Why is the F-117 'Nighthawk' Stealth Fighter flying again?

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] hello again everyone it's me matt really appreciate you stopping by on today's video we're discussing the beautiful f-117 nighthawk specifically not a review today but more some updated information as to what's going on with this incredible stealth fighter now as many of you are probably aware the f-117 nighthawk has been retired from service since 2008 and a sad day for us all when we heard that it was to be but unfortunately you know future has taken over the grasp of this aircraft with the f35 raptor and other platforms out there today and unfortunately she's just no longer required but the interesting developments that are happening lately indicate that maybe something else is going on in the background of the united states air force and the u.s military as to why this aircraft is actually been seen flying again yes it is an interesting development something that i honestly didn't think would happen i thought these aircraft would just be mothballed until the next concept of you know interdiction long-range strike missions are required similar to that of baghdad we all see the footage of those beautiful fighters coming in dropping those gbus on positions in iraq back in the day and uh you know when they were mothballed it was a sad time but we are seeing them fly and this is the new development that's just happened so those that were driving on the highways near miramar naval base in san diego uh recently actually witnessed a strange scene two of the planes that were of course an unusual shape and painted black landing on a runway famous for being settled on the top gun film but this jet is certainly not an f-14 tomcat or an f-18 it was actually the f-117 nighthawk the first jet that was invisible to radar in history but what did the u.s air force aircraft at the marines base do what were they doing there what's more why did they keep flying despite being retired in 2008. the official answer really doesn't exist since the us government does not admit that lockheed martin planes are even in fact active but it's become increasingly evident that the pentagon has used some of the units to conduct military tests and exercises miramar for example hosts the training of navy fighter pilots and has aggressor aircraft used to simulate enemy fighters and nothing better than evaluating tactics and maneuvers with a jet that is extremely difficult to detect in service since 1983 the f-117 was the precursor to stealth technology developed by skunk works teams and also responsible for the sr-71 spy plane the nighthawk used a fuselage concept with the faceted surfaces and radar absorbing material to remain undetected in addition both engines had covered air intakes and exhaust fans with cooling systems the v-tail like that of the single-engine bonanza was chosen to be hidden behind the wings the unusual design means the f-117 is only able to fly because it has a fly-by-wire control system being unstable in various flight conditions the united states air force only operated around 59 units of the attack aircraft although designated as a fighter its role has always been that of a bomber or different variants of roles when it decided to retire them back in the past decade the air force stored them in a pattern known as type 1000s which it plans to keep them in able to fly again mode almost all of the remaining units were eventually preserved at tenopo air base it looked like the end for the f-17s career but as of 2017 some fighters began to be seen in the desert regions near edwards air force base in california again last year rumors emerged that the united states air force would have used some nighthawks in attacks in syria in 2017 but that information has never really been confirmed in may 2020 two of the planes were seen next to a kc-135 tanker denoting a very unusual activity until then these sightings occurred sparsely in populated areas so the landing of two f-17s in san diego may be an indication that the pentagon no longer plans to hide from the public that wobbling gobbling is back but what does this mean what are they being used for and why are they being brought back into service so publicly well it's safe to say these aren't really new aircraft they're not a top secret asset anymore and a lot of the technology has been superseded by more modern day systems but its concept still works and for enemies that are out there today it still has a lot of capability um and why would you risk placing upon you know the f-35 or the f-22 or maybe long-range strike bombers into tactical situations where they don't need to be where you can use a dated although still working fighter aircraft i think that's the basis of what they're looking at with this aircraft and also a lot of the time as i said before there is a lot of opportunity for this aircraft to be used in an op 4 basis so basically having an aircraft test the uh you know defensive capabilities of certain anti-aircraft missile systems of the united states and that makes complete sense why don't we send one of our best stealth fighters back in the day against our own forces and see how they hold up air defense technology is developing at a extraordinary rate and especially now with the developments in you know eastern parts of europe there's a lot of discussion about jamming radar capabilities that are out there and the air force is looking at different ways of testing their capabilities and to me this seems the most logical option as to why the f-17 is kind of being brought back out of the ashes a little bit uh it's an aircraft that has never really been fully retired so to speak as i said before the type 1000 capability allows these aircraft to be kept in storage but they are capable of being able to bring them out very quickly and put them back into service and i i think it's incredible that they're actually bringing them back out it's one of the most beautiful aircraft in the world although strange in its concept uh its combat record is very very impressive um as i said before you know the uh strike missions in in baghdad in iraq were the uh you know the epitome of uh strike missions for the time and i know some of these aircraft have a very impressive kill ratio um compared to something more you know traditional aircraft such as the f-16 f-15 and a-10 of the same conflict but what else are we going to see for this aircraft are we going to see potentially them brought back and upgraded updated i don't know it's going to be something interesting to see and if you do have more information or you've seen your own sightings with these aircraft i'd love to hear from you if you live near miramar and you're seeing these f-17s you have any pictures or we wish to share please let me know i know there's a lot of pictures floating around on instagram right now of this aircraft in that particular situation flying around there i would love to see one up close and personal flying and uh it would be cool to see one just you know on the deck as well i'm not sure if many of you out there have seen one on the flight line before i know there was some static displays back in the past that some people got to see them but i'm sure under strict confidence of going nowhere near actually being able to go in the you know cockpit or see around the damn thing because it for its time it was pretty uh pretty hidden and it was probably the nation's best kept secret i mean i know uh people who have spoke to about this jet before about you know pilots uh disappearing for weeks on end never letting their families know where they could actually be or where they're going or what they're doing very very interesting and you know for its time extremely secretive you know the technology at that time was just you know totally revolutionary the russians uh were taken back by it completely that this was something that was able to be brought into the battle space and you know maybe they're also bringing them back into the flight line to develop a more modernized version the f117 that would be extremely exciting uh to use this more of a test bed or a benchmark for other technology that may be out there to create a modernized stealth fighter that is even more capable of say the f-35 or other stealth aircraft out there and i know many of you are screaming at the screen right now saying matt the f-35 isn't true stealth yes i get it you can define stealth in many different ways and there's a ton of discussion we could have about stealth and i won't pretend to myself that i know a lot about it because i don't and it's not something that truly fascinates me um but it's cool it's cool to see the f17 is flying again the beautiful black dorito going around the skies so if you do have any information on this please let me know in the comment section below but it's exciting stuff and i i'm kind of intrigued to see what else we're going to see in the future coming from this aircraft dotting around the skies thank you for joining me on today's video hopefully you enjoyed learning a little about this aircraft and what it's up to nowadays um if you did enjoy please leave me a like and click the little bell by the subscribe button so we can notify nest time of any videos i produce uh if you want to check out my facebook discord and instagram they're all in the description box also and if you want to send me anything via my po box you're more than welcome to as well thank you again for joining me everyone i hope you have a wonderful day and i'll catch you on the next video all the best bye-bye [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Matsimus

Views: 172,818

Rating: 4.928916 out of 5

Keywords: F-117, F-117 Stealth Fighter, Stealth Fighter, United States Air Forc, Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, Nighthawk, stealth technology, Miramar Naval Base, stealth attack aircraft, Skunk Works, F-117 Nighthawk, stealth, Night Hawk, F117, F-117 night hawk, F-117A, GBU-10 Paveway II, laser-guided bomb, Wobblin’ Goblin, F-22 raptor, F-35, aircraft

Id: 9DVblBQbAa4

Length: 9min 24sec (564 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 07 2020