(Image: US Air Force via Foxtrot Alpha)
A product of the Lockheed Skunk Works that incorporated revolutionary low observable technology, the F-117 Nighthawk ‘Stealth Fighter’ was one of the most successful attack aircraft in history. First flown in June 1981 as part of a black project that saw the top secret aircraft hidden from public view for more than seven years, the Nighthawk went on to serve with distinction in a variety of theatres from the Persian Gulf to Kosovo.
But in August 2008, when the last of the 52 surviving F-117s were retired to secure storage at Nevada’s shadowy Tonopah Test Range Airport, the Stealth Fighter’s flying days seemed to be over. Unlike more conventional aircraft which finish up in ‘the Boneyard’ at Davis-Monthan AFB, the Black Jets, with much of their technology still highly classified, disappeared into their original hangars at one of the world’s most secure facilities.
Then, in 2010, the F-117 Nighthawk’s unmistakable form was once again spotted in the skies above the Nellis Range.
(Image: US Air Force)
Nobody knows exactly why, but it’s understood that a small number of airframes have been regenerated while the remainder of the mothballed fleet is being (or has been) quietly buried deep within the Tonopah Test Range complex. It’s even been suggested, though not confirmed, that aircraft will be interred in graves marked with their unique names and numbers for posterity’s sake.
(Image: US Air Force)
Such a fate may sound over-the-top, perhaps even creepy. But many Nighthawk airframes reportedly carried racehorse-like names over the years, from Raven Beauty, Dark Angel and Black Magic to Lone Wolf, Final Verdict and Unexpected Guest. Such a graveyard would be an eerily intriguing place, if not an accessible one.
As Foxtrot Alpha writes: “There exists strong rumors that the mothballed Nighthawk fleet’s (not the ones still flying) days may now be numbered. Multiple sources once closely related to the program say that the hangar facilities at Tonopah allotted to the dismantled F-117s are not adequate for long-term storage of the jets and are in demand by “other programs” that will remodel them for their needs. Thus these stealth mummies of sorts will be disposed of over time by being stripped of their useful parts… and buried within the highly secured vicinity of the Tonopah Test Range Air Base.”
Today, only a handful of F-117s are on public display. Four of the original five pre-production YF-117 full scale development (FSD) airframes are in museums or air parks, while the remains of ‘Something Wicked’ – the only F-117 to be lost in combat – are displayed at a museum in Belgrade, Serbia. Finally, a hybrid airframe built from the wreck of the first production F-117 and a range of spare parts is displayed on a plinth at the Lockheed Skunk Works plant in Palmdale.
(Image: Alan Radecki, cc-sa-3.0)
The fifth FSD airframe, meanwhile, was scrapped at Palmdale in April 2008 (top image) to test an effective means of destroying F-117 airframes – perhaps as a prelude to the remaining fleet’s disposal.
It seems unfortunate, and slightly odd, that more Black Jets cannot be publicly displayed, especially in government-run facilities such as the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum. Perhaps the handful of still-active airframes are already earmarked for that purpose. Or perhaps they too will disappear into the desert. Nevada, after all, is no stranger to the tombs of highly classified aircraft that were never publicly acknowledged.
(Image: US Air Force)
But if the F-117 Nighthawks are to be buried, let’s hope they’re carefully dismantled and placed in shipping containers so that, in a future far, far away when Tonopah is no longer off-limits, archaeologists of the day can exhume their ‘stealth mummies’ and finally give them the public recognition they deserve. If nothing else, at least shove one in Dyson’s Dock.
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