NightHawk is still flying around the Nellis Range Complex years after it’s official retirement back in 2008. The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is a twin-engined single-seat ground-attack aircraft with stealth capability produced by the US-American manufacturer Lockheed Corporation used by the United States Air Force. It was the world\’s first operational aircraft designed to exploit low-observable stealth technology.

Technical details:

Introduced: October 1983
Retired: April 22, 2008
First flight: June 18, 1981
Crew: 1
Length: 20,09 m (65,9 ft)
Height: 3,78 m (12,4 ft)
Wing Span: 13,20 m (43,3 ft)
Speed: 1041 km/h (647 mph)
Empty Weight: 13.609 kg (30.003 lbs)
Propulsion: 2 Turbofan Engines
Engine Model: General Electric F404-GE-F1D2
Engine Power (each): 48 kN (10809 lb)

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After the U-2 entered service in 1955 the CIA already planed its eventual replacement. The result was the Lockheed A-12 Blackbird and later the larger Lockheed SR-71. But Lockheed company were not the only company the CIA approached to developed the U-2 replacement. The second company Convair came up with an unusual and innovative proposal known as the Convair Fish and Superfish, but it never entered operational service.

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