Flightline: 48/TBD

"user314" (user314)
09/17/2020 at 11:00 • Filed to: flightline, Planelopnik, planelopnik history, Stealth

A full-scale mockup of the A-12 Avenger II was built by General Dynamics

In 1983, the US Navy opened the Advanced Tactical Aircraft competition to develop a replacement for the A-6 Intruder. The new airplane would incorporate the latest in low-observable/stealth technology, and would be armed with precision guided munitions, possibly including nuclear weapons. Two teams provided concepts, McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics advanced a triangularly shaped airplane with tandem seating, while the proposal from Northrop/Grumman/Vought was very much a miniaturized B-2 and featured side-by-side seating.

Line drawings of the two ATA proposals, circa 1984

The McDonnel Douglas/GD design was selected as the winner by default, as the Northrop/Grumman/Vought team did not submit a final proposal. The aircraft was designated the A-12, and christened the Avenger II in homage to the Grumman TBF Avenger. The first flight was expected by December of 1990. Navy orders were expected to be around 600 airframes , with the USMC ordering 238. The USAF was briefly interested in ordering 400 land-based derivatives to replace its F-111 Aardvarks, though they later dropped out

CGI rendering of the A-12 showing various elevations as well as the folding wings

The A-12, quickly nicknamed the “Flying Dorito” or just “Dorito”, would have been 37ft long, with a wingspan of 70ft and a folded width of 36ft. The airplane would have weighed 80,000lbs fully loaded, with two GE F412 engines providing a high subsonic speed.

Line drawings of the A-12, with wings extended and folded, overlaid against the F-14 and A-6

Armaments were planned to be carried in an internal weapons bay, and would have included 5,160lbs of a mix of AIM-120 AMRAAMs, AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation missiles, and then-current USN/USMC guided and unguided bombs.

!!!CAPTION ERROR: MAY BE MULTI-LINE OR CONTAIN LINK!!!

McDonnell Douglas and GD soon encountered issues however, as the complicated radar system and difficulties fabricating the composite airframe led to mounting delays and increasing weight. A critical design review was successfully completed in October of 1990, and the first flight was resch eduled for 1992. At this time the Navy was still planning for 14 carriers to carry 20 A-12s each.

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The issue came to a head in December 1990 when then-Secretary of Defence Richard Cheney called on the Navy to justify the A-12 and provide reasons why it should not be canceled. The response from the Navy and McDonnell Douglas/General Dynamics proved to not be persuasive, and the program was terminated on 7 January 1991.

“The A-12 I did terminate. It was not an easy decision to make because it’s an important requirement that we’re trying to fulfill. But no one could tell me how much the program was going to cost, even just through the full scale development phase, or when it would be available. And data that had been presented at one point a few months ago turned out to be invalid and inaccurate.”

- Secretary of Defense !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , 1991.

The government accused both contractors of being in breach of contract, and demanded repayment of the $ 2 billion dollars spent on the A-12 by that point. Both companies strongly rejected the accusation, and began a series of lawsuits and counter- suits that lasted until 2014, with the successors of both companies being ordered to pay $ 1.35 billion, plus interest amounting to $1.45 billion.

Neither McDonnell Douglas nor General Dynamics aircraft division survived the debacle, with GD selling its Fort Worth aircraft division to Lockheed in 1993, and MD merging with Boeing in 1997.

The loss of the A-12 program resulted in the USN and USMC having to rely on older !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! aircraft longer than planned, with the latter retiring in 1991, and the former in 1997. Precision strike was then passed on to the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , which had since been modified with a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! pod, until the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! joined the fleet in 1999 .

The A-12 Avenger II mockup, the only physical portion of the program to survive, was eventually unveiled in 1996, and in 2014 it was transferred to the Fort Worth Aviation Museum for restoration and eventual display.

The A-12 mockup being moved via 18-wheeler.

DISCUSSION (11)

For Sweden > user314
09/17/2020 at 11:10

RIP Dorito Plane. You were too pure and wildly expensive for this world.

ttyymmnn > user314
09/17/2020 at 11:20

Kinja'd!!!

Check your “facts.” The Aurora did fly, and somebody even took a picture of it refueling.

;)

ttyymmnn > For Sweden
09/17/2020 at 11:20

Crash all you want. We’ll make more.

Levitas > user314
09/17/2020 at 11:21

This program has a fascinating history. But I believe way more of this program survived than that mockup:

https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=53&acctid=3844

Not to mention, if that canopy was actually from the program, then I have a stack of composite test parts that also have matching serial numbers right next to me. Might post a picture in a while if anyone is interested.

I have also seen entire wing ribs that also appear to be from this, as well as some composite tooling for what appeared to be the leading edge of the wings.

For Sweden > ttyymmnn
09/17/2020 at 11:25

Ah yes, the General Atomics business model