F-117 Stealth Fighter

DESCRIPTION: A single-seat, radar-evading bomber, the Nighthawk debuted in combat in Panama but made its name in the Persian Gulf War, where its pioneering radar-evading design allowed it to strike heavily defended targets with impunity.

The F-117 carries two GBU-27 2,000-pound laser-guided bombs. Like the cruise missile, the F-117 is designed to attack targets defended with surface-to-air missiles, where the plane's stealth characteristics make it difficult to detect on radar. Difficult, but not impossible.

"We're not invisible, we're not invincible, but we're damn good at our jobs," is how one F-117 pilot put it.

Unlike cruise missiles, the wedge-shaped F-117 can only be used at night and involves some risk to a pilot. But the F-117's advantage over cruise missiles is that it can drop bombs from a much higher altitude and from a steeper angle (65 degrees to 90 degrees). The force of gravity and the steep angle make its bombs more effective.

The F-117 stealth "fighter" is somewhat misnamed. It is really an attack plane, not a fighter, because it has no air-to-air capability.

ANYTHING NEW? These are not new.