F-117 Nighthawk |
"F117" redirects
here. For the F117-PW-100 turbofan engine, see Pratt & Whitney PW2000.
F-117
Nighthawk
|
Role
|
Stealth attack aircraft[1]
|
National
origin
|
United States
|
Manufacturer
|
Lockheed Corporation
Lockheed Martin
|
First
flight
|
18 June 1981
|
Introduction
|
15 October 1983
|
Retired
|
22 April 2008[2]
|
Primary user
|
United States Air Force
|
Number
built
|
64 (5 YF-117As, 59 F-117As)
|
Unit
cost
|
US$42.6 million (flyaway
cost)
US$111.2 million (total
program)[3]
|
Developed
from
|
Lockheed Have Blue
|
_____________
The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk
was a single-seat, twin-engine stealth ground-attack aircraft formerly operated
by the United States Air Force (USAF). The F-117A's first flight was in 1981,
and it achieved initial operating capability status in October 1983.[1]
The F-117A was "acknowledged" and revealed to the world in November
1988.[4]
A product of Lockheed Skunk
Works and a development of the Have Blue technology demonstrator, it
became the first operational aircraft initially designed around stealth
technology. The F-117A was widely publicized during the Persian Gulf War of
1991. It was commonly called the "Stealth Fighter" although it was a
ground-attack aircraft, making its F-designation misleading
.
The Air Force retired the F-117 on
22 April 2008,[2] primarily because of the fielding of the F-22
Raptor[5] and the impending introduction of the F-35 Lightning II.[6]
Sixty-four F-117s were built, 59 of which were production versions with five
demonstrators/prototypes.
- Development
Background
and Have Blue
Main article: Lockheed Have Blue
In 1964, Pyotr Ufimtsev, a Soviet
mathematician, published a seminal paper titled Method of Edge Waves in the
Physical Theory of Diffraction in the journal of the Moscow Institute for
Radio Engineering, in which he showed that the strength of a radar return is
related to the edge configuration of an object, not its size.[7]
Ufimtsev was extending theoretical work published by the German physicist
Arnold Sommerfeld.[8][9][10] Ufimtsev demonstrated that he could
calculate the radar cross-section across a wing's surface and along its edge.
The obvious and logical conclusion was that even a large aircraft could be made
stealthy by exploiting this principle. However, the airplane's design would
make it aerodynamically unstable, and the state of computer technology in the
early 1960s could not provide the kinds of flight computers which allow
aircraft such as the F-117, and B-2 Spirit to stay airborne. However, by the
1970s, when Lockheed analyst Denys Overholser found Ufimtsev's paper, computers
and software had advanced significantly, and the stage was set for the
development of a stealthy airplane.[11]
The F-117 was born after combat
experience in the Vietnam War when increasingly sophisticated Soviet
surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) downed heavy bombers.[12] It was a
black project, an ultra-secret program for much of its life, until the late
1980s.[13] The project began in 1975 with a model called the
"Hopeless Diamond"[14][15] (a wordplay on the Hope Diamond
because of its appearance). The following year, the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency issued Lockheed Skunk Works a contract to build and test two
Stealth Strike Fighters, under the code name "Have Blue".[16]
These subscale aircraft incorporated jet engines of the Northrop T-38A,
fly-by-wire systems of the F-16, landing gear of the A-10, and environmental
systems of the C-130.[16] By bringing together existing technology
and components, Lockheed built two demonstrators under budget, at
$35 million for both aircraft, and in record time.[16]
The maiden flight of the
demonstrators occurred on 1 December 1977.[17] Although
both aircraft were lost during the demonstration program, test data proved
positive. The success of Have Blue led the government to increase
funding for stealth technology. Much of that increase was allocated towards the
production of an operational stealth aircraft, the Lockheed F-117A, under the
program code name "Senior Trend".[18][19]
Senior Trend
The decision to produce the F-117A
was made on 1 November 1978, and a contract was awarded t Lockheed Advanced
Development Projects, popularly known as the Skunk Works, in Burbank,
California.[20] The program was led by Ben Rich, who called on Bill
Schroeder, a Lockheed mathematician, and Denys Overholser, a computer
scientist, to exploit Ufimtsev's work. The three designed a computer program
called "Echo", which made it possible to 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.[11][21][22]
The first YF-117A, serial number 79-0780,
made its maiden flight from Groom Lake, Nevada on 18 June 1981,[23]
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.[8][24] The Air Force denied the existence of the
aircraft until 1988, when a grainy photograph was released to the public. In
April 1990 two were flown into Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, arriving during
daylight and publicly displayed to a crowd of tens of thousands. Quote:
"Shortly after I arrived in Las Vegas to work at the Dunes, the USAF
announced a static display of two aircraft for a one day open house at Nellis
AFB."[25] Five Full Scale Development (FSD) aircraft were
built, designated "YF-117A".[26] The last of 59 production
F-117s were delivered on 3 July 1990.[24][27]
As the Air Force 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."[1]
The aircraft maintenance statistics are comparable to other tactical fighters
of similar complexity. Logistically supported by Sacramento Air Logistics
Center, McClellan AFB, California, the F-117A was kept at the forefront of
technology through a planned weapon system improvement program located at USAF
Plant 42 at Palmdale, California.[citation
needed
Designation
The operational aircraft had the
official designation of "F-117A".[28] Most modern U.S.
military aircraft use post-1962 designations in which the designation
"F" is usually an air-to-air fighter, "B" is usually a
bomber, "A" is usually a ground-attack aircraft, etc. (Examples
include the F-15, the B-2, and the A-6.) The F-117 is primarily a ground-attack
aircraft so its "F" designation is inconsistent with the DoD system,
but it is an inconsistency that has been repeatedly employed by the U.S. Air
Force with several of its ground attack aircraft since the late 1950s, including
the Republic F-105 Thunderchief and General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark.
The designation "F-117"
seems to indicate that it was given an official designation prior to the 1962
U.S. Tri-Service Aircraft Designation System and could be considered
numerically to be a part of the earlier "Century series" of fighters.
The assumption prior to the revealing of the aircraft to the public was that it
would likely receive the designation F-19 as that number had not been used.
However there were no other aircraft to receive a "100" series number
following the F-111. Soviet fighters obtained by the United States via various
means under the Constant Peg program[29] were given F-series numbers
for their evaluation by U.S. pilots, and with the advent of the Teen Series
fighters, most often Century Series designations.
As with other exotic military
aircraft types flying in the southern Nevada area, such as captured fighters,
an arbitrary radio call of "117" was assigned. This same radio call
had been used by the enigmatic 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron, also known
as the "Red Hats" or "Red Eagles", that often had flown
expatriated MiGs in the area, but there was no relationship to the call and the
formal F-19 designation then being considered by the Air Force. Apparently, use
of the "117" radio call became commonplace and when Lockheed released
its first flight manual (i.e., the Air Force "dash one" manual for
the aircraft), F-117A was the designation printed on the cover.[30]
A televised documentary quoted a
senior member of the F-117A development team as saying that the top-notch USAF
fighter pilots required to fly the new aircraft were more easily attracted to
an aircraft with an "F" designation for fighter, as opposed to a
bomber ("B") or attack ("A") designation.[31
The F-117 is shaped to deflect radar
signals and is about the size of an F-15 Eagle. The single-seat Nighthawk is
powered by two non-afterburning General Electric F404 turbofan engines, and has
quadruple-redundant fly-by-wire flight controls. It is air refuelable. To lower
development costs, the avionics, fly-by-wire systems, and other parts are
derived from the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, McDonnell Douglas
F/A-18 Hornet and McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle. The parts were
originally described as spares on budgets for these aircraft, to keep the F-117
project secret
.
The F-117 Nighthawk has a radar
signature of about 0.025 m2 (0.269 sq ft).[32]
Among the penalties for stealth are lower engine power thrust, due to losses in
the inlet and outlet, a very low wing aspect ratio, and a high sweep angle
(50°) needed to deflect incoming radar waves to the sides.[33] With
these design considerations and no afterburner, the F-117 is limited to
subsonic speeds. It also has serrated edges in places to scatter as much radar
signal as possible.[citation needed
The F-117A is equipped with
sophisticated navigation and attack systems integrated into a digital avionics
suite. It carries no radar, which lowers emissions and cross-section. It
navigates primarily by GPS and high-accuracy inertial navigation. Missions are
coordinated by an automated planning system that can automatically perform all
aspects of an attack mission, including weapons release. Targets are acquired
by a thermal imaging infrared system, slaved to a laser that finds the range
and designates targets for laser-guided bombs. The F-117A's split internal bay
can carry 5,000 lb (2,300 kg) of ordnance. Typical weapons are a pair
of GBU-10, GBU-12, or GBU-27 laser-guided bombs, two BLU-109 penetration bombs,
or two Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), a GPS/INS guided stand-off bomb.
The F-117A's faceted shape (made
from 2-dimensional flat surfaces) resulted from the limitations of the
1970s-era computer technology used to calculate its radar cross-section. Later
supercomputers made it possible for subsequent planes like the B-2 bomber to
use curved surfaces while staying stealthy, through the use of far more
computational resources to do the additional calculations needed.[34]
Operational history
During the program's early years,
from 1984 to mid-1992, the F-117A fleet was based at Tonopah Test Range
Airport, Nevada where it served under the 4450th Tactical Group. Because the
F-117 was classified during this time, the 4450th Tactical Group was "officially"
located at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada and equipped with A-7 Corsair II
aircraft. The 4450th was absorbed by the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing in 1989. In
1992, the entire fleet was transferred to Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico,
where it was placed under the command of the 49th Fighter Wing. This move also
eliminated the Key Air and American Trans Air contract flights to Tonopah,
which flew 22,000 passenger trips on 300 flights from Nellis to Tonopah per
month.
F-117 pilots called themselves
"Bandits". Each of the 558 Air Force pilots who have flown the F-117
have a Bandit number, such as "Bandit 52", that indicates the
sequential order of their first flight in the F-117.[35]
The F-117 has been used several
times in war. Its first mission was during the United States invasion of Panama
in 1989.[36] During that invasion two F-117A Nighthawks dropped two
bombs on Rio Hato airfield.
During the Persian Gulf War in 1991,
the F-117A flew approximately 1,300 sorties and scored direct hits on 1,600 high-value
targets in Iraq[1] over 6,905 flight hours.[37] Only 2.5%
of the American aircraft in Iraq were F-117s, yet they struck more than 40% of
the strategic targets.[38] F-117As dropped over 2,000 tons of
precision-guided munitions and struck their targets with over an 80% success
rate. "Although the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing Provisional and its 42
stealth fighters represented just 2.5 percent of all allied fighter and attack
aircraft in the Persian Gulf, the F-117As were assigned against more than 31 percent
of the strategic Iraqi military targets attacked during the first 24 hours of
the air campaign."
It was one of very few U.S. or
Coalition aircraft types to strike targets in downtown Baghdad. Its stealth
characteristics protected it from the SAM and AAA-saturated environment of the
city, and due both to its precision-guided weaponry and its avoidance of having
to jettison ordnance in defensive maneuvers F-117 missions proved less likely
to cause civilian casualties and collateral damage.[39]
Following its move to Holloman AFB
in 1992, the F-117A and the men and women of the 49th Fighter Wing were
deployed to Southwest Asia on multiple occasions. On their first deployment,
crews flew non-stop from Holloman to Kuwait, a flight of approximately 18.5 hours
– a record for single-seat fighters that stands today.[1]
The F-117 was subsequently used in
Operation Allied Force in 1999, Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001, and
Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
Combat loss
Only one F-117 (AF ser. no. 82-0806)[40]
was lost to enemy action. It was shot down during a mission against the Army of
Yugoslavia on 27 March 1999, during Operation Allied Force.[40]
About 8:15 pm local time, SA-3s were fired from about 8 miles (13 km)
away, launched by a Yugoslav version of the Soviet Isayev S-125
"Neva" (NATO name SA-3 "Goa") anti-aircraft missile system.[40][41][42]
The launcher was run by elements of the 3rd Battalion of the 250th Air Defence
Missile Brigade under the command of Colonel Zoltán Dani.[43]
According to NATO Commander Wesley Clark and other NATO generals, Dani detected
F-117s by operating his radars on unusually long wavelengths, making the
aircraft visible for brief periods.[citation needed]
According to Dani in a 2007 interview, his troops spotted the aircraft on radar
when its bomb-bay doors opened, raising its radar signature.[44] One
of the missiles detonated near the F-117 by its proximity fuze.[40]
Dani said he kept most of his missile sites intact by frequently moving them,
and had spotters looking for F-117s and other NATO aircraft. He oversaw the
modification of his targeting radar to improve its detection.[42] He
later recanted this claim, saying that it was meant as a tongue-in-cheek jab to
his former American adversaries and their customary boastfulness.
After the explosion, the aircraft
became uncontrollable, forcing the pilot to eject.[40] The pilot was
recovered a short time later by a U.S. Marine Corps combat search and rescue
team.[40] Photos show that the aircraft struck the ground at low
speed in an inverted position, and that the airframe remained relatively
intact.[40] U.S. forces decided not to bomb the wreckage because
civilians were near. The Serbs are believed to have invited Russian personnel
to inspect the aircraft's remains, compromising the then 25-year-old U.S.
stealth technology.[46] The F-117's pilot was initially
misidentified. While the name "Capt Ken 'Wiz' Dwelle" was painted on
the canopy, it was revealed in 2007 that the pilot was actually Lt. Col. Dale
Zelko.[47][48]
Some American sources claim that a
second F-117A was damaged during the same campaign, allegedly on 30 April;[49]
the aircraft returned to base, but it supposedly never flew again.[50][51]
The stealth technology from the
downed F-117 may have been acquired by Russia and China,[52] and is
believed to have contributed to their respective stealth aircraft prototypes,
the Sukhoi PAK FA and Chengdu J-20.
Retirement
Though advanced for its time, the
F-117's stealthy faceted airframe required a large amount of maintenance and
was eventually superseded by streamlined shapes produced with computer-aided
design. The Air Force had once planned to retire the F-117 in 2011, but Program
Budget Decision 720 (PBD 720), dated 28 December 2005, proposed retiring it by
October 2008 to free up an estimated $1.07 billion[53] to buy
more F-22 Raptors.[35] PBD 720 called for 10 F-117s to be retired in
FY 2007 and the remaining 42 in FY 2008, stating that other Air Force planes
and missiles could stealthily deliver precision payloads, including the B-2
Spirit, F-22 and JASSM.[54]
In late 2006, the Air Force closed
the F-117 formal training unit (FTU),[55] and announced the
retirement of the F-117.[5] The first six aircraft to be retired
made their last flight on 12 March 2007 after a ceremony at Holloman AFB to
commemorate the aircraft's career. Brigadier General David Goldfein, commander
of the 49th Fighter Wing, said at the ceremony, "With the launch of these
great aircraft today, the circle comes to a close – their service to our
nation's defense fulfilled, their mission accomplished and a job well done. We
send them today to their final resting place – a home they are intimately
familiar with – their first, and only, home outside of Holloman."[56]
Unlike most other Air Force aircraft
which are retired to Davis-Monthan AFB for scrapping, or dispersal to museums, most of the F-117s
were retired to their original hangars at the Tonopah
Test Range Airport.[40]
At Tonopah, their wings were removed and the aircraft are stored in their original
climate-controlled hangars.[56] The decommissioning occurred in
eight phases, with the operational aircraft retired to Tonapah in seven waves
beginning on 13 March 2007, and ending with the last wave's arrival on 22 April
2008.[2][40] Four aircraft were kept flying beyond April by the
410th Flight Test Squadron at Palmdale for flight test. By the beginning of
August, two were remaining. The last F-117 (AF ser. no. 86-0831) left Palmdale
to fly to Tonopah on 11 August 2008. This was the last flight of an F-117.[40][57]
With the last aircraft retired, the 410th was deactivated in a ceremony on 1
August 2008.[58]
Five aircraft were placed in museums
including the first 4 YF-117As and some remains of the F-117 shot down over
Serbia. Through 2009, one F-117 has been scrapped. F-117 AF ser. no. 79-0784
was scrapped at the Palmdale test facility on 26 April 2008. It was the last
F-117 at Palmdale and was scrapped to test an effective method for destroying
F-117 airframes.[40]
Although officially retired, the
F-117 fleet remains intact, and photos show the aircraft carefully mothballed.[40]
F-117s have been spotted flying in the Nellis Bombing Range as recently as 2010.[59]
Variants
F-117N
“Seahawk”
In the early 1990s, Lockheed
proposed an upgraded, carrier capable variant of the F-117 dubbed the “Seahawk”
to the U.S. Navy as an alternative to the canceled A/F-X program. The
unsolicited proposal was received poorly by the Department of Defense, which
had little interest in the single mission capabilities of such an aircraft,
particularly as it would take money away from the Joint Advanced Strike
Technology program, which evolved into the Joint Strike Fighter. The new
aircraft would have differed from the land-based F-117 in several ways,
including the addition “of elevators, a bubble canopy, a less sharply swept
wing and reconfigured tail".[60][61] The “N” variant would also
be re-engined to use General Electric F414 turbofans instead of the older
General Electric F404s. Furthermore the aircraft would be optionally fitted
with hardpoints, allowing for an additional 8,000 lb (3,600 kg) of
payload, and a new ground attack radar with air-to-air capability. In that role
the F-117N could carry AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles.[60][62]
After being rebuffed by the Navy,
Lockheed submitted an updated proposal that included afterburning capability
and a larger emphasis on the F-117N as a multi-mission aircraft, rather than
just an attack aircraft.[62] In efforts to boost interest, Lockheed
also proposed an F-117B land-based variant that shared most of the
F-117N capabilities. This variant was proposed to both the US Air Force and the
Royal Air Force.[63] This renewed F-117N proposal was also known as
the A/F-117X.[64] Neither the F-117N or the F-117B were
purchased by any party.
Operators
USA
United States Air Force[65]
- 4450th Tactical Group – Tonopah Test Range Airport
- 4450th Tactical Squadron (1981–1989)
- 4451st Tactical Squadron (1981–1989)
- 4453rd Test and Evaluation Squadron (1985–1989)
- 37th Tactical Fighter Wing – Tonopah Test Range Airport
- 415th Tactical Fighter Squadron (1989–1993)
- 416th Tactical Fighter Squadron (1989–1993)
- 417th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron (1989–1993)
- 49th Fighter Wing – Holloman AFB
- 7th Fighter Squadron (1991–2006)
- 8th Fighter Squadron (1992–2008)
- 9th Fighter Squadron (1993–2008)
- 412th Test Wing - Edwards Air Force Base
- 410th Flight Test Squadron (1993–2008)
Notable accidents
- F-117 serial number 79-0785 was lost on 20 April 1982 during takeoff on its maiden flight. The cause was incorrect assembly following a major design change to the flight control computer's inputs sequence, different to that of previous aircraft. As a result, the aircraft went out of control on takeoff, and crashed. Pilot Robert L. Riedenauer was unable to eject in time, and was seriously injured, requiring eight months of hospitalization and was forced to retire from flying. The battered airframe was taken to Skunk Works plant at Burbank, California for use as a functional engineering testbed for component testing.[40]
- F-117 S/N 80-0792 was lost on 11 July 1986. The aircraft suffered a controlled descent into terrain, and was destroyed on impact. The pilot, Maj Ross E. Mulhare, was killed in the crash. The cause was determined to be spatial disorientation.[40]
- F-117 S/N 85-0815 was lost on 14 October 1987. The aircraft suffered a controlled descent into terrain, and was destroyed on impact about 100 miles north of Nellis Air Force Base, just east of Tonopah. The pilot, Maj Michael C. Stewart, was killed in the crash. The cause was determined to be spatial disorientation.[40]
- F-117 S/N 82-0801 Perpetrator was lost on 4 August 1992. The aircraft crashed approximately eight miles northeast of Holloman Air Force Base, and was destroyed on impact. The pilot, Capt John B. Mills, 416th FS, ejected safely. The cause was determined to be an improperly installed bleed air duct.[40]
- F-117 S/N 86-0822 was lost on 10 May 1995. The aircraft suffered a controlled descent into terrain, and was destroyed on impact approximately seven miles south of Zuni, New Mexico on the Zuni Indian Reservation. The pilot, Capt Kenneth Levens, was killed in the crash. The cause was determined to be spatial disorientation following autopilot failure.[40]
- F-117 S/N 81-0793 was lost on 14 September 1997 during an airshow at Martin State Airport in Baltimore, Maryland. The aircraft suffered a catastrophic wing failure, resulting in the port wing completely separating from the fuselage. The aircraft was destroyed on impact. The pilot ejected safely. The cause was determined to be missing wing bolts.[40]
Aircraft on display
- The first YF-117A (79-0780) is currently on pedestal display at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. ( 36°13′38.00″N 115°3′33.28″W) It was placed on display on Nellis Boulevard on 16 May 1992, and was the first F-117 to be made a gate guardian.
- The second YF-117A (79-0781) "Scorpion" is currently on static display at the National Museum of the Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. It was delivered to the museum on 17 July 1991.
F-117A aircraft from the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing at Langley
AFB, VA, prior to being deployed to Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Shield
|
- The third YF-117A built (79-0782) "Scorpion 3" is on static display at Holloman Air Force Base, repainted to resemble the first F-117A used to drop weapons in combat. This aircraft was used for acoustics and navigation system testing. While wearing a flag painted on its bottom surface, this aircraft revealed the type's existence to high-ranking officials at Groom Lake on 14 December 1983, the first semi-public unveiling of the aircraft. It was placed on display at Holloman on 5 April 2008.
- The fourth YF-117A (79-0789) "Scorpion 4" is currently on static display in the Blackbird Airpark at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. It was used for avionics integration tests. It was moved to the Airpark on 3 March 2008.
- The remains of the F-117A (82-0806) "Something Wicked", downed over Serbia (see "Combat losses"), are displayed at the Museum of Aviation in Belgrade close to Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport.[66]
Nicknames
The aircraft's official name is
"Night Hawk",[67] however the alternative form
"Nighthawk" is frequently used.
As it prioritized stealth over
aerodynamics, it earned the nickname "Wobblin'-Goblin" due to its
alleged instability at low speeds; according to F-117 pilots, the nickname is
undeserved.[68] "Wobblin' (or wobbly) Goblin" is likely a
holdover from the early Have Blue / Senior Trend (FSD) days of
the project when instability was a problem. In the USAF, "Goblin"
(without wobbly) persists as a nickname because of the aircraft's appearance.
During Operation Desert Storm, Saudis dubbed the aircraft "Shaba",
which is the Arabic word for "Ghost".[69]
Specifications
Data from USAF National Museum,[1]
U.S. Air Force[70]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 65 ft 11 in (20.09 m)
- Wingspan: 43 ft 4 in (13.20 m)
- Height: 12 ft 9.5 in (3.78 m)
- Wing area: 780 ft² (73 m²)
- Empty weight: 29,500 lb (13,380 kg)
- Loaded weight: 52,500 lb (23,800 kg)
- Powerplant: 2 × General Electric F404-F1D2 turbofans, 10,600 lbf (48.0 kN) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: Mach 0.92 (617 mph, 993 km/h)
- Cruise speed: Mach 0.92
- Range: 930 NM (1720 km)
- Service ceiling: 45,000 ft (13,716 m)
- Wing loading: 65 lb/ft² (330 kg/m²)
- Thrust/weight: 0.40
An F-117 conducts a live exercise bombing run using GBU-27
laser-guided bombs.
|
Armament
- 2 × internal weapons bays with one hardpoint each (total of two weapons) equipped to carry:
- Bombs:
- GBU-10 Paveway II laser-guided bomb with 2000lb Mk84 blast/fragmentation or BLU-109 or BLU-116 Penetrator warhead
- GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bomb with 500lb Mk82 blast/fragmentation warhead
- GBU-27 Paveway III laser-guided bomb with 2000lb Mk84 blast-fragmentation or BLU-109 or BLU-116 Penetrator warhead
- GBU-31 JDAM INS/GPS guided munition with 2000lb Mk84 blast-frag or BLU-109 Penetrator warhead
Nighthawk's left "ruddervator" or V-tail shown
|
- B61 nuclear bomb[71]
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