In October 1983, the Americans served a very advanced fighter jet. The shape of this aircraft was very different from that of all the fighters in service at that time, and in addition to the obvious differences in painting, this fighter also had a characteristic that all the fighters at that time did not have, that is, there was a certain degree of stealth to the radar. This is the famous F-117 attack aircraft, which is also known as the Nighthawk.
It should be said that the emergence of the F-117 attack aircraft has opened a precedent for the development of stealth or unmanned aerial vehicles in the US Air Force and even the entire human aviation, which is of landmark significance. In terms of operational philosophy, the positioning of the F-117 by the Americans at that time was to break through the enemy's air defense network through its stealth characteristics and super high flight speed, destroy the enemy's radar and command base, and lay the foundation for the victory of the US army.
But later with the advent of the F-22 fighter, many problems with the F117 were also exposed, mainly because the main task of this attack aircraft at the beginning of the design was stealth, and for ranges, including powerful attack capabilities and subsequent expansion functions, they were not developed, and for the Americans, it only played a certain experimental role. So in April 2008, the F-117 attack aircraft had all withdrawn from active service in the US military.
However, this situation does not seem accurate now, because on September 14, American airline fans encountered F117 stealth fighters again at Fresno Airport in California.
We can see that the American netizen clearly filmed at the US air base, to the F-117 attack aircraft, and two at a time, it is worth saying that this is not the first time to shoot the F117 is still serving the US Air Force. This is a bit strange, doesn't it mean that this attack aircraft was retired as early as 13 years ago? Why it has been able to be photographed until now. Could it be that the U.S. military wants the Nighthawk to reappear!
And if we analyze from a certain point of view, the F-117 has indeed appeared a certain number of returns to the COMBAT sequence of the US military, of course, the main task performed by the current F117 is not to reconnoiter or attack type tasks, mainly to simulate the imaginary enemy in the US military related exercises, or the role of a simple attack weapon. Because the radar display and some other characteristics of the F-117 are very different from all the aircraft in service in the US military, it is indeed correct to use it as an imaginary enemy in the simulation exercise.
Of course, what role and mission will the F-117 attack aircraft play in the simulated confrontation exercise? For us, it still has a very strong mysterious color.
But no matter what the development, there is a fact, we have to know that the F-117 has withdrawn from the stage of history, even if the Americans now come up with one or two to carry out some exercise-related tasks, it will not change, this is a retired fighter fact.