F-117
On 27 March 1999, during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, a Yugoslav army unit shot down an F-117 Nighthawk stealth aircraft of the United States Air Force by firing a S-125 Neva/Pechora surface-to-air missile. The pilot ejected safely and was rescued by allied search and rescue forces.[1][2]
The F-117, which entered service with the U.S Air Force in 1983, was widely seen as one of the most advanced pieces of U.S. military equipment. At the same time, Yugoslav air defenses were considered relatively obsolete.[3]
Photographs show that the aircraft struck the ground at low speed in an inverted position, and that the airframe remained relatively intact.[1] The United States did not attempt to destroy the wreckage, surprising analysts and pilots. The F-117 was based on 1970s technology, the military had revealed its existence in 1988, and the aircraft often appeared at air shows. General Bruce A. Carlson stated that if Serbia gave the wreckage to Russia, the result would be minimal.[17]
Some pieces of the F-117's wreckage are preserved at the Serbian Museum of Aviation in Belgrade;[18] other pieces of wreckage were reportedly sent to Russia and China, to be used in developing anti-stealth technology.[19] A small rubber part of the plane was shown as "a souvenir" to Western journalists by Serbian warlord Arkan during the NATO bombing.[20] The USAF retired its F-117s in 2008.[21]
Zoltán Dani, now running a bakery, and Dale Zelko, now retired from the U.S. Air Force, met in 2011. They have since developed a friendship.
One F-117 (AF ser. no. 82-0806) was lost to enemy action. It was downed during a mission against the Army of Yugoslavia on 27 March 1999, during Operation Allied Force.[55] The aircraft was acquired by a fire control radar at a distance of 13 km and an altitude of 8 km: SA-3s were then launched by a Yugoslav version of the Soviet Isayev S-125 "Neva" (NATO name SA-3 "Goa") anti-aircraft missile system.[55][56][57] The launcher was run by the 3rd Battalion of the 250th Air Defence Missile Brigade under the command of Colonel Zoltán Dani.[58]
After the explosion, the aircraft became uncontrollable, forcing the pilot to eject.[55] The pilot was recovered six hours later by a United States Air Force Pararescue team.[55][59] The stealth technology from the downed F-117 may have been acquired by Russia and China,[60] but the United States did not destroy the wreckage because its technology was two decades old.[26]
Some American sources state that a second F-117A was damaged during the same campaign, allegedly on 30 April 1999;[61] the aircraft returned to base, but it supposedly never flew again.[62][63]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_F-117_Nighthawk