Editing Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk (section)

=== Iraq and Afghanistan ===
[[File:F-117A Nighthawks.jpg|thumb|upright|A pair of F-117s]]
During the [[Gulf War]] in 1991, the F-117 flew roughly 1,300 sorties and scored direct hits on what the U.S. called 1,600 high-value targets in Iraq<ref name="Nat_Museum_factsht" /> over 6,905 flight hours.<ref name="frontline" /> [[Leaflet drop]]s on Iraqi forces displayed the F-117 destroying ground targets and warned "Escape now and save yourselves".{{r|crickmorep2003}} Only 229 [[Coalition of the Gulf War|Coalition]] tactical aircraft could drop and designate laser-guided bombs, of which 36 F-117s represented 15.7%, and only the USAF had the I-2000 bombs intended for hardened targets. So, the F-117 represented 32% of all coalition aircraft that could deliver such bombs.<ref name="GAO/NSIAD-97-134">{{cite web |url= http://www.gao.gov/archive/1997/ns97134.pdf |title= Operation Desert Storm Evaluation of the Air Campaign GAO/NSIAD-97-134 |publisher= General Accounting Office |date= 12 June 1997 |access-date= 28 January 2013 |archive-date= 16 October 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121016145619/http://www.gao.gov/archive/1997/ns97134.pdf |url-status= dead}}</ref>{{rp|73–74}} Notably, F-117s were involved in the [[Amiriyah shelter bombing]], killing at least 408 civilians.<ref>Clark 1992, p. 70.</ref>

Much media attention was given to the bombing of telecommunications, water, and transportation infrastructure in Baghdad. Stealth bombers were used due to the perimeter of Baghdad being heavily defended with antiaircraft weapons. The bombings quickly became part of a propaganda battle, with media highlighting the killing of civilians and American claims that stealth bombing was highly effective at destroying military targets.<ref name="Arkin">{{cite journal |last1=Arkin |first1=William M. |title=Baghdad |journal=Airpower Journal |volume=11 |issue=1 |page=4}}</ref> Postwar records show that the F-117 had 18 times more targets per aircraft than their nonstealth peers.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=RENNER, US AIR force |first1=Major R. A. |title=America's asymmetric advantage: The utility of airpower in the new strategic environment |journal=Defence Studies |date=January 2004 |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=87–113 |doi=10.1080/1470243042000255281}}</ref>

Outside of Baghdad, the F-117 bombing was primarily used to destroy airfields, and it was used in conjunction with other air munitions. Overall, 42 F-117s dropped 2077 bombs in Desert Storm. This accounts for about a third of USAF guided bombing.<ref name="Arkin"/>

Early claims of the F-117's effectiveness were later found to be overstated.<ref name="nytimes" /> Initial reports of F-117s hitting 80% of their targets were later scaled back to "41–60%".<ref name="GAO/NSIAD-97-134" />{{rp|132}} On the first night, they failed to hit 40% of their assigned air-defense targets, including the Air Defense Operations Center in Baghdad, and eight such targets remained functional out of 10 that could be assessed.<ref name="GAO/NSIAD-97-134" />{{rp|136–137}} In their Desert Storm white paper, the USAF stated, "the F-117 was the only airplane that the planners dared risk over downtown Baghdad" and that this area was particularly well defended. (Dozens of F-16s were routinely tasked to attack Baghdad in the first few days of the war.)<ref name="GAO/NSIAD-97-134" />{{rp|137–138}} In fact, most of the air defenses were on the outskirts of the city and many other aircraft hit targets in the downtown area, with minimal casualties when they attacked at night like the F-117;<ref name="GAO/NSIAD-97-134" /> they avoided the optically aimed [[Anti-aircraft cannon#AA warfare systems|antiaircraft cannon]] and infrared SAMs, which were the biggest threat to Coalition aircraft.<ref name="GAO/NSIAD-97-134" />{{rp|105}}

The F-117 was used during [[Operation Enduring Freedom]] in 2001.<ref>{{cite web |last1=LaBoy |first1=Vanessa |title=Nighthawks return home |url=https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/139412/nighthawks-return-home/ |website=Air Force |publisher=USAF |access-date=30 March 2024 |date=18 April 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Have Blue and Stealth Technology |url=https://www.darpa.mil/about-us/timeline/have-blue |website=www.darpa.mil |publisher=DARPA |access-date=30 March 2024}}</ref> The Taliban lacked a modern Air Force. After the initial bombing campaign in October, targets justifying F-117 usage were limited as was the use of the F-117.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Haulman |first1=Daniel |title=Aberrations in Iraq and Afghanistan |url=https://www.airandspaceforces.com/article/0812aberrations/ |website=Air & Space Forces Magazine |access-date=30 March 2024}}</ref>

The first bombs dropped in the 2003 [[Iraq War|Operation Iraqi Freedom]] were from two F-117 on the [[Dora, Baghdad|Dora Farms]] in an attempt to assassinate [[Saddam Hussein]]. The F-117 was chosen to deliver a bunker buster payload because nearby Baghdad was heavily fortified with antiaircraft weapons, and US intelligence indicated Saddam Hussein's bunker was too reinforced for missiles. The EGBU-27 Advanced Paveway III bunker buster is an unusual payload for the F-117. ''Post facto'' intelligence showed that Saddam Hussein had been at Dora Farms, but left several hours prior to the bombing.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Martin |first1=David |title=Ex-CIA officer on the strike that could have averted Iraq War - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ex-cia-officer-on-the-strike-that-could-have-averted-iraq-war/ |access-date=12 March 2024 |work=www.cbsnews.com |publisher=CBS |date=19 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kinkade |first1=Mark |title=The First Shot |journal=Airman |date=7 July 2003 |volume=47 |issue=7 |pages=24–29}}</ref> During this time, the Air Force estimated the operational cost as $35,000 per JDAM-style bomb delivered by the F-117.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fulghum |first1=David A. |title=Bombing costs escalate in Afghanistan operations |journal=Aviation Week & Space Technology |date=21 December 2001 |volume=155 |issue=24 |page=38}}</ref>