F-117 Stealth Nighthawks still possibly prowling the skies..

Steyr

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/2010/10/f-117-is-the-new-elvis.html

By Stephen Trimble on October 14, 2010

The US Air Force retired the F-117 in dramatic fashion in March 2008, ceremonially sending off the final four of the gawky stealth fighters to storage at the Tonopah Test Range, then releasing images of one poor airframe getting crushed into little pieces by a Caterpillar excavator. USAF message: See? No more F-117s here!




But, like Elvis, some folks believe the F-117 still lives and even prowls the skies above us -- especially if you happen to live in the Nevada desert. In fact, the forums at abovetopsecret.com are buzzing this week about an alleged sighting of the Skunk Works product on October 5, with both photos and video (caution: requires special video player) of the purported encounter. Unfortunately, there's no way to definitively prove the images were not taken years earlier, and the camera operator neglected to pan over to a newspaper with the morning's date.



Interesting.

Manic Moran

They may be removed from USAF commission, but that doesn't mean to say they can't still serve as test beds for Lockheed for one reason or another.

NTM

Pyr0

Why are they being scrapped ? Surely they've got a good few years left in them ?

concussion

Improvements in AD radar was cited as one of the reasons - the US DoD also wanted to free up funding for F-22 purchases.

Captain Chaos

Pyr0 wrote: »

Why are they being scrapped ? Surely they've got a good few years left in them ?

They are/were old. They were flying in test from as the Have Blue since the late 1970s. Other fighters built in the 70s have alreay been scrapped from the USAF and USN. The F-15A/Bs are all gone from the USAF and ANG. All F-16A/Bs are gone and the F-16C/D Block 25s. In the USN all F-14A/B and Ds are gone. Some of those D airframes were fairly new some only built in the early 90s.

There were only around 50 F-117s built so they racked up a good amount of flight hours. The stealth tech of the 70s have moved on greatly since then. The F-22 and F-35s are more stealthy and have lower radar cross sections than the 117. The F-117 could only carry two bombs at a time and was sub sonic and did not have great range.

The F-22 and F-35 can/will perform the F-117s mission while doing everything else. They are faster, can defend themselves if needed and can fly further on internal fuel reducing the need for tanker support.

tac foley

We'll miss the 'wobblin' goblin'....

tac