50 Best Military Aircraft of All Time, Ranked

On January 17, 1991, F-117 Nighthawks opened the Gulf War by striking Baghdad's most heavily defended targets, air defense headquarters, communications nodes, and command bunkers, while Iraqi radar operators never knew they were there. Over the course of the war, F-117s flew 1,300 combat sorties and hit 1,600 high-value targets without a single loss. They represented just 2.5% of coalition aircraft but struck 40% of strategic targets.

The Lockheed F-117 was the world's first operational stealth aircraft, developed in total secrecy at the Skunk Works and not publicly acknowledged until 1988, seven years after it entered service. Its faceted design scattered radar returns in every direction except back toward the emitter, making it nearly invisible to defense systems of the era. Although it was technically an attack aircraft rather than a fighter, the F-117 proved that stealth military technology could fundamentally change the calculus of air warfare. Every stealth aircraft that followed, the B-2, F-22, and F-35, owes its existence to the Nighthawk's groundbreaking success.