[WilliamofCarmichael]

"On Mar. 27, 1999, the fourth night of Operation Allied Force over Serbia, an F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter jet was shot down while returning to Aviano airbase, in northern Italy after bombing a target near Belgrade."

It was invisible to radar but not to the naked eye. And the Serbian air defenses somehow knew where and when to look for incoming bombers.

I think that was the first combat for the F117A but maybe it was used in Operation Just Cause (Panama) 1989. I think by that time the F117A was in the white world.

[MacNaughton]

29 ... I think that was the first combat for the F117A but maybe it was used in Operation Just Cause (Panama) 1989. I think by that time the F117A was in the white world.

Op Just Cause, DEC 1989 - CORRECT

2nd time was Op Desert Storm, JAN 1991

[sten]

yes, i’m pretty sure it was used in that operation in ‘89.

i believe it was also used in another op in ‘86

the F-117 did some great work... and the entire fleet has been mothballed (that stunned me when i found out about that... especially without a solid replacement)

[DesScorp]

It wasn’t invisible because “stealth, as USAF sells it, is dead. In the 90’s, Russian and Chinese techs begain modifying radars to use shorter bandwidth frequencies that are better at detecting aircraft, regardless of shape or coating. In addition, there’s really no way to mask all of the ‘trons flowing from an aircraft.

[Portcall24]

You’re correct. Its first mission was during the United States invasion of Panama in 1989. During that invasion two F-117A Nighthawks dropped two bombs on Rio Hato airfield. November 1988 BG Tony Tolin brought the bird out of the black world into the white.