Nighthawks flying again? Speculation to follow:

On many aviation sites (including Dreamland Resort) there have been posts about recent sightings of the (thought to be retired) venerable F-117 Nighthawk flying on the Nellis and Area 51 classified ranges.

Could it be that several F-117s have been taken out of storage to practice for a special mission - one that required stealth and precision bombing?

Let's speculate for a moment -

Well - maybe - just maybe it is being readied to destroy a hardened (underground) target in a rogue nation that is known to have nuclear weapons. Why a F-117? Couldn't a B-2 do the job?

Sure - but B-2s exist in the white world now. Any movement, deployment and sudden appearance of a B-2 at a forward base would be noted. A B-2 is also a strategic weapon-and not really a tactical one.

So how about an F-22?

Great airplane - but not really a bomber - yet. Fast, stealthy and deadly, sure - but to destroy a hardened target -covertly - what is needed is a medium stealthy aircraft that can carry bunker-busting and deep penetration bombs. The F-22 doesn't quite fit the bill and the FB-22 hasn't been built - yet.

Still - the F-117 has a meager two bomb capacity bomb bay - not quite what would call a medium bomber.

But wait - recently photos have surfaced on the net showing wind tunnel tests of an F-117 model with stealthy weapons pods attached under the wings, effectively doubling the Nighthawks kill capacity.

Me thinks something may be in the wind - or (because the sightings have been undertaken in daylight) that the Pentagon wants to make an enemy to "think" something may be in the wind.

Only time will tell.

Even if it is enough to make Kim Jong Un and Amanutjob loose some sleep - I'm happy.

- SD