Quiz of the Day - 22 June 2012

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Let's look up some war-birds for the daily quiz.
daily quiz question
You can see the photo of an aeroplane in the picture on the right hand side. This was one of the earliest examples of a stealth aircraft and the first of its kind to enter active service. Unlike the current crop of stealth aircrafts, which use smart materials for evading radars, this particular type heavily depended upon the different angles on its body to deflect radio waves, thus rendering it invisible to the radars. The primary role played by the aircraft was ground attack at night, when its black silhouette meant that it was almost invisible to the naked eye too.
daily quiz answer
All you have to do is identify the aircraft.  
daily quiz question answer
You can leave your responses as comments to the post. The comments will be moderated for a period of 24 hours. Alternatively, you can also mail your answer to shovon76[at]gmail[dot]com. The answer, along with the names of the persons with the right answer, will be published tomorrow.
Cheers!
quiz of the day answer
Answer: This is the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, a single-seat, twin-engine stealth ground-attack aircraft formerly operated by the United States Air Force (USAF). The F-117A's first flight was in 1981, and it achieved initial operating capability status in October 1983. The F-117A was "acknowledged" and revealed to the world in November 1988.
daily quiz question answer
It became the first operational aircraft designed around stealth technology. The F-117A was widely publicized during the Persian Gulf War of 1991. It was commonly called the "Stealth Fighter" although it was a ground-attack aircraft, making its F-designation misleading.
fighter aircraft quiz answer
The Air Force retired the F-117 on 22 April 2008, primarily because of the fielding of the F-22 Raptor and the impending introduction of the F-35 Lightning II. Sixty-four F-117s were built, 59 of which were production versions with five demonstrators/prototypes.