Summary and Key Points: The A-12 Avenger II was the Navy’s stealth replacement for the A-6 Intruder: a two-seat flying wing with a 70-foot wingspan, an 80,000-pound takeoff weight, and a 5,160-pound internal payload, nicknamed the “Flying Dorito.
The A-12 Avenger II Could Have Transformed the US Navy
In the annals of United States Navy aviation history, the original Avenger, i.e., the Grumman TBF/TBM Avenger torpedo bomber of World War II, was highly successful, but the “sequel,” a conceptual experimental warplane from the late Cold War era known as the A-12 Avenger II…eh, not so much. So why didn’t the second Avenger live up to the success of its predecessor?
Some Semantic Clarification: A-12 Avenger II vs. A-12 Oxcart
A-12 Oxcart. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
The A-12 Avenger II is not to be confused with the Lockheed A-12 Oxcart spy plane, which bore a striking resemblance to another Lockheed “Skunk Works” brainchild, the legendary speed demon we know and love as the SR-71 Blackbird.
The Avenger II was not a Skunk Works project, but rather a joint venture by two of Lockheed’s—now known as Lockheed Martin—key competitors in the aerospace and defense industries, McDonnell Douglas—which eventually got swallowed up by Boeing—and General Dynamics.
A-12 Avenger II Basic Premise & Promise
Unlike the unarmed Oxcart, the A-12 Avenger II would have carried weapons and could have conceivably revolutionized either the current or next generation of attack aircraft, i.e., air-to-ground combat.
Still, alas, it never got off the ground, figuratively or literally.
A-12 Avenger II Concept Art Creative Commons
The concept behind the A-12 dates back to 1983, when the U.S. Navy launched the Advanced Tactical Aircraft (ATA) program of develop and field a replacement for the venerable Grumman A-6 Intruder by 1994.
The A-12 would’ve doubled down on the A-6 as an all-weather, carrier-based bomber, with the added benefit of stealth technology even more advanced than the then-state-of-the-art F-117A Nighthawk, the original so-called “Stealth Fighter.”
The MD-GD tag team won the bid to develop the Avenger II in 1988.
As envisioned, the would-be warbird featured an isosceles triangle-shaped flying-wing design that bore at least a passing resemblance to the Northrop (now Northrop Grumman) B-2 Spirit—the original “Stealth Bomber”—and earned it the nickname “Flying Dorito.”
A-12 Avenger II Hypothetical Tech Specs and Vital Stats
Had the Avenger II come to fruition, it would have had a crew of two, a fuselage length of 37 feet 10 inches, a wingspan of 70 feet 3 inches, an empty weight of 39,000 lbs., and a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 80,000 lbs. Max airspeed would have been Mach 0.65.
Armament-wise, the would-be warbird was slated for a payload capacity of 5,160 pounds (2,300 kg) in internal weapons bays, including two AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile; nicknamed the “Slammer”) active radar-guided air-to-air missiles and two AGM-88 HARM (High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile) air-to-ground missiles.
So, What Went Wrong?
The Avenger II looked so promising.
Indeed, as late as March 1990, Vice Admiral Richard Michael “Dick” Dunleavy, then-Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Air), stated, “I like what I see, and [it] will be a good airplane.” The Navy planned to buy 620 airframes and the Marine Corps another 238, with the first entering service in 1995; at one point, the Air Force was reportedly considering a 400-plane purchase for good measure. So how did so much potential get flushed down the commode?
Aaron Spray of Simple Flying sums it up in a 19 July 2024 article: “Despite the optimism, the aircraft was found to be overweight, and manufacturing was more difficult than thought. Cost overruns and delays beset the Avenger II project…The cancellation of Avenger II was the largest project termination in US Defense Department history. The only A-12 Avenger II built was a mockup.”
Thus it came to pass that then-Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) Dick Cheney canceled the program outright on 7 January 1991.
In a cruel twist of irony, SECDEF Cheney’s cancellation announcement came just as a leading aviation journal was publishing this rosy assessment: “The A-12 attack bomber is emerging as the most important U.S. Navy aircraft program of the present decade and seems likely to be the last all-new type to enter service with the Navy this century.”
Coincidentally, the Persian Gulf War, AKA Operation Desert Storm, kicked off just 10 days after the Avenger II was canceled, and the aforementioned F-117 then dramatically demonstrated to the public the deadly accuracy of stealth technology as a bombing platform.
Aftermath
To add even more insult to injury, the Avenger II program’s woes didn’t end there.
There was also litigious fallout, as Mr. Spray elaborates: “The cancellation led to a long-running litigation, as the government wanted contractors to return some of the funding.
The case was not settled until 2014, when the contractors agreed to repay a lower sum.”
After the A-12’s inauspicious cancellation of the A-12, the USN purchased the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, which replaced not only the A-6 Intruder but also the F-14 Tomcat, killing two birds with one stone, and it continues to serve faithfully and effectively to this day.
However, the Navy would languish for the better part of three more decades without a stealth aircraft—surrendering all of the stealth bragging rights to the Air Force in the process—until 28 February 2019, when the “squids” finally attained Initial Operational Capability (IOC) with the naval variant of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, the F-35C.
Where Is It Now?
The full-size Avenger II mockup, that is?
In June 1996, it was revealed to the general public at Naval Air Station (NAS) Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth in Fort Worth, Texas.
It was transported to Veterans Memorial Air Park—now known as Fort Worth Aviation Museum—adjacent to Meacham International Airport in north Fort Worth in June 2013, thus serving as a tangible reminder of what might have been…kinda like the X-32.
About the Author: Christian D. Orr
Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (with a concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He is also the author of the book “Five Decades of a Fabulous Firearm: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Beretta 92 Pistol Series,” the second edition of which was recently published.
