Aircrafttotal Encyclopedia


General information
Type	All-weather naval stealth bomber^[1]
Manufacturer	McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics
Status	Canceled
Primary users	United States Navy United States Marine Corps
Number built	0; mockup only

The General Dynamics/McDonnell Douglas A-12 Avenger II was a proposed American attack aircraft from General Dynamics and McDonnell Douglas. It was to be an all-weather, carrier-based stealth bomber replacement for the Grumman A-6 Intruder in the United States Navy and Marine Corps. Its Avenger II name was taken from the Grumman TBF Avenger 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.

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. The reasons and causes for the cancellation have been debated and have been an issue of controversy

Aftermath

After the cancellation of the A-12, the Navy elected to purchase the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, which went on to replace the A-6 Intruder and the F-14 Tomcat. The Super Hornet uses the General Electric F414 turbofan engine, which is a modified variant of the upgraded F404 version developed for the A-12. The full-size A-12 mockup was revealed to the public at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth in June 1996.^[17] 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 (later renamed Fort Worth Aviation Museum^[ adjacent to Meacham Airport in north Fort Worth in June 2013t. Wiki Link

British Aircraft company

General Dynamics/McDonnell Douglas
A-12 Avenger II "Flying Dorito"
Primary users US Navy Number built 0

Sweden

Crew: 2
Length: 37 ft 10 in (11.53 m)
Wingspan: 70 ft 3 in (21.41 m)
Width: (11.05 m) wings folded
Height: 11 ft 3 in (3.43 m)
Wing area: 1,308 sq ft (121.5 m²)

Powerplant

Empty weight: (17,690 kg)
Max takeoff weight: (36,287 kg)
Fuel capacity: (9,700 kg) (internal)
Powerplant: 2 × General Electric F412-GE-D5F2 turbofan engines, 13,000 lbf (58 kN) thrust each

Sweden

Maximum speed: (930 km/h)
Combat range: (1,500 km)
Service ceiling: (12,000 m)
Rate of climb: 5,000 ft/min (25 m/s)
Wing loading: 61 lb/sq ft (300 kg/m²)

Combat Operations

Payload capability: 5,160 pounds (2,300 kg) in internal weapons bay including:

2× AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles
2× AGM-88 HARM air-to-ground missiles
Unguided or precision-guided bombs

Special Links General Dynamics/McDonnell Douglas A-12 Avenger II
Primary users United States NavyUnited States Marine Corps Number built 0

Links to Youtube & Others

The General Dynamics/McDonnell Douglas team was selected as the winner on 13 January 1988; the rival team led by Grumman surprisingly failed to submit a final bid. The General Dynamics/McDonnell Douglas team was awarded a development contract and. The first flight was initially planned for December 1990. The A-12 was named Avenger II in homage to the World War II-era Navy torpedo-bomber Grumman TBF Avenger.

GD/McDonnell Douglas A-12 Avenger II

The aircraft was to be powered by two General Electric F412-D5F2 turbofan engines

Youtube Link

n December 1990 plans were made for 14 Navy aircraft carriers to be equipped with a wing of 20 A-12s each.[

General Dynamics/McDonnell Douglas A-12 Avenger II
"Flying Dorito"
Primary users US Navy
Number built 0