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U.S. Air National Guard photo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The US Air Force (USAF) is on track to certify the iconic Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk for aerial refueling on its latest tanker, the Boeing KC-46, by the end of March 2024. Despite the F-117 fleet’s retirement from active service, the USAF is moving forward with plans to integrate it into the KC-46’s refueling capabilities. Andrew Hunter, the USAF’s acquisition boss, disclosed the inclusion of the F-117 as a receiver for aerial refueling during a testimony to the House armed services projection forces subcommittee on March 12, 2024, as first reported by Aviation Week. The...

For the last year, we’ve noted a series of reports (read: here & here) of (supposedly retired) Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk stealth attack aircraft conducting combat training missions over the skies of California. The latest sighting of the world’s first stealth aircraft, which first debuted in the early 1980s and retired in 2008, after the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor stealth fighter aircraft was first fielded, was in mid-September at the Fresno Air National Guard Base, California. The US Air Force released a statement at the time stating “two F-117 Nighthawk aircraft” would be conducting “air combat training missions.” This is the...

The F-117 Nighthawk [3] made a definite impression on both Iraqi air defenses and the American public when it demonstrated the capabilities of stealth technology in the 1991 Gulf War [4]. Yet the iconic jet-black attack plane was ultimately left behind by improvements in technology and retired in 2008 in favor of the new F-22 stealth fighter [5]. But what if the Nighthawk design had been evolved into a carrier-based multi-role fighter capable of flying longer distances at higher speed with a greater weapon load? In fact, Lockheed proposed exactly such a “Seahawk” in the early 90s. The original F-117’s...

... Easter had a top-secret job offer. If Moseley accepted, he would have to commit for four years, he couldn't tell anyone about the job and he would have to accept the job before knowing what it was. "And he said, 'You've got 30 seconds and if you don't say yes, this conversation never happened.' Well, that was just too intriguing to turn down," Moseley says. "So I said, 'Absolutely.' And he'd given me a telephone number and an intersection." ...

Pakistani officials said today they're interested in studying the remains of the U.S.'s secret stealth-modified helicopter abandoned during the Navy SEAL raid of Osama bin Laden's compound, and suggest the Chinese are as well. The U.S. has already asked the Pakistanis for the helicopter wreckage back, but one Pakistani official told ABC News the Chinese were also "very interested" in seeing the remains. Another official said, "We might let them [the Chinese] take a look." A U.S. official said he did not know if the Pakistanis had offered a peak to the Chinese, but said he would be "shocked" if...

March 27, 1999: it was the fourth night of Operation Allied Force, the NATO bombing campaign against Serbia. The effort's initial phase had gone remarkably well; U.S. and allied aircraft had inflicted heavy damaged on Serb air defenses and other critical targets, without the loss of a single NATO aircraft. When the Serbs tried to fight back, they generally paid a high price; three of their MiG-29 Fulcrums had been shot down in the early hours of the conflict, and a number of surface-to-air missile (SAM) batterys had been knocked out of action as well. But the Serbs would soon...

PALMDALE - The once top-secret Blackbirds on display in Palmdale have a new nest mate: the F-117A Nighthawk, also known as the stealth fighter. The dart-shaped aircraft, the fourth of its kind built and used solely for testing, was moved into display position Monday at Blackbird Airpark, taking its place beside other former "black" aircraft, the SR-71 and U-2. "Look at how many black airplanes you can come see right here," said Fred Johnsen , curator of the Air Force Flight Test Center Museum, of which Blackbird Airpark is a satellite. Escorted by members of the 410th Flight Test Squadron,...

Stealth jet quietly slips into history F-117A fighter retired after 25 years Cutting-edge design cloaked in mystery Nov. 2, 2006. 12:54 PM BILL TAYLOR FEATURE WRITER Almost as furtively as it flew above war zones from Bosnia to Baghdad, America's F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter has retired from active duty. The years had snuck up on it. Though it remained cutting-edge contemporary in many people's minds, the Nighthawk had hit the quarter-century mark. At a discreet "Silver Stealth" ceremony at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico this week, some of the people who built, serviced and flew the plane marked...

Air Force Slates F-117 And B-52 For Cuts F-22 Raptors The Air Force wants to retire the entire F-117 stealth fighter fleet by 2008 and cut the fleet of B-52 bombers in half, but increase the buy of its cherished F-22 fighter from 179 to 183 aircraft. Program Budget Decision 720, the "Air Force Transformation Flight Plan," outlines the service's plan to save more than $21 billion between 2007 and 2011 and direct that money into programs that make the Air Force a "more lethal, more agile, streamlined force with an increased emphasis on the warfighter."

Vice-president Dick Cheney stepped up America's war of words with North Korea yesterday by calling it a police state run by an irresponsible leader indifferent to the fate of his malnourished people.His words came just 48 hours after the Pentagon announced that it was sending 15 F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter-bombers to South Korea, a US ally, for an undetermined period. The aircraft crews, trained to seek out targets with precision weapons, needed to familiarise themselves with the Korean terrain, the air force said. Speaking to CNN in an interview broadcast last night, Mr Cheney described North Korea's leader, Kim Jong...