Advanced Tactical Aircraft 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
McDonnell Douglas/
General Dynamics, and
Northrop/
Grumman/
Vought in November 1984. The teams were awarded contracts for further concept development in 1986. The A-12 was named
Avenger II in homage to the
World War II-era Navy
torpedo-bomber Grumman TBF Avenger. 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. The A-12 was promoted as a possible replacement for the Air Force's
General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark, and for the United Kingdom's
Panavia Tornado fighter-bombers. The craft was a
flying wing design in the shape of an
isosceles triangle, with the
cockpit situated near the apex of the triangle. The A-12 gained the nickname "Flying
Dorito". The aircraft was to be powered by two
General Electric F412-D5F2 turbofan engines, each producing about of thrust. It was designed to carry
precision guided weapons internally, The A-12 was to have a weapons load of . Beginning in early 1990 General Dynamics and McDonnell Douglas revealed delays and projected cost increases. Due to late requirement changes to the aircraft impacting the composite design, 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. 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 Dick Cheney 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. 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 initiated a new attack aircraft program, the Advanced Attack (A-X), to replace the
A-6 Intruder; A-X would shortly become the Advanced Attack/Fighter (A/F-X) due to added fighter capabilities to eventually replace the
F-14 Tomcat as well. Meanwhile, the Navy also elected to purchase the
F/A-18E/F Super Hornet as an interim for A/F-X, and 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. A/F-X would be canceled in the 1993 Bottom Up Review, leaving the Super Hornet as the mainstay of the Navy's tactical air power. The full-size A-12
mockup was revealed to the public at the
Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth in June 1996. 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 June2013. The manner in which the program was canceled led to years of litigation between the contractors and the
Department of Defense over breach of contract (
General Dynamics Corp. v. United States). On 1 June 2009, the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit 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, 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 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. ==Specifications (A-12 Avenger II)==