One Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk carries a combat record no other airframe of its type can claim. Nicknamed “The Overachiever,” it flew in all four major conflicts in which Nighthawks saw combat, and the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum is adding it to the national collection. If the museum’s schedule holds, the jet goes on public display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, in late October 2026.
Those four campaigns, as the museum lists them, run from Panama in 1989 to Iraq in 2003, a 14-year span. Other Nighthawks flew in some of those campaigns; according to the museum, none but this one flew in all four.
The museum announced the acquisition in a press release dated Sept. 14, 2026, which says “it was the only F-117 flown in all four major conflicts in which Nighthawks flew combat operations.” The release lists them as Operation Just Cause (Panama, 1989), Operation Desert Storm (Iraq, 1991), Operation Allied Force (Yugoslavia, 1999) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq, 2003). It calls the F-117 “the world’s first true operational stealth combat aircraft.”
Announced at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference
The donation from the U.S. Air Force was announced at the Air & Space Forces Association’s Air, Space and Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, according to the museum. Air & Space Forces Magazine reported on Sept. 15, 2026 that Jeremy Kinney, an assistant director in the museum’s research, collections and curatorial affairs office, made the announcement on Sept. 14. Kinney said the aircraft has “earned its place in the national collection,” the magazine reported.
The museum’s director framed the jet’s significance in operational terms. In the release, Chris Browne, the John and Adrienne Mars Director of the National Air and Space Museum, said:
“The revolutionary F-117 gave military commanders options they never had before. The Nighthawk could be the tip of the spear, taking out enemy defenses before they knew what hit them or it could destroy selective strategic targets, helping achieve objectives with unmatched precision. Adding this breakthrough aircraft to the national collection will ensure generations to come know its amazing story.”
From Skunk Works to Chantilly
The aircraft did not arrive museum-ready. The release says “it was prepared for its public display by the team at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works.” Air & Space Forces Magazine reported that Lockheed Martin was restoring the jet to its final operational appearance.
Moving a stealth fighter across the country takes a strategic airlifter. Per the museum, the U.S. Air Force Reserve’s 512th Airlift Wing was to carry the F-117 from the Skunk Works facility to Dulles International Airport aboard a C-5 Galaxy, with the jet partially disassembled for the flight. Air & Space Forces Magazine’s Sept. 15 report said an aircrew from the 512th at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, would fly the restored jet on a C-5M Super Galaxy in early October.
Once at the Udvar-Hazy Center, the Nighthawk is to be reassembled in the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar, which the museum notes visitors can watch from a glass overlook. The magazine reported that the F-117 will become a permanent exhibit alongside aircraft including the SR-71 Blackbird and the Space Shuttle Discovery.
What visitors will find
The museum’s release gives the display window as late October; it has not, in that release, named a specific day. The Udvar-Hazy Center is open daily except Dec. 25, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., according to the release. Admission is free and timed-entry passes are not required for regular visits, while parking costs $15.
When the Nighthawk takes its place on the floor, it will be the airframe the Smithsonian chose to represent the first operational stealth combat aircraft, with a service record that covers every major conflict in which the type flew combat operations, from Just Cause in 1989 to Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
Top image: A U.S. Air Force F-117 Nighthawk lands at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, during Northern Edge 23-1 on May 10, 2023. It is not The Overachiever. Image Credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Patrick Sullivan — Public domain / Wikimedia Commons
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Combat Rated editors prior to publication.