The Lockheed F-117A, world’s first operational stealth aircraft and one of the most secret planes ever developed, only flew after darkness until its existence was publicly acknowledged in 1988.
Then, the veil of secrecy on the “Nighthawk” was gradually lifted and the stealth fighter jet (actually, an attack plane) regularly flew in daylight and later began taking part to airshows.
Although it’s not clear who took it (it must be an Air Force image) and where it was taken, the photo in this post is quite impressive: 59 production aircraft (one of those was lost to the Serbian Air Defense during “Operation Allied Force“) served with the U.S. Air Force until the type was retired in 2008 and slightly about half of them can be seen flying together in the image.
Image credit: via Tom Demerly Pinterest/zonamilitar.com.ar
On Oct. 27, 2006, twenty-five Lockheed F-117A stealth jets flew over Heritage Park at Holloman Air Force Base during the Silver Stealth event for the F-117′s 25th anniversary.
59 production “Nighthawk” aircraft (one of those was lost to the Serbian Air Defense during “Operation Allied Force“) served with the U.S. Air Force until the type was retired in 2008: about half of them can be seen flying together in the image taken by Denny Lombard and released by LM’s Code One magazine.
For another impressive air-to-air image of the 25 stealth jets taken during the same event, have a look here.
By the way, isn’t that ironic that 25 aircraft filling the sky would still not appear on radar?
Image credit: Denny Lombard via Lockheed Martin.
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