Lonnie Ortega Aviation Art

The Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk is a stealth ground attack aircraft operated solely by the United States Air Force. The F-117A's first flight was in 1981, and it achieved Initial Operational Capability status in October 1983. The F-117A came out of secrecy and was revealed to the world in November 1988. As a product of the Skunk Works and a development of the Have Blue prototype, it became the first operational aircraft initially designed around stealth technology. The F-117A was widely publicized during the Gulf War. The Air Force is on-track to retire the F-117 in April 2008, due mainly to the deployment of the more effective F-22 Raptor.