The Avenger II was to be the US Navy's new Advanced Tactical Aircraft, designed to replace the
Grumman A-6 Intruder as the Navy's primary carrier-based attack aircraft. The design never reached
production, cancelled by the US Government after a series of budget overruns, design problems, and
political infighting. Not much has been released about the Avenger II, no doubt due to the lawsuits
that followed the government's cancellation of the production contract. Virtually everything was destroyed
in the aftermath - both data and jobs. Massive layoffs occurred at both McDonnell Douglas and
General Dynamics after the contract was cancelled.
This page is not about why the A-12 should or should not have been produced - it is simply my tribute to a plane that was never built. I hope this represents the ultimate collection of information about the Avenger II or, as it was known by those on the program, the Flying Dorito. All images and information was obtained from public sources - I never worked on or had access to anything to do with the A-12 program. Now you know as much as I do about the ultimate stealth aircraft, one that was *never* detected by radar... |
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