A-12 Avenger II

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The McDonnell Douglas/General Dynamics A-12 Avenger II was an American aircraft program from McDonnell Douglas/General Dynamics designed to be an all-weather, stealth attack replacement for the A-6 Intruder in the United States Navy and Marines.

The aircraft suffered numerous problems throughout its development, especially with the materials used and the overall price of the aircraft (which had ballooned to an estimated US $165 million per unit). The project was subsequently cancelled by the Department of Defense in January of 1991, in favor of the more economical and higher performance F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, which has ended up replacing most combat types from the A-7, A-6, and the F-14. The later F-22 Raptor would exceed this figure and still yield an operational combat aircraft, but at the time, its cost per unit set a record.

Had the aircraft been completed, it would have been a variation on the flying wing design. Artists' conceptions and mockups of the craft revealed a stealth aircraft in the shape of a isosceles triangle, with the cockpit situated near the angle of the triangle. The aircraft was designed to have two General Electric F412-GE-D5F2 turbofans (each producing approximately 13,000 lbf (58 kN) thrust and was equipped to carry up to two AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles, two AGM-88 HARMs and a full complement of air-to-ground ordnance, including Mk 82 bombs or smart bombs in an internal weapons bay. The A-12 gained the nickname "Flying Dorito" early in its design cycle.