The A-12 Avenger Shows Why The Navy Needs A Long-Range Strike Aircraft

[rangerrebew]

June 29, 2020

The A-12 Avenger Shows Why The Navy Needs A Long-Range Strike Aircraft

The Navy’s carrier air wings would have greatly benefited from an A-12-like capability had the program survived.
by TNI Staff

Here's What You Need To Remember: Though it was not immediately apparent at the time, with the cancellation of the A-12 program and the retirement of the A-6E, the U.S. Navy gave up its long-range strike capability in favor of an air wing that focused on sortie generation. While that was not a problem in the immediate aftermath of the end of the Cold War, with Russia resurgent and the emergence of China as a great power challenger, it is a serious issue for the viability of the carrier fleet.


During the closing stages of the Cold War, the United States Navy was developing a new long-range stealth bomber that could strike at even the most heavily defended targets from the deck of an aircraft carrier. But the ill-fated program was cancelled; leaving a gap in naval aviation capability that has not been filled to this day. 

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/12-avenger-shows-why-navy-needs-long-range-strike-aircraft-163571

[PeteS in CA]

The specified range of the 1980s McDonnell Douglas A-12 (a different plane from Lockheed's A-12, from which the SR-71 was developed) was significantly less than either the A-6E or the F/A-18 and F-35. While the A-6E was longer range than are the F/A-18 and F-35, the difference is not as great as for the A-12.

The article is premised on baloney.