Why is the F-117 stealth aircraft classified as a fighter?

[chacoguy]

It doesn’t have any air-to-air weapons. What’s it supposed to fight?

[Richard_Pearse]

It’s not classified as a fighter, aside from the “F” in the designation. It’s a ground attack aircraft. According to wikipedia it has not been unusual for the US Air Force to use the F designator for attack aircraft in the past. Also:

A televised documentary quoted a senior member of the F-117A development team as saying that the top-notch USAF fighter pilots required to fly the new aircraft were more easily attracted to an aircraft with an “F” designation for fighter, as opposed to a bomber (“B”) or attack (“A”) designation.

Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk

[Duckster]

A televised documentary quoted a senior member of the F-117A development team as saying that the top-notch USAF fighter pilots required to fly the new aircraft were more easily attracted to an aircraft with an “F” designation for fighter, as opposed to a bomber (“B”) or attack (“A”) designation.

Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk - Wikipedia

[Richard_Pearse]

Snap

[Chronos]

It’s an “F” instead of an “A” because it’s small, pointy, and fast.

[Hail_Ants]

If you read that Wiki article an even bigger puzzle is why the designation number 117 was kept. The US military switched to the unified numbering system in the 60s (that’s why Vietnam & earlier planes ran into the 100s but in the 70s they all got reset i.e. the B-1 & B-2 and the F-14, 15, 16 etc.) The plane was expected to be given the ‘F’ designation for the reasons stated above, but F-19 not 117. A lot of theories exists, disinformation being a popular one.