Zephyr Net

F117A Test Unit Phased Out
Aviation Week & Space Technology
09/18/2006, page 57


David A. Fulghum
Washington



The F-117A, recently coated with 'a lighter shade of pale,' will see its test unit phased out


Printed headline: Soar Subject


The F-117A may yet be released from the operational bonds that restrict its combat operations to nights, although the Operational Testing unit is to be disbanded as an Air Force cost-cutting measure in an announcement scheduled for Sept. 15.


A standard black F-117A of the 49th Fighter Wing breaks away from the stealth fighter painted in the latest daylight low-visibility scheme for operational assessment. Credit: JIM HASELTINE

The 53rd Test and Evaluation Group's Det.1 at Holloman AFB, N.M., has been flying its operational test aircraft, dubbed "The Dragon," in various low-visibility daytime color schemes for the past three years. Other attempts at reducing daytime visibility date back to the F-117's flight test and Have Blue prototype programs.

The latest paint variant, on the aircraft since early this year, is an overall medium gray that appears to be two-tone because of the aircraft's faceted exterior. An earlier version used the same coatings as the F-22. A light gray repainting test in 1993 was called "Evening Shade."


With landing gear down, the two fighters trim up for a low pass over White Sands Missile Range, where they were involved in a series of test flights.Credit: JIM HASELTINE PHOTOS

Exhaust residue from the engines can be seen bottom/aft on the vertical stabilizers. During a recent series of sorties, the aircraft dropped both the GBU-31/v1 and v3 Joint Direct Attack Munitions, a new capability for the F-117 fleet.


The gray F-117 was used to conduct test drops of both the GBU-31/v1 JDAM and the v3 penetrator version shown being released.Credit: JIM HASELTINE PHOTOS

Shown in the series of photos on p. 58 is the drop of a v3 JDAM that combines the guidance tail kit with the BLU-109 penetrating bomb body. The Dragon also has been used for various systems and software upgrades that are installed in the rest of the stealthy aircraft.


When painted black, details of the F-117's shape and sensor arrays are hard to pick out, but the low-visibility gray highlights radar-evading faceting plus sensor apertures.Credit: JIM HASELTINE PHOTOS

An earlier classified program adapted the F-117 to carry tactical munitions dispensers filled with spools of carbon-fiber material to short out outdoor electrical power grids. The still-classified, carbon-fiber BLU-114/B submunitions were used in dive-bombing attacks against the Iraqi integrated air defense system in 1991 and again during attacks on Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in 1999. The black aircraft is from the 49th Fighter Wing, also based at Holloman. The photographs were taken during tests over White Sands Missile Range, N.M.