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General Dynamics and McDonnell Douglas appropriated the name of
an earlier Grumman product for their proposed stealth replacement
for the A-6 Intruder all-weather attack bomber. Sadly, the Avenger II was
not destined to be a classic like the wartime TBF. Intended to use more
sophisticated stealth techniques than the USAF's F-117A Nighthawk, the
A-12 was a trapezoidal shape with smooth, rather than faceted, surfaces for
scattering radar beams. It would have carried more weapons than the F-117
and had an air-to-air capability. Developed largely in secrecy and without
proper oversight, the cost rose to a reported $100 million per aircraft. The
Avenger II was cancelled by Defense Secretary Dick Cheney in January
1991, just before the Gulf War and a few months before the prototype's
expected first flight. Four senior naval officers were forced into retirement
over the fiasco. The Navy eventually wound up with the Super Hornet, in
many ways a less capable aircraft than the Intruder, which was retired in
1996 without an immediate replacement. The Navy sued the contractors
and the contractors sued back for more. The issue has been in and out of
the courts ever since.
Few images of the A-12 other than artists' impressions and mock-up
photos ever emerged, and more than $2 billion was spent for little tangible
result.
| CREW | 2 |
| ENGINE | 2 x 5900kg General Electric F412-400 turbofan engines |
| DIMENSIONS |
| Wingspan | 21.41 m | 70 ft 3 in |
| Length | 11.35 m | 37 ft 3 in |
| Height | 3.44 m | 11 ft 3 in |
| PERFORMANCE |
| Max. speed | 933 km/h | 580 mph |
| Lester, hartness57(@)yahoo.com, 07.09.2008 Well Troy, it seems that your rant brought out a bit of the illiterate side of people. It would be nice if military equipment were designed and purchased using functionality as a deciding factor, rather than being decided in smoke-filled rooms with politicians rubbing each other's backs. But I wouldn't count on that happening in our lifetimes. | | nick, 19.08.2008 you ur an tawt the us and your Australia will work 2 geth
er | | nick, 19.08.2008 shat up | | Troy, troyzadude69(@)hotmail.com, 16.06.2008 Bureaucratic bulls**t!! Capable aircraft don't mean s**t if some one isn't going to make money off them!! Australia's RAAF is living with the same thing. Replacing the incredible F-111 with the lacklustre Super Hornet!! An aircraft that can't do half the things that the F-111 can, despite it's age!! Boeing should stick with airliners!! Unfortunately, they seem to own every other manufacturer now too!! Storng-arming Australia into buying the Super Hornet might save their profit margin, but what about our defence capability!! Okay, it's not entirely Boeing's doing, Australia did have some idiot politicians in power at the time who let it happen, but we had the choice of the Dassault Rafale, SAAB Grippen, Eurofighter Typhoon and now we also have the option of the F-22 Raptor, but this decision was made wholly and solely on Boeing's continuing contribution to Australia's aeronautical industry-if you don't buy our s**t, we're out of here!!! Never mind about Australia's military air supremacy in the South-East Asian region!! Which just happens to be as strategically important to the US and UK as it is to Australia. Wouldn't you think that it would be in all the allies interests (Australia, USA, UK etc.) to keep the RAAF as capable as possible? Apparently, money is all that matters and while us, the lay-persons, bear the brunt of any future conflict, the powers that be of Boeing and the Government will be sitting sweetly in their bunkers sipping champagne. Wake up world, wake up Australia, Wake up America-if we're to fight together, let's have the tools to fight together!! That's it, I'm done on my little rant, but anyone who might read this, just think about it!! PLEASE!!! When it comes to war, do we want to win or run away with billions of dollars regardless of the victors? |
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Do you have any comments about this aircraft ?
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COMPANY
PROFILE
FACTS AND FIGURES© The use of composite materials did
not bring the expected weight
savings and it is thought the A-12
was 30% over its desired
weight by the time it was cancelled. © The radar would have been a
sophisticated Inverse Synthetic
Aperture system, but development
problems with this contributed to
the huge cost overruns. © The shape of the A-12 was more
akin to that of the B-2 than the
F-117. It did lead to the nickname
of 'Flying Dorito', however.
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