Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk – 8th FS Black Sheep, 49th FW USAF 1/144 scale

Atlas Editions 1/144 scale 3903-024: Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk #82-0803 of 8th FS Black Sheep, 49th FW USAF Unexpected Guest, Kosovo, Operation Allied Force 1999

Length 5.5 inches Wingspan 3.5 inches

The Kosovo War was an armed conflict between Serbia / Montenegro and Kosovo Albanian rebels known as the Kosovo Liberation Army who were supported by NATO forces. The conflict lasted from February 1998 until June 1999 with the U.S. sending 36 stealth F-117s to fly missions over Serbian targets that conventional aircraft couldn’t reach. F-117A 82-803 “Unexpected Guest” from the 8th FS “Black Sheep” was one of them. It was the 19th aircraft produced in lot 4 and first flew on May 8, 1984 and accepted on June 22, 1984.

Designed and developed by Lockheed, the F-117 was the first operational aircraft conceived with stealth technology. It first flew on June 18, 1981, but was not officially acknowledged until 1988, when the Pentagon released a grainy, unrevealing photograph to the media (the aircraft itself was not seen by the public until 1990). With no afterburners and a shape designed to deflect radar signals, the F-117 is subsonic but effective. It has an automated planning system, sophisticated navigation and infrared target acquisition. It has been used several times in combat, most notably during the Persian Gulf War. It was retired in 2008, replaced by the more formidable F-22.