F117 vs Airbus A380 - Comparison

The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is a retired American single-seat, subsonic twin-engine 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. Work on what would become the F-117 was commenced in the 1970s as a means of countering increasingly sophisticated Soviet surface-to-air missiles (SAMs). During 1976, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) issued Lockheed with a contract to produce the Have Blue technology demonstrator, the test data from which validated the concept. On 1 November 1978, it was decided to proceed with the F-117 development program. A total of five prototypes would be produced; the first of which performed its maiden flight during 1981 at Groom Lake, Nevada. The first production F-117 was delivered in 1982, and its initial operating capability was achieved in October 1983. All aircraft were initially based at Tonopah Test Range Airport, Nevada. The aircraft's faceted shape (made from two-dimensional flat surfaces) heavily contributes to its relatively low radar cross-section of about 0.001 m2 (0.0108 sq ft). To minimise its infrared signature, it has a non-circular tail pipe that mixes hot exhaust with cool ambient air and lacks afterburners; it is also restricted to subsonic speeds as breaking the sound barrier would produce an obvious sonic boom that would increase both its acoustic and infrared footprints. While its performance in air combat maneuvering was less than that of most contemporary fighters, it was strictly an attack aircraft despite being commonly referred to as the "Stealth Fighter".

For this reason, it is equipped with integrated sophisticated digital navigation and attack systems, targeting being achieved via a thermal imaging infrared system and a laser rangefinder/laser designator. It is aerodynamically unstable in all three aircraft principal axes and thus requires constant flight corrections via a fly-by-wire (FBW) flight system to maintain controlled flight. Even years following its entry to service, the F-117 was a black project, its existence being denied by USAF officials. On 10 November 1988, the F-117 was publicly acknowledged for the first time. Its first combat mission was flown during the United States invasion of Panama in 1989. The last of 59 production F-117s were delivered on 3 July 1990. The F-117 was widely publicized for its role in the Gulf War of 1991, having flown approximately 1,300 sorties and scored direct hits on what the US called 1,600 high-value targets in Iraq. F-117s also participated in the conflict in Yugoslavia, during which one was shot down by a surface-to-air missile (SAM) in 1999. It was also active during Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001 and Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. The USAF retired the F-117 in April 2008, primarily due to the fielding of the F-22 Raptor. Despite the type's official retirement, a portion of the fleet has been kept in airworthy condition, and F-117s have been observed flying since 2009.

Source: Wikipedia

The Airbus A380 is a wide-body aircraft manufactured by Airbus. It's the world's largest passenger airliner. Airbus studies began in 1988 and the project was declared to challenge the dominance of the Boeing 747. The A3XX project was introduced in 1994; Airbus launched the $9.5 billion ($10.7 billion) A380 programme on 19 December 2000. The prototype was unveiled in Toulouse on 18 January 2005, Using its first flight on 27 April 2005. Difficulties in electrical wiring caused a delay and the development cost ballooned to $18 billion. It obtained its type certificate from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on 12 December 2006. It was first delivered to Singapore Airlines on 15 October 2007 and entered service on 25.

Production peaked in 2012 and 2014 at 30 each year. However, Airbus admits that its $25 billion investment for the aircraft can't be recouped. On 14 after Emirates reduced its orders that were in favour of the A330neo and the A350, Airbus announced that A380 production would end by 2021. The aircraft nicknamed the superjumbo, has a normal seating capacity of 525, though it is certified for up to 853 passengers. It's powered by four Engine Alliance GP7200 or Rolls-Royce Trent 900 turbofans providing a range of 8,000 nmi (14,800 km). As of December 2019, Airbus has received 251 company orders and delivered 242 aircraft; Emirates is the largest customer with 123 of.

Source: Wikipedia