Why are F117's still flying? Well the Air Force has all the answers for you....

You could put a fair bit of electronics into something B2 size if she were a Wild Weasel bird.Lockheed had the capabilities to build a prototype to go up against Northrop.If they both did a fly off maybe they both were picked for service,each with different roles.

a reply to: B2StealthBomber

5 companies? I guess some of them doesn't exist nowadays and some might have been "absorbed" by another one after wave of success.

BTW, you have a PM, B2StealthBomber.

originally posted by: all2human
why not just make surveillance drones out of them, take the cockpit and fill it with avionics
makes sense to me
looks like a worthy and usable airframe still

An awful waste to just mothball them, still a very impressive machine.

Actually, with AI and automation the USAF is turning many old birds into cruise missiles. No longer great for Air Superiority roles, many old Jets can be converted into cruise missiles while flying Nap of the earth.

Load and old F-16 with bombs and use auto pilot tofly it low level into targets. Better than arching them rust.

originally posted by: all2human
why not just make surveillance drones out of them, take the cockpit and fill it with avionics
makes sense to me
looks like a worthy and usable airframe still

An awful waste to just mothball them, still a very impressive machine.

Actually, with AI and automation the USAF is turning many old birds into cruise missiles. No longer great for Air Superiority roles, many old Jets can be converted into cruise missiles while flying Nap of the earth.

Load and old F-16 with bombs and use auto pilot tofly it low level into targets. Better than arching them rust.

originally posted by: all2human
why not just make surveillance drones out of them, take the cockpit and fill it with avionics
makes sense to me
looks like a worthy and usable airframe still

An awful waste to just mothball them, still a very impressive machine.

Actually, with AI and automation the USAF is turning many old birds into cruise missiles. No longer great for Air Superiority roles, many old Jets can be converted into cruise missiles while flying Nap of the earth.

Load and old F-16 with bombs and use auto pilot tofly it low level into targets. Better than arching them rust.

a reply to: Xeven

They're turning them into QFs, which are then used as target drones, usually over the Gulf of Mexico or WSMR.

a reply to: Zaphod58

theaviationist.com...

a reply to: anzha

There's supposed to be an article next month about them. They're claiming there's a new squadron involved, based on tail markings.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Pilot waving to camera in that pic I never noticed that before.

a reply to: Woody510

Yeah, if you notice, the canopy is regular plexiglas now too.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: anzha

There's supposed to be an article next month about them. They're claiming there's a new squadron involved, based on tail markings.

I was reading the military.com article about the Nighthawks being in flyable storage and it stated that:
“...once the aircraft is declared as “excess after deactivation,” sometimes the aircraft can be sold off to other federal agencies in need, if it applies.” Maybe it’s not the Air Force operating these. Could it be another agency or a high-end, Blackwater-like contractor operating these birds?

a reply to: Bluto76

The rumor going around is they're Lockheed pilots flying them. Standard disposal doesn't apply here, so they won't be sold to another agency.

Lockheed owned them originally and sold them so would have all the support equipment already in place.

bat planes everywhere!

www.thedrive.com...

a reply to: anzha

There is a classified "Dark Knights" squadron that has been around for a while but I wouldn't expect the F-117A to be its primary aircraft. Recent developments make me wonder if perhaps the F-117A is now serving the same cover/proficiency role for the Dark Knights that the A-7D did for the 4450th Tactical Group back in the 1980s.

Most of the remaining F-117A airframes have been offered to museums pending extensive demilitarization.