionally fitted with hardpoints, allowing for an additional 8,000 lb (3,600 kg) of payload, and

9088-415: The Key Airlines or Janet flights, but all other civilians generally lived in the surrounding region and drove to the TTR in their own vehicles or commuted in chartered buses. On Friday afternoons, the reverse would take place, leaving only essential personnel at Tonopah over the weekend. At Nellis, the passenger jets sitting in the shadow of the foothills bordering the flight line became a common sight. If

9230-475: The Mojave Desert. The United States Navy tested the F-117 in 1984 but determined it was unsuitable for carrier use. In the early 1990s, Lockheed proposed an upgraded carrier-capable F-117 variant dubbed the "Seahawk" to the Navy as an alternative to the canceled A/F-X program. The unsolicited proposal was received poorly by the Department of Defense, which lacked interest in the single mission capabilities on offer, particularly as it would take money away from

9372-712: The Nevada desert between 1980 and the end of the program in 1988. After the 4477th TES was inactivated, the remaining assets were reconstituted as a detachment of the 57th Fighter Wing at Nellis AFB. It later became DET 2, 57th Fighter Wing in October 1991 and DET 2, 57th Wing in April 1993; in October 1996, DET 2, 57th Wing, became Detachment 3 of the 53rd Test and Evaluation Group. It is believed that Air Force Materiel Command operates MiG-29 Fulcrums and Su-27 Flanker aircraft somewhere in Nevada flying against Fighter Weapons School instructors, 422d Test and Evaluation Squadron aircrews and F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon "Aggressor" aircraft flying from Nellis AFB. It

9514-407: The RCS across a wing's 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 computers which would later allow aircraft such as

9656-405: The Soviet aircraft in secrecy. In fact, the security surrounding the Tonopah Test Range was so effective that the new base was not publicly reported as an Air Force military airfield until 1985. On 1 April 1977, the 4477th TEF was reassigned to Tonopah. In December 1977 the 6513th Test Squadron (“Red Hats”) was formed at Edwards AFB to perform technical evaluations of these aircraft. In 1980

9798-448: The TTR. The 6,000 ft (1,829 m) runway was lengthened to 10,000 ft (3,048 m). Taxiways, a concrete apron, a large maintenance hangar, and a propane storage tank were added. Phase II of the expansion consisted of the construction of an extra taxiway, a new control tower, a 42,000-square-foot (3,900 m ) hangar, a parts warehouse, a dining hall, a water storage tank, and extensive fuel storage tanks. Phase III expansion of

9940-471: The Tonopah Test Range airfield as having a single 6,600 ft (2,012 m) paved runway. The advent of Operation Rolling Thunder during the Vietnam War in March 1965 led to the introduction of the obsolete and subsonic MiG-17 ( J5 ) and the supersonic MiG-21 by the North Vietnamese Air Force ( NVAF ) being pitted against U.S. aircraft. On 16 August 1966, Iraqi Air Force Captain Munir Redfa took off from Rasheed Air Base , near Baghdad on

10082-511: The U.S. called 1,600 high-value targets in Iraq over 6,905 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

10224-433: The USAF stated that "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 defenses 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

10366-653: The United States’ motive to purchase these aircraft was to prevent them from being sold to "rogue states", especially Iran. In late 1997, the MiGs were delivered to the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio , though many of the former Moldovan MiG-29s are believed to have been scrapped. In 2003, after the seizure of the Iraqi Air Force Al-Taqaddum Air Base , an advanced Russian MiG-25 Foxbat

10508-609: The [center’s foreign materiel exploitation] resources," the MiG-29UB was displayed in front of NASIC headquarters at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. In 1997, the United States purchased 21 Moldovan aircraft for evaluation and analysis, under the Cooperative Threat Reduction accord . Fourteen were MiG-29 Ss, which are equipped with an active radar jammer in its spine and are capable of being armed with nuclear weapons. Part of

10650-612: The aggressor training units at Clark AB , Philippines, RAF Alconbury , England and Nellis AFB . However, by the mid-1970s, as the fleet of Soviet aircraft grew at Groom Lake, the facilities there were becoming crowded and the MiGs needed another clandestine home. Several locations were considered, Michael Army Airfield at the Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah, and the Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field on

10792-447: The aircraft as "none of their business, a stand-alone system". The F-117 and the men and women of the 49th Fighter Wing were deployed to Southwest Asia on multiple occasions. On their first deployment, with the aid of aerial refueling, pilots flew non-stop from Holloman to Kuwait, a flight of approximately 18.5 hours. One F-117 (AF ser. no. 82-0806) was lost to enemy action. It was downed during an Operation Allied Force mission against

10934-453: The aircraft. The F-117 project was highly classified and Tonopah Test Range became a black project facility. Nearly all Air Force personnel and their families lived in the city of Las Vegas. Group personnel would be flown to Tonopah each Monday morning and board a contract Key Airlines Boeing 727-100 aircraft at Nellis AFB, which operated about 15 daily flights between the two bases. The member would live in dormitories at "Mancamp" during

11076-411: The aircraft... The F-117A program demonstrates that a stealth aircraft can be designed for reliability and maintainability." The operational aircraft was officially designated "F-117A". Most modern U.S. 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. (Examples include

11218-443: The area, but there was no relationship to 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 (i.e., the USAF "dash one" manual for the aircraft), F-117A was the designation printed on the cover. When the USAF first approached Lockheed with the stealth concept, Skunk Works Director Kelly Johnson proposed

11360-502: The avionics, fly-by-wire 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 $ 3 million worth of equipment

11502-445: The base personnel knew—and many of them did—that the contractor aircraft were there to ferry most of the 2,500 inhabitants of Tonopah to work, they did not talk about it much. It was part of what became known as the “Night Hawk spirit,” the devotion to a secret worth keeping. It pervaded Tonopah and its sister base at Nellis, where thousands of family members knew not to ask where their loved ones went for four days each week. Because of

11644-423: 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 United States Air Force Pararescue team. The stealth technology from the downed F-117 has reportedly been studied by Russia, and possibly China. The U.S. did not attempt to destroy the wreckage; senior Pentagon officials claimed that its technology

11786-577: The command of the 49th Fighter Wing . The F-117 reached initial operating capability status in 1983. The Nighthawk's 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

11928-457: 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, the Lockheed F-117, under the program code name " Senior Trend ". The decision to produce the F-117 was made on 1 November 1978, and a contract

12070-413: The earlier MiG-19 and J-6 models. Later J-6 models had their pitot tubes positioned on the right side of the fuselage forward of the cockpit and a bullet-shaped fairing which contained the brake parachute positioned under the aircraft's fin. In addition, unconfirmed Soviet aircraft flown were MiG-25 Foxbat (YF-116); MiG-29 Fulcrum (YF-118) and Sukhoi Su-22 Fitter (YF-112). Crashes associated with

12212-525: The end of the depot work before the aircraft could be reassembled, flight-tested, and redelivered to Tonopah. In addition to the logistical problems, the security also created safety problems. The nighttime operations resulted in two F-117A losses due to spatial disorientation, one of the planes crashing 30 miles east of the airfield in October 1987. An F-117 based at Tonopah Test Range and piloted by Maj. Ross Mulhare crashed on July 11, 1986 near Bakersfield, California. Another F-117 piloted by Michael C. Stewart

12354-401: The facility is off of U.S. Route 6 at the north end of the airport. Dirt road access points also exist on the south and east sides of the range. The site is plainly visible from commercial airliners, which pass 17 NM (31 km; 20 mi) north of the base on transcontinental flights. The Tonopah Range Airport first opened in 1957, supporting operations on the test range itself, which

12496-411: The facility was a 2,000 ft (610 m) runway extension to a total length of 12,000 ft (3,658 m). Extensions were made to taxiways, to the ramp, the runway gained arrester gear, and new navigation aids were installed. More fuel storage was provided, together with Liquid Oxygen (LOX) storage, a fire station, and the first 24 aircraft hangars. The cost was over $ 100 million. On 17 May 1982,

12638-467: The fact that a new generation of Soviet aircraft was entering service and also the inevitable round of budget cuts from Washington. The assets of the squadron could not go to the boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB , and the fate of them remains, in some cases, still classified. Several of the F-110s (MiG-21) were sent to museums or now are on static display. Some of the airplanes may have been broken up, and it

12780-497: 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 2023, an F-117 participated in exercise Savannah Sentry at

12922-508: The first of which performed its maiden flight in 1981 at Groom Lake, Nevada . The first production F-117 was delivered in 1982, and its initial operating capability was achieved in October 1983. All aircraft were initially based at Tonopah Test Range Airport , Nevada. The aircraft's faceted shape (made from two-dimensional flat surfaces) heavily contributes to its relatively low radar cross-section of about 0.001 m (0.0108 sq ft). To minimize its infrared signature , it has

13064-595: The foreign aircraft included the 1979 Tonopah MiG-17 crash during training versus an F-5 and the 1984 Little Skull Mountain MiG-23 crash which killed a USAF general, Robert M. Bond . Aerial dogfights were staged between the various MiG models against virtually every fighter in US service, and against SAC's B-52 Stratofortress and B-58 Hustlers to judge the ability of the bombers countermeasures systems, they performed radar cross-section and propulsion tests that contributed greatly to improvements in US aerial performance. All

13206-528: The front company Combat Core Certification Professionals Company (CCCP!) and imported in crates. Three Syrians flew their MiG-23 and MiG-29s to Turkey in 1988. Over the course of its history U.S. test pilots flew several models of Soviet-designed MiGs. Pakistan was the first and largest customer of the J-6 (F-6) receiving nearly 300 aircraft, mostly of the J-6C (F-6C) variety. There were few external differences between

13348-400: The gaps between the sheets filled with a kind of putty material called "butter". An exhaust plume contributes a significant infrared signature . The F-117 reduces IR signature with a non-circular tail pipe (a 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

13490-606: The ground. If a pilot put the throttle back on a MiG-21, it would take a long time to spool up again when trying to accelerate. Thus many of those who flew it stayed on afterburners as much as possible. The MiG-23 did not have that problem, as it was designed for speed—but it was unstable and difficult to fly. None of the Soviet-designed aircraft at Tonopah flew in bad weather or at night. All were very short-legged, compared to contemporary US aircraft, and sorties were limited to 20 minutes or so. The MiGs had US airspeed indicators and

13632-622: The infrared signature, breaking the sound barrier would produce an obvious sonic boom , and surface heating of the aircraft skin would also increase the infrared footprint. As a result, its performance in air combat maneuvering 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 first-generation stealth technology (such as

13774-465: The limitations of the 1970s-era computer technology used to calculate its RCS. Later supercomputers made it possible for subsequent aircraft like the B-2 bomber to use curved surfaces while maintaining stealth, through the use of far more computational resources to perform the additional calculations. The radar-absorbent flat sheets covering the F-117 weighed almost one ton, and were held in place by glue, with

13916-408: The mid-1970s to replace the Soviet fighter aircraft allowed these nations to clandestinely transfer un-needed MiG-21 and ultra modern MiG-23s aircraft to the United States for evaluation. Up to 25 of these Soviet aircraft made their way to Groom Lake and pilots assigned to Detachment 1, 57th FWW at Nellis were sent to the facility for training as "Aggressor" pilots. These pilots then were reassigned to

14058-429: The military again provided little information to the press. The USAF denied the existence of the aircraft until 10 November 1988, when Assistant Secretary of Defense J. Daniel Howard displayed a grainy photograph at a Pentagon press conference, disproving the many inaccurate rumors 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

14200-462: The models had quirks. The MiG-17 did not have an electric seat, so pilots had to use cushions to position themselves properly inside the cockpit. Both it and the MiG-21 had pneumatic brakes applied by squeezing a lever on the front of the stick. Many of the MiG-21s did not have steerable nose gears, making them difficult to taxi; the sign of a novice Fishbed pilot was the zigzag track he made while moving on

14342-507: The move of the 4450th TG from Groom Lake to Tonopah was initiated, with the final components of the move completed in early 1983. The Tactical Air Command ("R"-Unit), also known as the "Baja Scorpions" unit, remained at Groom Lake until the last production F-117 was delivered from Lockheed in July 1990. During the operational lifetime of the F-117 however, personnel from Tonopah and later Holloman AFB would be temporarily deployed to Groom Lake for various checkout flights of classified elements of

14484-769: The newer variants are RLM-S, RLM-D, RLM-M, and the command post KU-RLK. The full system with the maximum number of radars can be deployed in 40 minutes. At minimum deployment with one radar, the system cannot achieve full range or detect all types of air objects, however it can still trace stealth aircraft if deployed with an RLM-M. All radars from Nebo-M system can be used separately for independent deployment, or as pairs. Nebo-M can exchange observed information with antiaircraft missile systems like Pantsir missile system , S-300, and S-400 or others in order to guide them towards threats. The first two Nebo-M regiments were deployed in 2017 to Saint Petersburg and Kareliya. In 2018, further two regiments were deployed to Crimea and Penza. In 2019,

14626-431: The nighttime hours. Late in 1989 the Air Force began preparations to lead the F-117 into regular Air Force operations. This would be done in two phases: first, bringing the aircraft under the umbrella of the Tactical Air Command, and second, locating the fleet at a regular Air Force base. The first phase came on October 5, 1989 when the 4450th Tactical Group was inactivated and the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing from George AFB

14768-483: The operational development of the early F-117, and between 1981 (prior to the arrival of the first models) and 1989 they 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

14910-449: The pilots talked to the air traffic controllers as if they were in an A-7D Corsair II. Each F-117 aircraft also carried a transponder that indicated to radar operators that it was an A-7. In January 1989, just three months after the USAF admitted the F-117A existed, the aging A-7's were replaced with newer T-38A and AT-38B Talon trainers as a measure to streamline the F-117A's training operation. Many of these "Talons" formerly belonged to

15052-485: The pilots, followed by target and route study. The hangar doors were not opened until one hour after sunset. This meant the first takeoff would not be made until about 7:00 P.M. in winter and 9:30 P.M. in the summer. Eventually two waves were flown per night. This involved eight primary aircraft and two spares, for a total of eighteen sorties. The aircraft would fly the first wave (called the "early-go"), then return to TTR and be serviced. A second group of pilots would then fly

15194-463: The place of Lockheed Depot Field Teams performing the depot work at Tonopah. The F-117s were moved between the TTR and depot by C-5, and were only loaded and unloaded at night. This arrangement required the aircraft to be defueled, disassembled, cradled, and then loaded aboard the C-5, flown to the depot, and unloaded before the real work could begin. Of course, this meant that the reverse actions had to occur at

15336-571: 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 multi-role F-35 Lightning II also contributed to the retirement decision. In late 2006, the USAF closed the F-117 formal training unit (FTU), and announced the retirement of the F-117. The first six aircraft to be retired took their last flight on 12 March 2007 after

15478-664: The results of the evaluations of the MiG-21 and MiG-17s were incorporated into the USAF Fighter Weapons School and the Navy TOPGUN training school. In 1969 Pakistan supplied the U.S. with a Chinese -built MiG-19 ( J6 ) which was tested under the Have Drill program. These aircraft were given USAF designations and fake serial numbers so that they may be identified in DOD standard flight logs. In May 1973, Project HAVE IDEA

15620-549: 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. However, there were no other aircraft to receive a "100" series number following the F-111. Soviet fighters obtained by the U.S. via various means under the Constant Peg program were given F-series numbers for their evaluation by U.S. pilots, and with the advent of

15762-503: The rounded concept that was rejected in favor of the flat-sided approach. The resulting unusual design surprised and puzzled experienced pilots; a Royal Air Force (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 General Electric F404 turbofan engines. They were extensively modified to suit

15904-471: The second wave (the "late-go"). Typically, the training flights simulated actual missions. A normal mission would have two targets and several turn points. On other nights, there would be a "turkey shoot" with some fourteen targets. The pilots would get points for each one; at the end of the night, they would be added up to see who "won." The missions ranged across the southwest, and the targets were changed each time, to make it more challenging. The second wave

16046-467: The system was tested on training grounds in 2011. It was publicly presented in 2012. In 2012-2013 deliveries started to the Russian Armed Forces. As a system, Nebo-M is a complex which features different radars. From the beginning, Nebo-M represented a modification and modernization of older VHF band Nebo SVU , L-band Protivnik G, and S/X-band Gamma S1 radars on mobile chassis. The designations of

16188-422: The thermal signature. The aircraft is air refuelable and features a V-tail . The maximum speed is 623 mph (1,003 km/h; 541 kn) at high altitude, the max rate of climb is 2,820 feet (860 m) per minute, and service ceiling is 43,000 to 45,000 feet (13,000 to 14,000 m). The cockpit was quite spacious, with ergonomic displays and controls, but the field of view was somewhat obstructed with

16330-598: The tight restrictions on F-117A flights during the 4450th TG "black" era, a surrogate aircraft was needed for training and practice and to provide a cover story for the 4450th TG's existence. The aircraft chosen was the Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV) A-7 Corsair II . The A-7Ds came from England AFB, Louisiana, which was converting to the A-10 Thunderbolt II. The A-7 had been chosen as an interim trainer because its cockpit layout and avionics were considered similar to those in

16472-484: The town of Tonopah without special permission. Internal security at the base was also stringent. Personnel crossing into the double-fence area housing the hangars and flightline were required to pass through a security control point. This relied upon the Identimat hand geometry scanner, a biometric technology acquired by Wackenhut , the same company that provided perimeter security on the TTR. The F-117 operations building

16614-413: The work week, then fly back to Nellis AFB Thursday afternoon or Friday morning. All dormitory rooms had private bathrooms and showers, televisions with about 30 cable TV channels, a telephone with unrestricted local service to Las Vegas, access to laundry rooms in the building, and access to 24-hour recreational and dining facilities around Mancamp. Civilian engineers and executives were allowed to commute on

16756-454: The years following its entry to service, the F-117 was a black project , its existence being denied by USAF officials. On 10 November 1988, the F-117 was publicly acknowledged for the first time. Its first combat mission was flown during the United States invasion of Panama in 1989. The last of 59 production F-117s were delivered on 3 July 1990. The F-117 was widely publicized for its role in

16898-498: Was a giant vault with no windows. Within the building was another vault room where the flight manuals were stored. When in use, the manuals always had to be in the pilot's physical possession. If a pilot had to go to the bathroom, his manuals were loaned to another pilot or returned to the vault. The new F-117 fleet was considered for several high-profile military operations during the mid-1980s, but operations remained largely confined to nighttime flights around Nevada and California for

17040-492: Was acquired from Edwards AFB (73-1008), which was the prototype two-seater that had been converted from its original A-7D configuration in 1978. In doing so, the group became the only active-duty unit to fly the A-7K. A-7D flight operations began in June 1981 concurrent with the very first YF-117A flights. The A-7's wore a unique "LV" tailcode (for Las Vegas ) and were based officially at Nellis Air Force Base . They were maintained by

17182-437: 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 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. During the Gulf War in 1991, the F-117 flew approximately 1,300 sorties and scored direct hits on what

17324-529: Was an advanced reconnaissance version never before seen in the West and was equipped with sophisticated electronic warfare devices. Air Force recovery teams had to use large earth-moving equipment to uncover the MiG, which was over 70 feet long and weighed 25 tons. The advanced electronic reconnaissance version found by the U.S. Air Force is currently in service with the Russian air force. In the 1980s, Tonopah Airport became

17466-592: Was assigned to Tonopah. The Tactical Air Command (TAC) also activated the Det 1, 57 Fighter Weapons Wing (FWW) at Tonopah. During this phase, three pairs of F-117 aircraft left the TTR for Panama in December 1989 to participate in Operation JUST CAUSE . Only one mission with two F-117As was attempted. In April 1990, the F-117 was placed on public display at Nellis AFB and the Air Force mission at Tonopah Test Range became

17608-620: Was awarded to Lockheed Advanced Development Projects, popularly known as the Skunk Works, in Burbank, California . 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 it possible to design an airplane with flat panels, called facets, which were arranged so as to scatter over 99% of

17750-683: Was cited as improving the safety of training operations. Summer 1990 saw the peak of Air Force activity at the Tonopah Test Range Airport. After the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait the base was mobilized to support Desert Shield . On August 19, 1990, 22 F-117A's from the 415th and a dozen tankers left Tonopah for Langley AFB . A total of 18 F-117s would continue onward to Khamis Mushait Air Base in Saudi Arabia for Operation DESERT SHIELD , followed by hundreds of TTR support personnel. The planes and

17892-458: Was completed by about 2:30 or 3:00 A.M. in the winter, a few hours later in the summer. The planes had to be in their hangars and the doors closed one hour before sunrise. After landing, the pilots would be debriefed. The area around TTR was closely monitored. If a truck was seen in the hills around the base, it would be checked out, as were airplanes flying near the base's restricted airspace. Air Force members were also prohibited from driving into

18034-493: Was during the United States 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—however, its integration with the USAF's non-stealth "iron jets" occurred slowly. As one senior F-117 pilot later said: Because of ongoing secrecy others continued to see

18176-696: Was formed at Nellis AFB as tactical evaluation organization. Also in the early 1970s, the concept of "Aggressor Squadrons", was born, using the Northrop F-5E Tiger II , which was found to be nearly identical in terms of maneuvering and speed with the MiG-21 to train front-line combat pilots in Soviet Air Force tactics. Aggressor training was done where the units went head to head against USAF fighters in mock dogfights at this time to find out and exploit possible weaknesses. Foreign military sales of United States fighter aircraft to Indonesia and Egypt in

18318-401: Was formed which took over from the older HAVE DOUGHNUT, HAVE FERRY and HAVE DRILL projects. In May 1973, when Project Have Idea was initiated for joint technical and tactical evaluation of Soviet aircraft types, the tactical evaluation flights of foreign aircraft were undertaken by Detachment 1, 57th Fighter Weapons Wing. In July 1975, the 4477th Tactical Evaluation Flight ("Red Eagles")

18460-492: Was found buried in the sand after an informant tipped off U.S. troops. The MiG was dug out of a massive sand dune near the Al Taqqadum airfield by U.S. Air Force recovery teams. The MiG was reportedly one of over two dozen Iraqi jets buried in the sand. Contrary to what some in the major media have reported, not all the jets found at captured Iraqi Air Force bases were from the Gulf War era. The Russian-made MiG-25 Foxbat recovered

18602-531: Was granted asylum. The MiG-21 posed a major threat to Israeli Air Defenses as well as to American pilots over the skies of North Vietnam . Over the next year, the IDF put in over 100 hours of testing of the MiG-21 and shared the results with the United States. In a secret agreement negotiated with the United States Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Israel agreed to loan the MiG to the United States in exchange for Israel purchasing

18744-469: Was headquartered at Nellis Air Force Base . 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 4450th was absorbed by the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing in 1989. In 1992, the entire fleet was transferred to Holloman Air Force Base , New Mexico , under

18886-484: Was highly effective at destroying military targets. Post war records show that the F-117 had 18 times more targets per aircraft than their non-stealthy peers. 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

19028-424: Was immediately staffed with US Air Force security police. The flight line was walled off with a double fence; the only access to the runway was through gates. The area between the fences was lighted at night and had intruder detectors. At first, the facilities were limited to a few buildings, a small mess hall, and sixteen winterized trailers. Security checkpoints were placed on the sole public access road which led to

19170-522: Was lost on October 14, 1987 on the range about 30 miles east of the TTR Airfield, and it took the Air Force nearly a day to find the wreckage In both crashes the pilot was killed on impact, and both were attributed to fatigue and disorientation. In November 1988 the Air Force formally acknowledged its F-117 activities at Tonopah, bringing what was a "black world" program into "gray world" status. However, F-117 flight operations continued to be restricted to

19312-413: 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 designation "F-117" seems to indicate that it was given an official designation prior to the 1962 U.S. 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

19454-465: Was not specified. Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is a retired American single-seat, subsonic twin-engine stealth attack aircraft developed by Lockheed 's secretive Skunk Works division and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF). It was the first operational aircraft to be designed with stealth technology . Work on what would become

19596-530: Was of paramount importance to the United States, because it was also used by the North Vietnamese Air Force . It was much more agile than the supersonic MiG-21, and in experienced hands it would run rings around the F-4 Phantom. After a brief period of testing, the first MiG-17, coded HAVE DRILL arrived at Groom Lake in January 1969. The second MiG-17, HAVE FERRY, arrived in March. By June 1969,

19738-428: Was removed from USAF storage without disclosing its purpose. 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

19880-585: Was scrapped at the Palmdale test facility on 26 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 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. The USAF

20022-418: Was used for United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC, later Department of Energy or DOE) funded nuclear weapon programs. Eventually, the installation was abandoned, and the area was open range, with wild horses running free. The earliest known depiction of the airfield was on the July 1970 Air Force Tactical Pilotage Chart. The 1982 Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Airport Directory described

20164-489: 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 December 2005, proposed retiring it by October 2008 to free up an estimated $ 1.07 billion to buy more F-22s. PBD 720 called for 10 F-117s to be retired in FY2007 and

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