The Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk is a stealth ground attack aircraft flown solely by the United States Air Force. As a product of the Lockheed Have Blue stealth prototype program, it became the first operational aircraft initially designed around stealth technology.  The F-117A was widely publicized during the Gulf War. The Air Force has been trying to retire the F-117, due mainly to the deployment of the more effective F-22 Raptor. The Air Force is planning to retire the F-117 from October 2006 to 2008.  The USAF maintains that the F-117A can carry air-to-air missiles, giving it air-to-air combat capability in addition to its primary air-to-ground mission. While that may be technically true, the aircraft is of unknown capability in air-combat. It lacks the radar to guide longer-range missiles and does not carry shorter-range missiles for self-defense.