Lockheed Wanted to Put the F-117 Nighthawk on US Navy Aircraft Carriers. It Proposed 255 of Them at $70,000,000 Each — Almost $17,900,000,000 — and Congress Set Aside $175,000,000 Just to Study Whether It Would Work. The Navy Said No Twice.

Lockheed Wanted to Put the F-117 Nighthawk on US Navy Aircraft Carriers. It Proposed 255 of Them at $70,000,000 Each — Almost $17,900,000,000 — and Congress Set Aside $175,000,000 Just to Study Whether It Would Work. The Navy Said No Twice.

The Navy had just lost the A-12 Avenger II and had nothing to replace the aging A-6 Intruder, so Lockheed pitched the F-117 stealth fighter it already had. The first offer was modest — corrosion protection and an automatic landing system. The second was a different aircraft: 64-foot wingspan, sweep cut from 50 degrees to 42, folding wings, strengthened gear, an arrestor hook, a ground-attack radar, AMRAAMs, afterburning engines and 8,000 pounds …