Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk
Enable an AI agent to identify a Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, assess an individual airframe's documented condition and configuration, and determine which uses or interventions its evidence and authorizations support.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
Researched by: Codex + Grok
Purpose and description
Enable an AI agent to identify a Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, assess an individual airframe's documented condition and configuration, and determine which uses or interventions its evidence and authorizations support.
A single-seat, twin-engine, radar-evading attack aircraft produced by Lockheed for the United States Air Force, distinguished by faceted airframe geometry, RAM coatings, and internal carriage of precision munitions rather than fighter-type air-to-air combat.
It can be Identify a candidate airframe by reconciling physical observations with serial and provenance records.; Compare its documented configuration with the F-117 baseline appropriate to its date and role.; Flag missing evidence before labeling it flightworthy, mission-capable or low-observable.; Determine whether inspection, maintenance, movement, display or flight is supported by current aircraft-specific authorization.; Plan a conservation or documentation assessment that distinguishes authentic features from replacements and display treatments.; Update an airframe's recorded state while preserving its configuration and custody history..
Distinguishing features
Check documented F-117 identity alongside the angular, faceted exterior; a similar silhouette alone cannot distinguish an authentic airframe from a replica. The faceted design is documented by [Lockheed Martin](https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/news/features/history/f-117.html).
Distinguish F-117 aircraft from Have Blue demonstrators through manufacturer and airframe records: Have Blue was the preceding demonstrator program, not an interchangeable designation. See [Lockheed Martin's history](https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/news/features/history/f-117.html).
Separate designation from function: the F-prefix must not automatically classify this aircraft as an air-superiority fighter; its attack role is identified by [Airman Magazine](https://www.airmanmagazine.af.mil/Features/Display/Article/2604078/airframe-the-f-117-nighthawk/).
Treat retirement as a dated service event, not proof of an individual aircraft's present physical condition; the type's 2008 retirement is documented by [the U.S. Air Force](https://www.af.mil/News/Features/Article/1499939/remembering-the-f-117-nighthawk/).
Distinguish a preserved F-117's historical identity from retained operational equipment: an authentic museum aircraft can remain an F-117 without supporting operational capability claims, as illustrated by the documented restoration and display of [aircraft 803](https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/news/features/history/f-117.html).
Scope
+ F-117 type identity and identification of individual airframes
+ Distinctions between authentic aircraft, development articles, replicas and restored exhibits
+ Airframe configuration and evidence of low-observable surface condition
+ Flight-related system condition and documented airworthiness
+ Installed mission equipment and configuration-specific capability claims
+ Dated custody, retirement, storage, display and authorized-use states
- Have Blue demonstrators and other aircraft types as independently modeled things
- The history and organization of Lockheed, military units and air bases
- Weapon designs, targeting decisions and combat mission planning
- General radar physics and detailed stealth-design methods
- Pilot qualifications and maintenance personnel records beyond relevant authorization links
- Museum operations and storage-facility management beyond aircraft-specific requirements
Characteristics
- Airframe identity
- Manufacturer identity, military serial and linked provenance records Prevents painted markings, nicknames or replacement components from creating false aircraft identities.
- Article category
- Production aircraft, development or test article, partial airframe, replica, unresolved Determines whether type-level characteristics and authenticity claims apply.
- Configuration baseline
- Dated modification, equipment and restoration records Connects capability and condition judgments to the configuration actually present.
- Low-observable surface condition
- Documented serviceable, documented degraded, display treatment, unassessed; with inspection scope and date Separates recognizable exterior appearance from evidence about signature-related condition.
- Signature evidence
- Radar cross-section in square metres or dBsm only with frequency, aspect, configuration, method and uncertainty; otherwise unknown Prevents a context-free number or the word stealth from becoming a universal detectability claim.
- Airframe utilization
- Flight hours and cycles, with record date and completeness Supports assessment of inspection needs and remaining serviceability without inferring them from age alone.
- Flight-related system condition
- Documented serviceable, restricted, unserviceable, removed, unknown; by system An intact exterior does not establish that propulsion, flight controls or other essential systems support flight.
- Installed mission capability
- Equipment fit linked to dated integration and approval evidence Prevents historical type capabilities from being assigned to a stripped, modified or incompletely documented airframe.
- Disposition and permitted use
- Dated storage, maintenance, flight-use, display, dismantling or loss state, with separate authorization evidence Distinguishes physical possibility, historical status and permission.
- Custody
- Owner, custodian, operator and loan or transfer authority Identifies who can authorize access, alteration, movement or use.
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 6 bundles · 11 layers · 18 findings · 28 questions.
F-117 identity Establish what qualifies as this registered aircraft type and which individual article is being assessed.
Faceted appearance, historical secrecy and exhibit markings can encourage identification without sufficient provenance.
Type boundary
Separate the F-117 from its demonstrator lineage and representations.
Type membership
Record the evidence supporting F-117 membership and distinguish related designs, proposals and replicas.
- Which manufacturer or service designation establishes that this article belongs to the registered F-117 type? definition
- What evidence distinguishes it from Have Blue, an unbuilt proposal or a replica? boundary
Individual airframe
Resolve identity across markings, components and restoration history.
Identity continuity
Connect the physical article to a documented airframe without treating every painted identity as authoritative.
- Which serial, manufacturer record or custody document identifies this airframe? provenance
- Do its displayed markings describe its own history, another aircraft or an interpretive restoration? provenance
Low-observable configuration Represent signature-related configuration and condition without equating stealth with invisibility.
The F-117's defining exterior must be assessed as a configured and maintained system rather than a visual label.
Exterior integrity
Track the state of faceted surfaces, treatments and configuration changes.
Surface condition evidence
Distinguish documented signature-related condition from cosmetic completeness or restoration appearance.
- Which inspection establishes the condition of the exterior treatments and relevant surface interfaces? measurement
- Which surfaces or fittings have been replaced, altered or treated solely for display? provenance
Signature claim boundaries
Constrain claims about detectability to their actual evidence.
Conditional signature assessment
Require measurement context and applicability before assigning a signature assessment to an airframe.
- What source and measurement conditions support a radar-signature claim, including frequency, aspect and aircraft configuration? measurement
- Does that evidence apply to this airframe in its present condition, or only to another configuration? boundary
Flight condition Assess whether a particular F-117 has the documented physical condition and approval required for flight.
Retirement, preservation and visual completeness do not establish the readiness of an individual aircraft.
Airframe and systems
Connect structural and essential-system condition to the installed configuration.
Serviceability evidence
Record utilization, defects, inspection findings and the status of propulsion and flight-control systems.
- What dated records establish structural condition, accumulated utilization and unresolved defects? measurement
- Which flight-essential systems are serviceable, restricted, removed or undocumented in this F-117? measurement
Flight release
Separate technical condition from authority to fly.
Authorized flight state
Require aircraft-specific release evidence and limitations before treating flight as available.
- Which authority has approved flight for this airframe, configuration and period? provenance
- Which inspections, restrictions or unresolved discrepancies govern whether a proposed flight may proceed? action
Role and equipment Separate the F-117's historical role from the capabilities supported by an individual equipment fit.
The fighter designation and historical attack capability can both mislead an agent about what a particular aircraft can presently do.
Role evidence
Represent documented roles by time and airframe applicability.
Role versus designation
Record demonstrated or assigned roles without inferring them from the F-prefix or nickname.
- What evidence establishes the aircraft's assigned role during the period being modeled? provenance
- Is the role claim about the F-117 type, a particular unit or this individual airframe? boundary
Equipment applicability
Track mission equipment, modifications and capability limitations.
Supported capability
Link capability claims to installed equipment and applicable approval records rather than historical reputation.
- Which navigation, sensing and payload-related equipment is installed, functional, substituted or removed? measurement
- Which dated integration or approval record supports each claimed capability for this configuration? provenance
Retirement, custody and preservation Track individual disposition and the permissions governing retained or displayed F-117 airframes.
A fleet retirement milestone does not resolve the condition, custody or permitted use of every surviving article.
Disposition history
Keep service history and subsequent physical states distinct.
Dated airframe state
Record supported transitions among service, storage, maintenance, display and other dispositions.
- What dated evidence establishes this airframe's latest disposition? provenance
- Does a retirement statement describe the fleet's service status or this aircraft's physical and administrative state? boundary
Custody and intervention
Connect ownership, loans and preservation requirements to allowable actions.
Permitted interventions
Establish who may authorize access, movement, restoration or alteration and what aircraft-specific conditions apply.
- Who owns and holds the aircraft, and which transfer or loan conditions govern it? provenance
- What approvals and documented equipment or material conditions must be checked before moving, opening or restoring this F-117? action
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.
A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.
Reported evidence
Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.
Kinds and varieties
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- F-117A Nighthawk (production attack aircraft)
- YF-117A / Have Blue technology demonstrator lineage (not production Nighthawk airframes)
- F-117A test and training airframes (including those later used as testbeds after fleet retirement)
- Display / museum airframes (non-flying public exhibits)
- Post-retirement flight-status airframes (limited USAF/contractor flight after 2008 stand-down)
- Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Identifiers and schemes
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Wikidata - Q309326 - Item for the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk aircraft type.
- U.S. DoD MDS (Mission Design Series) - F-117A - Official designation of the production Nighthawk; the 'F' fighter prefix was retained despite an attack role.
- NATO reporting name - none assigned as a U.S. type - Not a Warsaw Pact type; colloquial 'Stealth Fighter' is informal, not a reporting name.
- Manufacturer / program names - Senior Trend (production program); Have Blue (preceding demonstrator) - Have Blue airframes are a related but separate type.
- ICAO aircraft type designator - F117 - Four-character ICAO type code used in flight-plan and ATM contexts.
- U.S. military serial number - YY-NNNN (e.g. 82-0806, 85-0819) - Individual airframe identity; FY prefix plus sequence.
- Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Standards and regulation
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- U.S. DoD Mission Design Series designation practice (DoD 4120.15-L / successor aircraft designation instructions) - F-117A
- U.S. Air Force airworthiness and type-certification process for military aircraft (not FAA Part 23/25 civil type certificate)
- Program security and special-access rules under U.S. classified-program control during Senior Trend / early operational years
- Arms export and technology-transfer controls (ITAR / U.S. Munitions List) governing stealth design data, RAM, and related systems
- Post-retirement aerospace vehicle disposition and demilitarization rules for museum and display airframes
- Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Real-world use
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Night precision attack against high-value, well-defended fixed targets, carrying laser-guided bombs in an internal bay.
- First combat use in the 1989 Panama operation (Just Cause); large-scale use in the 1991 Gulf War (Desert Storm), later Balkans and Iraq campaigns.
- Based historically at Tonopah Test Range and later Holloman AFB with the 49th Fighter Wing; training and tactics development in the Nellis/Nevada ranges.
- After 2008 fleet retirement, a subset of airframes continued limited test and adversary/training flights; others went to museums or storage (including Tonopah).
- Public encounter today is almost entirely as a museum object, airshow static/rare flyover, or historical combat-aviation type - not as a current front-line combat aircraft.
- Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Typical measurements
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Crew - 1 - person
- Length - 65 ft 11 in (20.09 m) - m
- Wingspan - 43 ft 4 in (13.21 m) - m
- Height - 12 ft 5 in (3.78 m) - m
- Maximum takeoff weight - about 52,500 lb (23,814 kg) - kg
- Powerplant - 2 × General Electric F404-F1D2 non-afterburning turbofans, about 10,600 lbf (47.2 kN) each - kN
- High subsonic speed - high subsonic; about Mach 0.9 / ~617 mph (993 km/h) class as published - km/h
- Unrefueled range / combat radius (published museum figures) - range on the order of 1,070 mi (1,720 km) class - km
- Internal weapons load - two precision-guided bombs, typically 2,000 lb class (e.g. GBU-10/GBU-27 Paveway) - kg
- Production quantity - 59 production F-117A plus 5 development airframes (64 built in the commonly cited Lockheed tally) - airframes
- Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Failure modes and hazards
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Loss of stealth advantage if RAM, panel alignment, or faceted geometry is degraded (maintenance, weather, battle damage), raising detectability to radar.
- Shot down by ground-based air defenses when flight path, tactics, or emissions become predictable - notably F-117A 82-0806 over Serbia on 27 March 1999 by an S-125 (SA-3) battery.
- Poor aerodynamic efficiency and handling relative to conventional fighters: high landing speeds, limited instantaneous maneuver, and unforgiving departure characteristics if energy state is mismanaged.
- Single-seat, night/low-observable attack profile: spatial disorientation, mid-air collision, and CFIT risk in weather or during tanker join-up.
- Engine or systems failure with limited glide/energy margin and no afterburner; ejection remains the last-resort crew-escape path.
- Ground hazards from classified coatings, composite/RAM materials, and remaining pyrotechnics or stores on retired airframes during maintenance, crash response, or museum prep.
- Political/operational hazard: treating the type as an air-superiority fighter (the 'F' designation) rather than a dedicated attack aircraft.
- Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Regional variation
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- United States: official name Nighthawk, MDS F-117A; popular U.S. media name 'stealth fighter' despite an attack mission.
- Serbia / former Yugoslavia: the 1999 shootdown of 'Vega 31' (82-0806) is a national military-history episode; wreckage displayed in Belgrade (Museum of Aviation).
- No foreign military operators: the type was not exported, so there is no operator-specific local designation series.
- Informal Arabic and other coalition-war reporting from 1991 often used 'stealth fighter' rather than Nighthawk.
- Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Lockheed Have Blue - Have Blue is the subscale technology demonstrator (two airframes) that proved faceted stealth; F-117A is the larger, armed Senior Trend production attack aircraft.
- Northrop B-2 Spirit - B-2 is a flying-wing strategic bomber with a curved, continuous-curvature stealth treatment and much larger payload/range; F-117 is a faceted, tactical, single-seat attack aircraft.
- Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor - F-22 is a supersonic, afterburning, air-superiority fighter with internal AAMs and supercruise; F-117 is subsonic, non-afterburning, and optimized for internal precision-attack stores.
- Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II - F-35 is a multi-role, LO fifth-generation family with sensor fusion and (in some variants) STOVL/CV; F-117 is a dedicated 1980s attack specialist without fighter radar or AA capability as a design driver.
- Northrop Tacit Blue / other 'whale' stealth demonstrators - Tacit Blue explored curved stealth and sensor concepts for battlefield surveillance; it is not an F-117 variant and did not enter attack service.
- MiG-28 (fictional Top Gun aggressor) or generic 'black stealth fighter' tropes - No such operational Soviet/Russian counterpart; visual identification is the faceted arrowhead planform, V-tail, and overwing inlet grids of the F-117A.
- Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Sources
- Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk - USAF museum fact sheet: role, first flight, IOC, Desert Storm employment, dimensions, weights, engines, speed, range, and crew.
- F-117 Nighthawk - Manufacturer history: Skunk Works origin, Have Blue, production count, first flight, operational debut, 1,271 combat sorties, and 2008 retirement.
- Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk - Design features, production/block distinctions, identifiers, combat losses, post-retirement flights, and neighbour aircraft.
- Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk (Q309326) - Stable catalogue identifiers: Wikidata Q309326 and linked authority records for the aircraft type.
What the second pass must settle
- Does an existing Vercy world model already own this concept and therefore require this registry entry to link to it?
- Which development and test articles fall within the registry's intended F-117 boundary, given the absence of a recorded definition?
- Which authoritative, dated records establish current disposition and permitted use for individual surviving airframes?
- What publicly accessible evidence can substantiate low-observable condition without inferring classified performance or assigning unsupported signature values?
- Which configuration, restoration and equipment-removal records are available to distinguish authentic appearance from retained functional capability?