The McDonnell Douglas A-12 Avenger II will be the United States Navy's (USN) first stealth aircraft. The type featured various technological advancements that made it one of the best naval aircraft in the world, but due to rising costs and a lack of progress, the project was doomed.
Ultimately, the A-12 fell into the statesman's pen and was discontinued - no aircraft was ever produced, and millions of dollars were spent on its development.
The true capabilities of "stealth" aircraft were revealed during the 1991 Persian Gulf air battle, when two Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk "stealth fighters" penetrated enemy airspace undetected and dropped precision guidance Ammo and leave back to safety. As details of the aircraft came to light, it was revealed that development and testing were rooted in the 1970s, and the aircraft entered service in the U.S.
Air Force's top-secret inventory in the early 1980s.
McDonnell Douglas' marketing materials sold the Avenger II as an aircraft with all the qualities needed for the then-evolving USN mission. Its hard-to-observe nature will allow it to breach enemy air defenses without revealing its presence to active ground stations - inherently improving pilot mission survivability - until the last possible second, giving the enemy time Rarely respond.
The aircraft's internal payload capabilities coupled with advanced airborne systems will allow the use of precision-guided weapons to meet the new demands of subsequent U.S. air combat. As a flying-wing design, the internal fuel storage could provide the A-12 with superior range without the need for refueling compared to options available to the U.S. Navy at the time.
Of course, the marketing materials also tout the aircraft's fast turnaround times and low long-term support costs - core qualities of all aircraft that are "in development" and not field-proven.
McDonnell Douglas expects the aircraft to be ready by the mid-1990s. While the U.S. Navy holds the primary interest in the A-12, the U.S. Marine Corps naturally sees the need to upgrade its inventory of aircraft.
In addition, the USAF also has some idea of ??procuring the A-12, which would be a slight modification of the land-based version of the Navy design. The U.S. Navy considered purchasing about 620 prototypes, while the U.S. Marine Corps itself received another 238. The U.S.
Air Force is so interested that it will procure 400 aircraft.
By 1990, however, everything about the A-12 program began to unravel. Delays, inevitable cost overruns and design issues began to plague the project even before a single plane was built. The plane is now proving to be much heavier than originally anticipated, and problems with advanced systems soon arose - particularly the aperture radar and avionics to be installed.
The composite structure proved to be a hassle, forcing the use of metal instead, adding to the overall weight in the process - the A-12 is now about 30% more weight than required to operate. The projected cost of further development leads to a natural "tightening of the noose" around the stealth project.
While the original first flight was planned for the end of 1990, the revised schedule called for a delay until sometime in 1992.
Despite efforts to keep the A-12 program viable, the U.S. Secretary of Defense - a certain Richard "Dick" Cheney at the time - did not believe in long-term investment in the program. On January 7, 1991, Cheney used his powers to permanently cancel the A-12 Avenger II with no aircraft to put millions of taxpayer dollars into the program, and no concrete figures from the contractor.
The A-12 story didn't end there, and over the next few years, the federal government and the contractors involved brought numerous lawsuits to recover lost project costs lawsuits that have yet to be settled in U.S. courts (now 2012). 20 years after the project was launched).
The loss of the A-12 had several implications for the U.S. defense world - the A-6 remained obsolete, though not replaced by the F/A-18 Super Hornet until 1997, and McDonnell Douglas's financial troubles forced it to be with the Powerhouse Boeing worked together to ensure its survival (MD is now a subsidiary of the Boeing brand).
Only one full-scale model of the A-12 is believed to have been completed. Recent reports have also revealed that the canopy part of the A-12 believed to have appeared on eBay, the source of which is somewhat obscure, but the product is still believed to be genuine (based on the available serial numbers pointing to the parts have been found).
At the time of cancellation, the A-12 program was the largest and most costly cancellation program ever undertaken by the Department of Defense.
Update February 2014: Announced that the US Navy has terminated long-term agreements with General Dynamics and Boeing to resolve the A-12 program. The U.S. government has decided to reach a $400 million settlement to end decades of litigation between the parties.
- Fighter
- Ground Attack
- X-Plane / Development
11.5m
70.21 ft (21.4 m)
11.15 ft (3.4 m)
17,700 kg
36,300 kg
578 mph (930 km/h; 502 knots)
40,026 ft (12,200 m; 7.58 mi)
920 miles (1,480 km; 799 nautical miles)
5,000 ft/min (1,524 m/min)
2 x AIM-120 AMRAAM Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles.
2 x AGN-88 HARM anti-radiation missiles.
Drop the Mk 82 bomb.
Laser-guided bombs.
A-12 "Avenger II" - Base Series Designation