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A Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, crew member guides an F-117 Nighthawk aircraft out of the hangar to prepare for takeoff during Operation DESERT STRIKE
A Crew CHIEF from the 9th Fighter Squadron, Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, salutes the pilot of a F-117 Nighthawk aircraft after final checks prior to takeoff for Operation DESERT STRIKE
Crew members at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, prepare an F-117 Nighthawk aircraft for deployment to Operation DESERT STRIKE
US Air Force (USAF) Airmen, 49th Materiel Maintenance Squadron (SQDN), Holloman Air Force Base (AFB), New Mexico (NM), marshal an F-117A Nighthawk during an end of runway check at Kunsan Air Base (AB), Korea (KOR)
Pilots from the 8th Fighter Squadron (FS), 49th Fighter Wing (FW), Holloman Air Force Base (AFB), New Mexico, brief prior to launching a mission in their F-117 Nighthawk stealth-fighters at Ahmed Al Jaber Air Base, Kuwait, in support of Operation SOUTHERN WATCH 1998
An F-117A Nighthawk fighter assigned to the 8th Fighter Squadron (FS), 49th Fighter Wing (FW), Holloman Air Force Base (AFB), New Mexico, takes off from Ahmed Al Jaber Air Base, Kuwait, in support of Operation SOUTHERN WATCH 1998
US Air Force (USAF) Airmen, 49th Materiel Maintenance Squadron (SQDN), Holloman Air Force Base (AFB), New Mexico (NM), marshal an F-117A Nighthawk during an end of runway check at Kunsan Air Base (AB), Korea (KOR)
Several F-117 Nighthawk stealth-fighters assigned to the 8th Fighter Squadron (FS), 49th Fighter Wing (FW), Holloman Air Force Base (AFB), New Mexico, launch on a mission, from Ahmed Al Jaber Air Base, Kuwait, in support of Operation SOUTHERN WATCH 1998
US Air Force (USAF) STAFF Sergeant (SSGT) Brian Hennard, Crew CHIEF, 49th Materiel Maintenance Squadron (SQDN), Holloman Air Force Base (AFB), New Mexico (NM), marshals an F-117A Knighthawk during an end of runway check at Kunsan Air Base (AB), Korea
US Air Force Colonel Kurt Cichowski, 49th Operations Group Commander, oversees the departure of F-117A Nighthawk aircrafts from Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, in support of Operation DESERT STRIKE
Summary
The original finding aid described this photograph as:
Subject Operation/Series: DESERT STRIKE
Base: Holloman Air Force Base
State: New Mexico (NM)
Country: United States Of America (USA)
Scene Camera Operator: Unknown
Release Status: Released to Public
Combined Military Service Digital Photographic Files
In 1964, Pyotr Ufimtsev, Russian mathematician, pioneered the idea that the level of the radar return from an airplane is related to its edge configuration, not its size. Basing on work by the German physicist Arnold Sommerfeld, Ufimtsev demonstrated that an aircraft radar signature can be reduced. By the 1970s, Lockheed analyst Denys Overholser found Ufimtsev's paper and F-117 Nighthawk was born as a black project, an ultra-secret Pentagon program. The F-117 has a radar cross-section of about 0.001 m2 (0.0108 sq ft). The F-117A carries no radar and whether it carries any radar detection equipment is classified. The F-117 also reduces infrared signature, lacks afterburners, and limited to subsonic speeds. However, the resulting design makes the aircraft aerodynamically unstable and requires constant flight corrections from a fly-by-wire flight system to maintain controlled flight. A pilot, who flew it while it was still a secret project, stated that when he first saw a photograph of the F-117, he "promptly giggled and thought to this clearly can't fly'". It has low engine thrust due to losses in the inlet and outlet, a low wing aspect ratio, and 50° wing sweep angle to deflect radar waves to the sides. Supercomputers made it possible for subsequent aircraft like the B-2 to use curved surfaces while maintaining stealth. The 558 Nighthawk's pilots called themselves "Bandits", such as "Bandit 17", that where 17 is a sequential order of their first flight in the F-117. The aircraft was in use during Panama invasion, the Gulf War in 1991 and was first shot down in Serbia during on 27 March 1999 by an antiquate Soviet-made SA-3s (S-125 "Neva" ) anti-aircraft missile. The pilot was recovered by a United States Air Force Pararescue team. According to Serbian anti-aircraft unit commander, they spotted the aircraft on the radar when its bomb-bay doors opened, raising its radar signature. The Serbs invited Russians to inspect the aircraft's remains, compromising the stealth technology. Although officially retired, the F-117 fleet remains intact and some of the aircraft are flown periodically as of 2019.
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