One of the most remarkable things about the F-117A was that in an open society such as that of the United States, an advanced combat aircraft could have been designed, built and entered service in fair numbers, and operated for several years, all in conditions of almost complete secrecy. There were of course some rumours about a so-called F-19; and many artists impressions, all of which were highly inaccurate, found their way into print, which aided security by muddying the waters futher. The Nighthawk, as it is unofficially known, started life in 1973 as a design study codenamed Have Blue, the object of which was to determine to what degree an aircraft could be made invisible to radar and IR detection systems. The result was two Experimental Stealth Tactical (XST) prototypes which first flew in mid-1977. Results being satisfactory, the decision to develop a production aircraft was taken about one year later, and this first flew from Groom Lake (Area 51) in June of 1981.

Nation of Orgin: USA
Consructor: Lochheed
Wing span: 13,20 m
Length: 20,08 m
Height: 3,78 m
Wing area: 81,75 m2
Max t-o weight: 23814 kg
Engine: 2x (4899 kg) General Electric F404-F1D2
Max speed: Mach 0,9
Ceiling: 2038 km
Armament: 2268 kg; BLU-109, GBU-24, GBU-27, LGB (laser guided bomb), AGM-65 Maverick