U.S. Air Force - F-117A Nighthawk Video
The Lockheed F-117A was developed in response to an Air Force request for an aircraft capable of attacking high value targets without being detected by enemy radar.
By the 1970s, new materials and techniques allowed engineers to design an aircraft with radar-evading or "stealth" qualities. The result was the F-117A, the world's first operational stealth aircraft. The first F-117A flew on June 18, 1981, and the first F-117A unit, the 4450th Tactical Group, achieved initial operating capability in October 1983. The F-117A first saw combat during Operation Just Cause on Dec. 19, 1989, when two F-117As from the 37th TFW attacked military targets in Panama.
The United States Armed Forces are the overall unified military forces of the United States. The United States military was first formed by the second Continental Congress to defend the new nation against the British Empire in the American Revolutionary War.
