Faceted surfaces and radar-absorbent materials made the Nighthawk the first operational aircraft designed around low observability. Its unconventional shape sacrificed aerodynamic elegance for survivability, enabling precise night attacks against heavily defended targets and demonstrating how stealth could change strike planning.
INTERACTIVE MODEL LOADS WHEN NEARBY
2016 / ModernAirframe B
F-35A Lightning II
Lockheed Martin · Conventional multirole fighter
HISTORICAL FIELD NOTE
The conventional-runway F-35A combines low-observable shaping, sensor fusion, and internal weapons carriage with the lightest airframe and largest internal fuel load of the three F-35 variants. It entered U.S. Air Force operational service in 2016 and is designed for both air-to-air and precision-strike missions.
PERFORMANCE
SPECIFICATION BREAKDOWN
METRICF-117A NighthawkF-35A Lightning II
Top speed
684 mphREFERENCE VALUE
Mach 1.6REFERENCE VALUE
Ceiling
45,000 ftREFERENCE VALUE
50,000 ftREFERENCE VALUE
Range
1,070 miREFERENCE VALUE
1,200+ nmiAPPROXIMATE / PUBLISHED
Archive milestone
Service entry · 1983REFERENCE VALUE
Service entry · 2016REFERENCE VALUE
Nation
United StatesDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
United StatesDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
Primary role
Stealth attack aircraftDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
Conventional multirole fighterDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
Values are concise archive references and can vary by variant, payload, configuration, altitude, operating conditions, and source. Range may describe different published measures where a directly comparable figure is unavailable.
