(2) Intermediate Project Jet (F-117 Nighthawk)

Late Cold War aircraft.

The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is a retired American single-seat, subsonic twin-engine stealth attack aircraft developed by Lockheed's secretive Skunk Works division and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF). It was the first operational aircraft to be designed with stealth technology.

Work on what would become the F-117 was commenced in the 1970s as a means of countering increasingly sophisticated Soviet surface-to-air missiles (SAMs). During 1976, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) issued Lockheed with a contract to produce the Have Blue technology demonstrator, the test data from which validated the concept. On 1 November 1978, it was decided to proceed with the F-117 development program. A total of five prototypes would be produced; the first of which performed its maiden flight during 1981 at Groom Lake, Nevada. The first production F-117 was delivered in 1982, and its initial operating capability was achieved in October 1983. All aircraft were initially based at Tonopah Test Range Airport, Nevada.