June 18: The world's first stealth plane to test flight

Lockheed F-117 night eagle is the first aircraft in the world to be completely designed in stealth technology.

Although the aircraft cannot change color to become transparent and invisible, it can fly at the speed of sound so that it is not detected by the naked, invisible eyes on the enemy radar and reduces the emitted heat radiation.

The F-117 production decision was made in 1973, and a contract was awarded to Lockheed Advanced Development Projects , often called "Skunk Works," in Burbank, California. The program is directed by Ben Rich. On June 18, 1981, the first flight of the YF-117A, the 79-0780 serial number, was made at Lake Groom, Nevada state.

F-117 is the first aircraft designed and equipped with stealth technology.

The Air Force denied the existence of this type of aircraft until 1988, then in April 1990 one was displayed publicly at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, attracting tens of thousands of attendees. mandarin

F-117 has been used many times during the war. Its first mission took place during the US invasion of Panama in 1989. During that time two F-117 Nighthawk threw two bombs at Rio Hato airport.

Later in the Gulf War , it performed well on the task of throwing smart bombs on Iraqi military targets. Since then it has been used at the Kosovo War in 1999, Operation Freedom and during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

The special design of this aircraft disperses radar waves.

Currently the F-117 model is no longer produced and is being replaced by a more modern stealth fighter version of the F-22 . F-117 maintenance and operation costs are also too high, making this stealth aircraft model no longer used as before.

There was even a proposal to stop using the aircraft, but was later dismissed because the US military said its F-117 fleet still worked in some cases. Even so, the F-117 generation is gradually being replaced by two more modern stealth aircraft, B-2 and F-22.