[Goose]

Speaking of the F117, I've been a bit surprised there hasn't been more of a push to send those over. 

We retired them over 15 years ago and have about 60ish. I'm sure there is classified stealth tech but at this point we're talking about 40 year old technology, designed in the 70s. I'm sure they're a bear to maintain, but also sure Ukraine would love to learn how for a few squadrons.

Not happening. A significant part of the 40 year old technology isn't in the public domain. There are also lots of "trade secrets" involved that are art, not science. We don't want to give any of those away.

The F-117 isn't as "stealthy" as our later aircraft and it also doesn't have lots of things a "general purpose" aircraft needs (e.g. a radar!). It is a "one trick pony". That trick is still important, but the effort required to do that trick is orders of magnitude greater than generating F-16 squadrons is going to be for Ukraine. Using the F-117 effectively also requires a real-time intelligence, route planning and targeting structure Ukraine doesn't have. As we proved in Kosovo, even we don't always do that right.

[Goose]

Speaking of the F117, I've been a bit surprised there hasn't been more of a push to send those over. 

We retired them over 15 years ago and have about 60ish. I'm sure there is classified stealth tech but at this point we're talking about 40 year old technology, designed in the 70s. I'm sure they're a bear to maintain, but also sure Ukraine would love to learn how for a few squadrons.

Not happening. A significant part of the 40 year old technology isn't in the public domain. There are also lots of "trade secrets" involved that are art, not science. We don't want to give any of those away.

The F-117 isn't as "stealthy" as our later aircraft and it also doesn't have lots of things a "general purpose" aircraft needs (e.g. a radar!). It is a "one trick pony". That trick is still important, but the effort required to do that trick is orders of magnitude greater than generating F-16 squadrons is going to be for Ukraine. Using the F-117 effectively also requires a real-time intelligence, route planning and targeting structure Ukraine doesn't have. As we proved in Kosovo, even we don't always do that right.