Developed under incredible secrecy by Lockheed's "Skunk Works," which also developed the U-2 and SR-71 Spyplanes, the F-117A was the first airplane designed to be invisible to enemy radar. Its unusual shape is a consequence of this requirement. F-117A's flew many of the most dangerous missions of the Gulf War and none were lost to enemy fire thanks to its amazing and unique stealth capabilities.

Wingspan: 11" (27.6cm). Length: 16-3/4" (42.6cm). Single sheet of decals which contains national insignia, stencils and ID codes for 2 aircraft 1/ Lockheed F-117A, A/C #813 "Toxic Avenger", 37 TFW, 416 TFS, "Ghost Riders." 2: Lockheed F-117A, A/C #828, 37 TFW, 417th TFTS "Bandits."

The U.S. always had been under the threat of the hostile radar systems and the ground-to-air missiles at so called "cold war" era. Therefore the stealth technology has attracted the attention of the U.S. Air Force and developed by the Lockheed, the project team was called "Skunk Works".

The concept of stealth technology was to defeat the radar signal given off by the hostile defense systems. F-117A Night hawk was the first stealth fighter proven for the evidence of stealth technology. This aircraft has been covered up in secrecy for a long time. However the public was finally allowed to see the photograph published by the Department of Defense in 1988. The F-117A looks so strange compared with conventional fighters. For example, it has an angular fuselage composed of black surfaces with radar absorbent paint to minimize any radar detection, no curved wings and V-tail with good direction control.

The first operation to use the F-117A was the Persian Gulf conflict. A number of F-117A flew in secret and accomplished a surprise attack on the communication institution and Air Force headquarters without loss of one F-117A even though it had the stiff defense. Furthermore the F-117A showed off to the public its attacking capability done by precision laser guided missile "GBU-27" through the media all over the world. The F-117A successfully proved the effectiveness of the stealth technology.