[Photo] Twenty five F-117 Stealth Jets flying together

The Lockheed F-117A, world’s first operational stealth aircraft and one of the most secret planes ever developed, only flew after darkness until its existence was publicly acknowledged in 1988.

Then, the veil of secrecy on the “Nighthawk” was gradually lifted and the stealth fighter jet (actually, an attack plane) regularly flew in daylight and later began taking part to airshows.

Although it’s not clear who took it (it must be an Air Force image) and where it was taken, the photo in this post is quite impressive: 59 production aircraft (one of those was lost to the Serbian Air Defense during “Operation Allied Force“) served with the U.S. Air Force until the type was retired in 2008 and slightly about half of them can be seen flying together in the image.

Image credit: via Tom Demerly Pinterest/zonamilitar.com.ar

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About David Cenciotti
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.