F-117 Nighthawk: Why the 'retired' stealth jet keeps flying

Reported by Simple Flying: The F-117 Nighthawk, the Air Force's first operational low-observable combat aircraft, is still flying decades after its official 2008 retirement, and it is expected to stay in limited service until 2034.

Simple Flying says the Nighthawk program started in the 1970s, when the US wanted a way to hit heavily defended targets. The Air Force had decided that speed and altitude alone would not beat Soviet air defenses, so it turned to stealth. The F-117 was originally designed to drop tactical nuclear weapons on heavily defended targets. It first flew in 1981, entered service in 1983 and flew its first combat mission in 1989 during the US invasion of Panama.

Simple Flying lists these details:

• First flew: 1981
• Entered service: 1983
• First combat: 1989
• Officially retired: 2008
• Status: limited service
• Planned full retirement: 2034

The 1999 shootdown

The Nighthawk's most famous loss came in 1999, when Serbian air defenses shot one down using an older S-125 (SA-3 Goa) system. Simple Flying says the incident had several contributing factors, including a predictable flight route, no fighter escort, and a flight path that exposed the bomb bay doors. The outlet argues the loss did not prove stealth had failed; it just showed that stealth lowers risk instead of eliminating it.

"Stealth is not an invisibility cloak."

Simple Flying notes Serbian air defenses also hit another F-117 around April 30, 1999, and that jet made it back to base but reportedly never flew again. The shootdown was a propaganda win for Serbia and a technology concern for the US. Simple Flying says the US tried to destroy the wreckage, but Serbian civilians guarded it and the strike was called off. Simple Flying says parts of the plane are widely believed to have been examined by Chinese and Russian engineers.

Why it still flies

After the official retirement, the Air Force kept many Nighthawks. Simple Flying puts production at 64 jets: five prototypes and 59 production aircraft, with an estimated 40-45 still flying after retirement. All remaining airframes are at Tonopah Test Range Airport inside the Nevada Test and Training Range, near Nellis Air Force Base.

Simple Flying cites The War Zone, which wrote in 2024 that "a portion of the remaining F-117A fleet, flown by Air Force test pilots, has been very actively used for research and development, test and evaluation, and training purposes in recent years."

The fleet's jobs include acting as an aggressor in exercises, simulating stealth threats, and standing in for stealthy cruise missiles. In 2025, planespotters photographed a Nighthawk refueling from a KC-46A for the first time, according to Simple Flying. The outlet says the refueling upgrade is tied to its test and training role, not to a return to combat.

Rumor: F-117s carried out strikes in Syria in 2017, according to unconfirmed reports cited by Simple Flying. The US never acknowledged the mission. Simple Flying says the combat case for the F-117 is now very small, since the Air Force has newer uncrewed aircraft, stand-off weapons and stealth bombers, and the Nighthawk would struggle in contested airspace.

The practical takeaway for anyone watching the Nevada sky: "retired" does not mean gone. The Nighthawk is still out there, and it is not scheduled to disappear until 2034.

• F-117 Nighthawk
• Nevada
• plane spotting
• stealth aircraft
• US Air Force