The McDonnell Douglas/General Dynamics A-12 Avenger II was a proposed American

attack aircraft An attack aircraft, strike aircraft, or attack bomber is a tactical military aircraft that has a primary role of carrying out airstrikes with greater precision than bombers, and is prepared to encounter strong low-level air defenses while pre ...

from

McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own merger with Boeing in 1997, it produ ...

and

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...

. It was to be an all-weather, carrier-based stealth bomber replacement for the

Grumman A-6 Intruder The Grumman A-6 Intruder is an American twinjet all-weather attack aircraft developed and manufactured by American aircraft company Grumman Aerospace and operated by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. It was designed in response to a 1957 ...

in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

and

Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

. Its ''Avenger II'' name was taken from the

Grumman TBF Avenger The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) is an American World War II-era torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air and naval av ...

of World War II. The development of the A-12 was troubled by cost overruns and several delays, causing questions of the program's ability to deliver upon its objectives; these doubts led to the development program's cancellation in 1991. The manner of its cancellation was contested through litigation until a settlement was reached in January 2014.

Design and development

ATA program

The United States Navy began the Advanced Tactical Aircraft (ATA) program in 1983. The program was to develop and field a replacement for the A-6 Intruder by 1994. Stealth technology developed for the United States Air Force would be used heavily in the program. Concept design contracts were awarded to the industry teams of

, and Northrop/

Grumman The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 1994 ...

Vought Vought was the name of several related American aerospace firms. These have included, in the past, Lewis and Vought Corporation, Chance Vought, Vought-Sikorsky, LTV Aerospace (part of Ling-Temco-Vought), Vought Aircraft Companies, and Vought Ai ...

in November 1984. The teams were awarded contracts for further concept development in 1986. The McDonnell Douglas/General Dynamics team was selected as the winner on 13 January 1988; the rival team led by Grumman surprisingly failed to submit a final bid. The McDonnell Douglas/General Dynamics team was awarded a development contract and the ATA aircraft was designated ''A-12''. The first flight was initially planned for December 1990.Jenkins 2002, p. 95. The A-12 was named ''Avenger II'' in homage to the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

-era Navy

torpedo-bomber A torpedo bomber is a military aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes. Torpedo bombers came into existence just before the First World War almost as soon as aircraft were built that were capable of carrying the weight ...

. The Navy initially sought to buy 620 A-12s and Marines wanted 238. In addition, the Air Force briefly considered ordering some 400 of an A-12 derivative.Mahnken 2008, p. 166. The A-12 was promoted as a possible replacement for the Air Force's

General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark The General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark is a retired supersonic, medium-range, multirole combat aircraft. Production variants of the F-111 had roles that included ground attack (e.g. interdiction), strategic bombing (including nuclear weapons c ...

, and for the United Kingdom's

Panavia Tornado The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing multirole combat aircraft, jointly developed and manufactured by Italy, the United Kingdom and West Germany. There are three primary Tornado variants: the Tornado IDS (inter ...

fighter-bombers.Richardson 2001, p. 110. The craft was a

flying wing A flying wing is a tailless fixed-wing aircraft that has no definite fuselage, with its crew, payload, fuel, and equipment housed inside the main wing structure. A flying wing may have various small protuberances such as pods, nacelles, blis ...

design in the shape of an

isosceles triangle In geometry, an isosceles triangle () is a triangle that has two sides of equal length. Sometimes it is specified as having ''exactly'' two sides of equal length, and sometimes as having ''at least'' two sides of equal length, the latter versio ...

, with the

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

situated near the apex of the triangle.Jenkins 2002, pp. 96–97. The A-12 gained the nickname "Flying

Dorito Doritos () is an American brand of flavored tortilla chips produced since 1964 by Frito-Lay, a wholly owned subsidiary of PepsiCo. The original Doritos were not flavored. The first flavor was Toasted Corn, released in 1966, followed by Taco ...

". The aircraft was to be powered by two General Electric F412-D5F2

turbofan The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which ac ...

engines, each producing about of thrust. It was designed to carry precision guided weapons internally, up to two

AIM-120 AMRAAM The AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM (pronounced ), is an American beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) capable of all-weather day-and-night operations. It is 7 inches (18 cm) in diameter, and employs ...

air-to-air missiles, two

AGM-88 HARM The AGM-88 HARM (High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile) is a tactical, air-to-surface anti-radiation missile designed to home in on electronic transmissions coming from surface-to-air radar systems. It was originally developed by Texas Instruments as ...

air-to-ground missiles and a complement of air-to-ground ordnance, including unguided or precision-guided bombs, could be carried in an internal weapons bay. It has been claimed that the A-12 was to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons held in its internal weapons bay as well.Polmar and Norris 2009, p. 75. The A-12 was to have a weapons load of .Thomason 2009, p. 184. Beginning in early 1990 McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics revealed delays and projected cost increases. Due to complications with the composite materials, aircraft weight had increased to 30% over design specification. This was unwelcome for an airplane that needed to operate efficiently and effectively from an aircraft carrier. Technical difficulties with the complexity of the radar system to be used also caused costs to increase; by one estimate the A-12 was to consume up to 70% of the Navy's budget for aircraft. After delays, its critical design review was successfully completed in October 1990 and the maiden flight was rescheduled to early 1992. In December 1990 plans were made for 14 Navy aircraft carriers to be equipped with a wing of 20 A-12s each. A government report released in November 1990 documented serious problems with the A-12 development program. In December 1990

Secretary of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former U ...

told the Navy to justify the program and deliver reasons why it should not be canceled. The response given by the Navy and the contractors failed to persuade the Secretary of Defense, as he canceled the program in the following month, on 7 January 1991, for breach of contract. The government felt the contractors could not complete the program and instructed them to repay most of the $2 billion that had been spent on A-12 development. McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics disputed this in Federal Claims court.Jenkins 2002, pp. 95–96. The reasons and causes for the cancellation have been debated and remain an issue of controversy, with suggestions of political expediency and scheming to be behind the action.

Aftermath

After the cancellation of the A-12, the Navy elected to purchase the

F/A-18E/F Super Hornet The Boeing F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet are twin-engine, carrier-capable, multirole fighter aircraft variants based on the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The F/A-18E single-seat and F/A-18F tandem-seat variants are larger and more ad ...

, which went on to replace the

A-6 Intruder The Grumman A-6 Intruder is an American twinjet all-weather attack aircraft developed and manufactured by American aircraft company Grumman Aerospace and operated by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. It was designed in response to a 1957 ...

and the

F-14 Tomcat The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic aircraft, supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experi ...

. The Super Hornet uses the

General Electric F414 The General Electric F414 is an American afterburning turbofan engine in the 22,000- pound (98 kN) thrust class produced by GE Aviation. The F414 originated from GE's widely used F404 turbofan, enlarged and improved for use in the Boeing F/A-18 ...

turbofan engine, which is a modified variant of the upgraded F404 version developed for the A-12. The full-size A-12

mockup In manufacturing and design, a mockup, or mock-up, is a scale or full-size model of a design or device, used for teaching, demonstration, design evaluation, promotion, and other purposes. A mockup may be a ''prototype'' if it provides at leas ...

was revealed to the public at the

Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth (abbreviated NAS JRB Fort Worth) includes Carswell Field, a military airbase located west of the central business district of Fort Worth, in Tarrant County, Texas, United States. This military a ...

in June 1996.Jenkins 2002, p. 96. The cancellation of the A-12 is seen as one of the major losses in the 1990s that weakened McDonnell Douglas and led to its merger with rival Boeing in 1997. After years of being in storage at the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics (formerly General Dynamics) facility in Fort Worth, Texas, the mockup was transported to Veterans Memorial Air Park adjacent to Meacham Airport in north Fort Worth in June 2013. (The park was later renamed

Fort Worth Aviation Museum The Fort Worth Aviation Museum is an aviation museum located next to Fort Worth Meacham International Airport, Meacham International Airport in Fort Worth, Texas. The museum was rebranded in 2013 and was previously known as the Veterans Memorial ...

.) The manner in which the program was canceled led to years of litigation between the contractors and the

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philippin ...

over breach of contract ( General Dynamics Corp. v. United States). On 1 June 2009, the

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (in case citations, Fed. Cir. or C.A.F.C.) is a United States court of appeals that has special appellate jurisdiction over certain types of specialized cases in the U.S. federal court ...

ruled that the U.S. Navy was justified in canceling the contract. The ruling also required the two contractors to repay the U.S. government US$1.35 billion, plus interest charges of US$1.45 billion.

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

, which had merged with McDonnell Douglas, and General Dynamics vowed to appeal the ruling. In September 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court said it would hear the two companies' arguments, that the government canceled the project improperly and that the use of the

state secrets privilege The state secrets privilege is an evidentiary rule created by United States legal precedent. Application of the privilege results in exclusion of evidence from a legal case based solely on affidavits submitted by the government stating that court ...

by the U.S. prevented them from mounting an effective defense. In May 2011, the Supreme Court set aside the Appeals Court decision and returned the case to federal circuit court. In January 2014, the case was settled with Boeing and General Dynamics agreeing to pay $200 million each to the U.S. Navy."UPDATE 1-Boeing, General Dynamics reach $400 mln A-12 settlement with U.S. Navy".
Reuters, 23 January 2014.

Specifications (A-12 Avenger II)

A-12 Avenger comparative aircraft size NAN11-90

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * Boyne, Walter J. ''Air Warfare: An International Encyclopedia, Volume 1''. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2002. . * Jenkins, Dennis R. ''Grumman A-6 Intruder – WarbirdTech Volume 33''. North Branch, Minnesota: Specialty Press, 2002. . * Mahnken, Thomas G. ''Technology and the American Way of War''. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. . * Polmar, Norman., and Robert Stan Norris. ''The U.S. Nuclear Arsenal: A History of Weapons and Delivery Systems Since 1945''. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2009. . * Richardson, Doug
''Stealth Warplanes''.
Osceola, WI: Zenith Imprint, 2001. . * Richeson, Jim
"Coming Soon to a Carrier Near You: Avenger".
''Naval Aviation News'', December 1990. pp. 14–19. * Senior, Tim. ''The Air Forces Book of the F/A-18 Hornet''. Osceola, Wisconsin: Zenith Imprint, 2003. . * Stevenson, James P. ''The $5 Billion Misunderstanding: the Collapse of the Navy's A-12 Stealth Bomber Program''. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001. . * Thomason, Tommy H. ''Strike from the Sea: U.S. Navy Attack Aircraft from Skyraider to Super Hornet, 1948 – present''. North Branch, Minnesota: Specialty Press, 2009. . * Yenne, Bill. ''Weapons of the 21st Century''. New York; Avenel, New Jersey: Crescent Books, 1993. .

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonnell Douglas A-12 Avenger II A-12 A-12 Flying wings Stealth aircraft Carrier-based aircraft Cancelled military aircraft projects of the United States Military scandals United States military scandals Tailless delta-wing aircraft