Editing Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk (section)

=== ''Senior Trend'' ===
The decision to produce the F-117 was made on 1 November 1978, and a contract was awarded to Lockheed Advanced Development Projects, popularly known as the Skunk Works, in [[Burbank, California]].<ref name="rich1" /><ref name="crickmore 25">Crickmore and Crickmore 2003, p. 25.</ref> The program was led by [[Ben Rich (engineer)|Ben Rich]], with Alan Brown as manager of the project.<ref name="crickmore 1011">Crickmore and Crickmore 2003, pp. 10-11.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzQPIlXe2H0 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313124234/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzQPIlXe2H0 |archive-date=13 March 2014 |url-status=dead |title=YouTube |via=YouTube}}</ref> Rich called on Bill Schroeder, a Lockheed mathematician, and Overholser, a mathematician and radar specialist, to exploit Ufimtsev's work. The three designed a computer program called "Echo", which made possible the design an airplane with flat panels, called facets, which were arranged so as to scatter over 99% of a radar's signal energy "painting" the aircraft.<ref name="Advent" /><ref name="discovery" /><ref name="crickmore 1011"/>

The first YF-117A, serial number ''79-10780'', made its maiden flight from Groom Lake ([[Area 51]]), Nevada, on 18 June 1981,<ref name="Goodall p.27" /><ref name= "bomber 279">Gunston and Gilchrist 1993, p. 279.</ref> only 31 months after the full-scale development decision. The first production F-117A was delivered in 1982, and operational capability was achieved in October 1983.<ref name="Centennial" /><ref name="Goodall p.29" /> The [[4450th Tactical Group]] stationed at [[Nellis Air Force Base]], Nevada, was tasked with the operational development of the early F-117, and between 1981 (prior to the arrival of the first models) and 1989, the group used [[LTV A-7 Corsair II]]s for training, to bring all pilots to a common flight-training baseline and later as chase planes for F-117A tests.<ref name=Holder&Wallace>Holder and Wallace 2000, {{page needed|date=September 2023}}.</ref>

[[File:Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk 79-7084.jpg|thumb|F-117 79-7084 is being refueled by a [[Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker]] of the 4450th Tactical Group in 1983.]]
The F-117 was secret for much of the 1980s. Many news articles discussed what they called an "[[F-19]]" stealth fighter, and the [[Testor Corporation]] produced a very inaccurate [[scale model]]. When an F-117 crashed in [[Sequoia National Forest]] in July 1986, killing the pilot and starting a fire, the USAF established [[restricted airspace]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruBeOIcKIdo&ab_channel=ForrestHaggertyChannel | title=F-117 Nighthawk Crash 1986. On Site Visit | website=[[YouTube]] | date=10 November 2024 }}</ref> Armed guards prohibited entry, including firefighters, and a [[helicopter gunship]] circled the site. All F-117 debris was replaced with remains of a [[F-101A Voodoo]] crash stored at Area 51. When another fatal crash in October 1987 occurred inside Nellis, the military again provided little information to the press.{{r|afmag-richelson}}

The USAF denied the existence of the aircraft until 10 November 1988, when Assistant Secretary of Defense [[J. Daniel Howard]] displayed a grainy photograph at a Pentagon press conference, disproving the many inaccurate rumors about the shape of the "F-19".<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Jr |first1=John H. Cushman |last2=Times |first2=Special To the New York |date=11 November 1988 |title=Air Force Lifts Curtain, a Bit, on Secret Plane |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/11/us/air-force-lifts-curtain-a-bit-on-secret-plane.html |access-date=16 September 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> After the announcement, pilots could fly the F-117 during daytime and no longer needed to be associated with the A-7, flying the T-38 [[supersonic]] trainer for travel and training, instead.{{r|crickmorep2003}} In April 1990, two F-117s flew to Nellis, arriving during daylight and publicly displayed to a crowd of tens of thousands.<ref name="dreamlandresort">Gregos, J. [http://www.dreamlandresort.com/black_projects/f117_intro.html "First Public Display of the F-117 at Nellis AFB April 21, 1990"]. dreamlandresort.com. Retrieved 27 April 2012.</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Morrissey |first=David H. |date=22 April 1990 |title=Secret Fighter Steals Into Public View |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/article/albuquerque-journal-secret-fighter-steal/130919764/ A1], [https://www.newspapers.com/article/albuquerque-journal-analysts-say-radar-c/130919893/ A10] |work=[[Albuquerque Journal]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

[[File:Lockheed F-117.ogg|thumb|thumbtime=32|right|F-117 flight demonstration]]
Five full-scale development<!-- (FSD) --> aircraft were built, designated "YF-117A".<ref name="designation-systems" /> The last of 59 production F-117s were delivered on 3 July 1990.<ref name="Goodall p.29" /><ref name="donald" /> As the USAF has stated, "Streamlined management by Aeronautical Systems Center, [[Wright-Patterson AFB]], [[Ohio]], combined breakthrough stealth technology with concurrent development and production to rapidly field the aircraft... The F-117A program demonstrates that a stealth aircraft can be designed for reliability and maintainability."<ref name="Nat_Museum_factsht" />