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Skies Heritage

Ben Rich

1 aircraft·Lockheed Martin·1981-2008

Ben Rich succeeded Kelly Johnson as head of Lockheed's Skunk Works and led the development of the F-117 Nighthawk, the world's first operational stealth aircraft. Rich took the theoretical work of Soviet physicist Pyotr Ufimtsev on radar cross-section reduction and turned it into a flying machine that was virtually invisible to radar. The F-117 transformed military aviation -- after its success in the Gulf War, every major fighter programme in the world adopted stealth as a core requirement.

1980sLockheed Martin

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Aircraft by Ben Rich

1981 Lockheed Martin F-117 Nighthawk - Front 3/4 - Attack aircraft1981 Lockheed Martin F-117 Nighthawk - Front - Attack aircraft1981 Lockheed Martin F-117 Nighthawk - Profile - Attack aircraft1981 Lockheed Martin F-117 Nighthawk - Rear 3/4 - Attack aircraft1981 Lockheed Martin F-117 Nighthawk - Rear - Attack aircraft1981 Lockheed Martin F-117 Nighthawk - Cockpit - Attack aircraft1981 Lockheed Martin F-117 Nighthawk - Instrument Detail - Attack aircraft
Front 3/4
Lockheed Martin·Attack

F-117 Nighthawk

1981-2008