Description

Lockheed Martin F-117A Nighthawk, 9th FS Flying Knights

Fly with the 9th FS Flying Knights in this hand crafted Lockheed Martin F-117A Nighthawk Model. Each model is carved from wood and hand painted to provide a unique piece that will always be treasured.

• Length – 16 inches
• Wingspan – 10.7 inches
• Made from Mahogany
• US Veteran Owned Business
• Official Licensed by Lockheed Martin
• The product is not intended to be used by children 12 years and younger.

LOCKHEED MARTIN, F-117A Nighthawk, associated emblems and logos, and body designs of vehicles are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Lockheed Martin Corporation in the USA and/or other jurisdictions, used under license by Squadron Nostalgia LLC.

The 9th Attack Squadron in a United States Air Force squadron, assigned to the 49th Operations Group, stationed at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. The squadron is a training unit for new pilots and sensor operators for the MQ-9 Reaper Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA).[3]

The 9th is one of three RPA training squadron at Holloman. The squadron was activated to meet Air Force training requirements. The 9th trains Reaper pilot and sensor operators in initial qualification training at Holloman. The base’s other MQ-9 squadrons are the 6th and 29th Attack Squadrons

F-117 Nighthawk era

As a result of the end of the Cold War, reduced defense budgets were the order of the day. As a result, in July 1993, the 9th received the Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk Stealth Fighters of the 37th Fighter Wing 417th Fighter Squadron, which was subsequently inactivated.[5]

When the squadron received its F-117s from Tonopah, initially it was the training squadron, as the aircraft were the first pre-production aircraft that were manufactured in 1979 and 1980. The 9th also received several T-38 trainers from the 417th FS. The early-model F-117s however, were upgraded to production standards and each of the three squadrons (7th and 8th) were transferred some T-38s and formed their own training flights.

The 9th deployed F-117s fighters deployed to the Gulf in 1998 during Operation Desert Fox to upgrade the strike force’s capability to attack high-value targets. But the 18-hour flight from Holloman AFB to Kuwait meant that the operation was over before the F-117 aircraft arrived in the Gulf. The F-117s successfully penetrated the heavily defended areas, which conventional aircraft could not reach. Also, the 9th deployed to Kunsan Air Base, South Korea and flew deterrence missions along the Demilitarized Zone to deter North Korean aggression in the late 1990s.