Seinr said :"First off, JDAMs are guided munitions that use GPS, thus they can be loaded into any aircraft that can carry them - thus making something like the lowly A10 a precesion striker. Beyond that, the B-2 has carried out plenty of surgical strikes, especially during the first and second iraq war.
I remember 1 F117 was shot down in kosov, but beyond that IDK
The next gen aircraft, such as the F-35 are stealthy as well as multirole - meaning they can do many of the F117's current jobs, and in most cases better. And yeah, there are tons of black project, especially pilotless aircraft.
BTW, the F117 never had much in the way of manuverability, it had to use fly by wire just to get off the ground."
I might be biased but, one of the programs that uses the software I create works on the turrets that control the precision bombing in the F117. 4 of these guys in this group are from the original team that built the F117. I asked them about the differences in the F117 to B2 and other 'known' aircraft and it was basically what I have been saying.
The F117's internal controlled bombing with the turrets are far better at strategic bombing that the GPS guided bombs. Example, all of the greenish vids you might remember from the Iraq wars are from F117's. B2's don't have the capability to guide the bomb in like that. They basically fly in unnoticed drop bombs on target area and fly out.
The F-22 and F-35 have limited stealth that is no where near as good as the F117's or B2's. But, where they lack that tech they gain in agility and raw speed.
From these guys who have the highest security clearances allowed, there are no 'known' aircraft that can technically replace the purpose of the F117. Now, that being said. It was designed in the 70's and in the last 40 years or so there have been leaps in technology. I know that by October of 2008 when the last F117 is put in the giant hanger for permanent storage we will see it's replacement. I am betting on full stealth. I mean it will be on the runway in broad daylight and fade out. Granted, we might not actually see in in 2008 as the US DOD might argue that we don't *need* to show it. But, I would bet we will.
