Help, the Government canceled a proposed new Navy plane awhile ago, any clues, Thanks?

Question

Help, the Government canceled a proposed new Navy plane awhile ago, any clues, Thanks?

Answer 1

It sounds like you're referring to the A-12 which was

cancelled by d**k Cheney when he was SecDef under

George Bush Sr.

"7 January 1991, Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney canceled the program, in the largest contract termination in DoD history. By one estimate the A-12 had become so expensive that it would have consumed up to 70 percent of the Navy's aircraft budget within three years."

There were improprieties in how the money was being spent.

Huge cost overruns and technical issues like with almost

any high tech aircraft that has never been built before.

the NAvy won't have any stealth capability until the F-35

comes on line....

Answer 2

what type of aircraft was it?  Fighter? Transport?  Helicopter? UAV?

Answer 3

AS far as I know the navy has not cancelled any aircraft recently. It did decommission a couple of old planes but no new ones. Planes on the drawing board are the P-8 replacement for the P-3. The Osprey to replace the CH-46 and CH-53. EA-6B to be replaced by the EF-18. The KA-6B to be replaced by S-3's in the tanker role. There are no replacements for the E-2 hawkeye at this time. That's about all there is.

Answer 4

I believe you are talking about the plane that, if ordered would be designated the A-12.

It was a stealth all weather attack aircraft. Carrier compatible and was to replace the A-6 All Weather Attack Aircraft from the 50s or 60s.

It was canceled mainly due to lack of funding or the unwillingness of the Congress to fund the project. The A-12 came right after the B-2 and the F-117. Which each cost up to 1 billion per plane for the B2 and 172 million or so for a 117. They were getting tired of diverting so many funds to defense and didn't feel that the US needed so much new gadgets.

There were several problems with the aircraft itself too.

It could only use smart weapons such as Laser Guided Bombs and Mavericks. Didn't even have a cannon. Senior staff didn't like that part at all

The structure was not strong enough to withstand continued use on acft carriers and had to be strenthenghed. This led to more bucks per plane AND they needed to find stronger engines for it. Those engines did not exist.

Also, there was a problem with G-loads. It had  G-load of  5 Gs. Not nearly enough to survive in a modern day battlefield*. It seems at High angles of attack, the engines' intakes were blocked by the airframe and the engines would compressor stall or simply quit.  

*even with stealth technology, in a modern warfield, there are simply too many radars radiating and it is easy to acquire the aircraft thus requiring aggressive maneuvering from the pilot to avoid a missile when acquired.

the 5g limit would also be routinely exceed in training operations and certain senior staff worried about the level of aircraft and pilots lost in training.

instead, they upgraded the F-18s and came up with the superhornet which had better range, payload and engines. Thankfully, the F-35 will be around sooner or later to ease the load the hornet was carrying.(I'm not that fond of single engine aircraft thought)---- (The Hornet was all weather attack, carrier defense-known as BARCAP- and SAM supression and also a fighter craft)