US NAVY ATA (Advanced Tactical Aircraft) program: A-12 Avenger II & its rivals

[Desert Watchdog]

I won't add my own opinions here, as they have been addressed. Just adding the video for reference.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xiRdy9mAmM

 

[FighterJock]

What got me about the A-12 after watching the above YouTube video, was that the A-12 was the only stealth aircraft at that time that would have carried air-air missiles (AIM-120 AMRAAMs no less) in seperate internal weapon bays, the B-2 in comparison only relied on it's stealth technology to get through enemy air defences.

 

[Scott Kenny]

What got me about the A-12 after watching the above YouTube video, was that the A-12 was the only stealth aircraft at that time that would have carried air-air missiles (AIM-120 AMRAAMs no less) in seperate internal weapon bays, the B-2 in comparison only relied on it's stealth technology to get through enemy air defences.

Yeah, I thought that was wild. Typical mission load was 2x 2000lb, 2x HARM, and 2x AMRAAMs...

 

[flateric]

...

 

[DWG]

What got me about the A-12 after watching the above YouTube video, was that the A-12 was the only stealth aircraft at that time that would have carried air-air missiles (AIM-120 AMRAAMs no less) in seperate internal weapon bays, the B-2 in comparison only relied on it's stealth technology to get through enemy air defences.

OTOH this was the period when USN was planning to stick BVRAAMs on everything that would fly in order to maximise carrier air defence capability in the Outer Air Battle against Russian regiment or multi-regiment sized attacks. If they were planning to put AIM-152 on A-6F then putting AAMs on the near-contemporary A-12 would have been the obvious thing to do. (See Friedman, Fighters Over The Fleet)

 

[FighterJock]

I would have loved to have seen an A-6F carrying AIM-152s DWG. It was a big missile as I remember.

 

[Scott Kenny]

I would have loved to have seen an A-6F carrying AIM-152s DWG. It was a big missile as I remember.

Long but skinny. one was a ~5" missile with a 7-8" booster, the other was a ~6-7" front section and a 8-9" ramjet section.

 

[FighterJock]

Thanks for that Scott Kenny, I did not know that the AIM-152 came in two variants.

 

[Scott Kenny]

Thanks for that Scott Kenny, I did not know that the AIM-152 came in two variants.

Two contestants, General Dynamics/Westinghouse was the long and skinny, Hughes/Raytheon was the ramjet.

GD/W was SARH with IR terminal homing, H/R was ARH with midcourse updates from the launching plane.

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/aim-152-aaam-phoenix-replacement-projects.2548/

 

[hesham]

From Naval Aviation News 1990/11.

 

[apparition13]

Quick question, does anyone have the physical dimensions for the Northrop design? Wingspan, length, etc.? I used a measuring tool on one of the images and it looks to be roughly 44 feet long with a 78 foot wingspan, by I'm not that confident it's correct.

 

[Mark Nankivil]

Quick question, does anyone have the physical dimensions for the Northrop design? Wingspan, length, etc.? I used a measuring tool on one of the images and it looks to be roughly 44 feet long with a 78 foot wingspan, by I'm not that confident it's correct.

Pretty sure that is in Tony Chong's book "Flying Wings & Radical Things: Northrop's Secret Aerospace Projects & Concepts 1939-1994".

Crazy - the book was published in 2016, doesn't seem that long ago... Mark

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