Only one US F-117 Nighthawk has been lost in combat, and this took place during the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, in the Kosovo War.
The F-117 Nighthawk is one of the most advanced military aircraft of its time. Earning the name “Stealth Fighter” despite being an attack aircraft, the F-117 served with distinction with the United States Air Force from 1983 up until its retirement in 2008. The aircraft though is still flying today, with several members of the fleet used as training aircraft and as of 2022, they are very much still flying. When it comes to combat losses for the Nighthawk, it has a nearly perfect record. Nearly.
Because despite the US Air Force thinking the F-117 was invisible to any radar, and pretty much invincible, one F-117 was in fact shot down. This took place during the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, during the Kosovo War. How the F-117 was ultimately shot down was the result of some truly clever tactics from the Yugoslavian Army, and something that wakened the US up to the fact that its Stealth Fighter could indeed get shot down by an enemy missile from the ground. It is a remarkable tale, and one that deserves telling, as it is the only time an F-117 was ever lost in combat.How The Serbians Developed Their Tactics
via US Air Force
How the downing of the aircraft happened was quite the remarkable tale. The 34d Battalion of the 250th Air Defense Missile Brigade of the Army of Yugoslavia was under the command of Lt. Colonel Zoltan Dani. Equipped with a Yugoslavian version of the Soviet Isayev S-125 Neva missile system, the air defense team had been pondering for a while how to shoot down an F-117, knowing the US were operating them in the war. Part of this was complacency from the US, with the F-117s flying the same route constantly, repeating the same track they had used so the Yugoslavians knew where they were going.
This was perhaps due to overconfidence from the American’s, who had used the EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft to detect, jam and destroy enemy radar installations. On the day the F-117, Vega 31 was actually shot down, the Yugoslavians knew the Prowlers were not flying due to weather, thanks to spies and spotters in Italy where the flights were all conducted from. The Yugoslavians also honed their tactics to detect the F-117. They would move their missile batteries into a place along the suspected routes, and use various radars to detect the aircraft at different points to track the F-117, and then ultimately get a lock on the aircraft.
The Shooting Down Of F-117 Vega 31
via US Air Force
Vega 31 was flown by Lt Colonel Darrel Patrick Dale Zelko, a veteran of Operation Desert Storm. The Serbians used their P-18 radar to detect that the F-117s were 15 miles out, on the night of March 27th 1999. They then switched on their SNR-125 radar, used in limited bursts to avoid its own detection, to pinpoint onto the F-117. They had no luck, but with now Prowlers in the air to detect them, they tried again. This time, they detect an F-117 just five miles out. Thanks to Vega 31’s weapons bay being open, exposing the radar reflective bomb bay interior, a lock was possible.
This was the opportunity the Serbs had been waiting for. Two missiles were then launched at Vega 31, and Zelko was able to visually acquire the two missiles launched at him. One flew right past the F-117 and did not detonate, but the second one while it didn’t hit the aircraft, did detonate in close proximity. Such was the size of the explosion that a KC-135 Stratotanker flying over Bosnia was able to spot the explosion of the missile against the F-117.
Zelko Loses Control And Ejects From His Aircraft
Zelko was able to eject from the aircraft and transmit a mayday call that the KC-135 nearby managed to pickup. He transmitted his survival code while still descending, before he then hid in a drainage ditch upon his landing. Yugoslavian searchers came within meters of finding him, before an MH-53 helicopter picked him up the next morning and rescued him. Zelko would later learn he was just minutes away from getting found and captured, and had a very lucky escape.The Aftermath Of The F-117 Shoot Down
via 9GAG
Remarkably, the F-117 was relatively intact after it’s shooting down, and some parts of it are still around today, preserved at the Serbian Museum of Aviation in Belgrade. Remarkable, Zelko and Dani formed a friendship after meeting in 2011 with Dani running a bakery and Zelko retired from the US Air Force. To this day, this remains the only time an F-117 was in fact shot down in combat, and the only stealth aircraft out of it and the B-2 Stealth Bomber to get shot down. The complacency of the US and the clever tactics of the Serbs culminated in the loss of Vega 31, an occasional celebrated in Yugoslavia with a poster. The poster simply read “Sorry, we didn’t know it was invisible. Greetings from Serbia!”. That is certainly one way to celebrate that you shot down what was once deemed an invisible aircraft.
Sources: Military, The Aviation Geek Club
