The F-117 Nighthawk is one of the most iconic aircraft in aviation history. It was the world’s first true stealth plane, created through the secret Project Have Blue by the Lockheed Skunk Works team. Its unique faceted shape was designed to deflect radar signals, and it made its mark by leading the first strikes in Desert Storm. The “Black Jet” showed that stealth technology could defeat even the most advanced defense systems. Although it officially left frontline service in 2008, the Nighthawk has made a comeback, flying over the Mojave Desert and other test ranges for important new missions. Today, this Cold War legend is used as a research testbed for new stealth coatings and as an “aggressor” aircraft to mimic foreign stealth threats. The U.S. Air Force plans to keep it flying until at least 2034. In this video, we’ll look at the full story of the F-117, from its secret beginnings and combat achievements to its surprising new roles.
CONTENT
00:00 Intro
01:17 Lockheed Have Blue
03:00 Development Begins
04:21 F-117 Development
06:46 Nighthawk in Service
08:13 Retirement
10:48 Resurrecting the Nighthawk
12:33 Advantages
13:19 Conclusion
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Some original footage and recreated scenes (using simulators like DCS and War Thunder) may not be 100% accurate to the events depicted but have been used for illustrative and dramatic purposes where archival footage was unavailable or restricted by copyright. We aim to remain as historically accurate as possible given the available resources. We use synthetic narrator voices for clarity.
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Our videos are created for educational and historical documentation purposes.
About Us:
We are three aviation enthusiasts who create documentaries, interviews, and video essays focused on Australian and international military aviation history. Our channel explores the stories of military aircraft, fighter pilots, air battles, and the evolution of air power from WWI to today. We do our own research but are not experts in any particular area, so corrections and suggestions are welcome.
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This is a re-upload. We had to fix a few mistakes – thanks to those who helped us out.
Skip to 11:39 for the reason (JesusH.)
They should mandate that they are built such that they can later be retrofitted to be turned into drones: these F117s would be truly excellent in that role and there must be hundreds of them sitting in storage.
To quote the wonderfully sardonic Serbian sense of humor: "Sorry for shooting your plane down, we had no idea it was invisible."
Another well produced video. Thanks!
2:03 Soviet designed and Egyptian modified anti-air defences
Still my favorite Jet of all-time. Man I would Love for just one of these to get into the Air Show rotation! American (especially born 70/80s) have an unmatched love for these planes and would travel pretty far for the chance to see one fly
HahahahahhHHhah 😂😂😂 youm kabur 1973, yeah we remember that day, it was fun shooting those ……. Down
I believe the F117 nighthawk has returned just because it could!
But what kind of sound system was it equipped with? Still classified 🔊
Fun fact: the F-117 was only effective during night. Hence its name.
Love your channel!
6:49 no wonder ppl thought they were seeing flying saucers if you saw this flying slowly in low light from like 2 miles away. or especially if you caught a glimpse of the SR-71 shooting across the sky at Mach 3.2. i’m sure it looks like a UFO from every angle when you don’t know what you’re looking at/for
somehow, nighthawk returned
00:10 skip to 12th minute if you want to hear about the title.
This gotta be my favorite warplane everrrrrr
Never believed it was retired. I wouldn't be surprised if the SR-71 is still in service, too.
This is an AI voiceover and I’m sad.
Skunk Works employees were known to have some creative names on their projects.
The F-117 started as
"the Hopeless Diamond" as it was so unstable, not even computers could make it fly.
"Have Blue" was the prototype version where they added twin tails, with inward canting angles. Similar to the SR-71, which reflected radar into space. And also allow rudder inputs to roll the aircraft since the force vector would be aligned below the center of gravity. A unique feature of the SR-71 that makes it fairly easy to fly even while it was analog, and made close to unstable. Unlike F-104s which were poor in slow flight maneuvering. Very clever.
There were issues with that layout also, at high angle of attack the rudders were blanketed behind the wide fuselage. So they made the F-117 with outward canting tails, and less wing sweep at well. Although the wings are still highly swept.
The instability comes from not having a "shoulder" at the forward end of the wing root.
This makes a lot of added wing area ahead of the CG. It also prevents generating stabilizing vortices as the SR-71 and almost every US fighter since the 1970s has incorporated (Leading Edge Strakes).
So the wobblin-goblin is a good name for an airplane that will depart controlled flight if it loses its stabilizing computers or controls. The handbook says, if multilple systems has a fault: Eject!
Waiting for the last computer or system to fail will result in a fatality as the aircraft will pitch up or down into a +/-15G tumble, cause the pilot to lose consciences, and the airplane will soon disintegrate.
I think the F-35/22 are not that good and this is why they still flying this
What was the reason for the engine intake doors ? When and how used ?
I feel. A stealth warthog coming