Absolutely.
The F117A was delivered in 1982. Think back to what computers were like then!
Heck even 2 years ago it took an age just to calculate the aerodynamics around a saloon car, with single calculations taking days. (I used to work with guys in Aerodynamics to help them reverse engineer hand made models for the calculations).
The original design team started the F117A in 1975! and then took the project on full time in 1978.
It takes a LONG time to design a new plane. And the basic package has to be one of the earlier parts of the design to be finished.
Nothing to do with deflecting projectiles.
More recent studies have shown that curved surfaces will actually have a better result in deflecting radar signals. I'm trying to remember where I read the article.
Future designs of stealth craft will not be limited to such faceted shapes.
Even now when we do FEA or Aerodynamic calculations we convert smooth surfaces into facet models to aid the calculations.
As you get more and more facets you get back to a closer approximation of a curved surface.
As computer power has gone up the quality of facet models for computation has increased, but we still can't really use 'real' curved surfaces for the calculations. In the early days it helped to have as few facets as possible for the calculations, hence the very 'triangulated' appearance of the early stealth vehicles.
It's a story I've been told all the way through my engineering training, and even by an Engineer for Lockhead Martin. My uni, Sussex, used to do a lot of jet engine research and development so we often had guest speakers from the industry.
