The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk was a single-seat, twin-engine

Twinjet

A twinjet or twin jet is a jet aircraft powered by two engines. Such configuration of an aircraft is the most popular today for commercial airliners, for fighters, and many other kinds, because while offering safety from a single engine failure, it is also acceptably fuel-efficient.-Aircraft...

 stealth ground-attack aircraft formerly operated by the United States Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 (USAF). The F-117A's first flight

Maiden flight

The maiden flight of an aircraft is the first occasion on which an aircraft leaves the ground of its own accord. This is similar to a ship's maiden voyage....

 was in 1981, and it achieved initial operating capability

Initial operating capability

Initial operating capability or Initial operational capability is the state achieved when a capability is available in its minimum usefully deployable form. The term is often used in government or military procurement....

 status in October 1983. The F-117A was "acknowledged" and revealed to the world in November 1988.

A product of Lockheed Skunk Works

Skunk works

Skunk Works is an official alias for Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development Programs , formerly called Lockheed Advanced Development Projects. Skunk Works is responsible for a number of famous aircraft designs, including the U-2, the SR-71 Blackbird, the F-117 Nighthawk, and the F-22 Raptor...

 and a development of the Have Blue

Lockheed Have Blue

Lockheed Have Blue was the code name for Lockheed's "proof of concept" that preceded the F-117 Nighthawk production stealth aircraft. Have Blue was designed by Lockheed's Skunk Works division, and tested at Groom Lake, Nevada...

technology demonstrator, it became the first operational aircraft initially designed around stealth technology

Stealth technology

Stealth technology also termed LO technology is a sub-discipline of military tactics and passive electronic countermeasures, which cover a range of techniques used with personnel, aircraft, ships, submarines, and missiles, to make them less visible to radar, infrared, sonar and other detection...

.