The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, the first operational aircraft initially designed around stealth technology, makes its first flight.

The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is an officially retired American single-seat, subsonic, twin-engined, stealth attack aircraft developed by Lockheed's secretive Skunk Works division and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF). It was the first operational aircraft to be designed with stealth technology.

Stealth technology, also termed low observable technology, is a sub-discipline of military tactics and passive and active electronic countermeasures. The term covers a range of methods used to make personnel, aircraft, ships, submarines, missiles, satellites, and ground vehicles less visible to radar, infrared, sonar and other detection methods. It corresponds to military camouflage for these parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.