WI: Conventional A12

WI the USN A12 programme wasn't an ultra fancy stealth bomber, rather it was more conventional with some stealth features like the B1B or Super Hornet? What would it look like and how would it perform?
 
WI the USN A12 programme wasn't an ultra fancy stealth bomber, rather it was more conventional with some stealth features like the B1B or Super Hornet? What would it look like and how would it perform?

Then it wouldn't be the A-12.

The flying taco (or tortilla, I can't remember) could not have remotely been anything similar to the B-1B or the Super Hornet.

It would be better to ask what if the USN had decided to buy the naval version of the F-117A Nighthawk (dubbed by some as the Seahawk) instead of hoping for the A-12 to work.
 
The flying Dorito. The A12 is simply a designation, it would be bestowed on whatever the next attack plane is, but I wonder what a semi stealth naval attack bomber in the 80s-90s would look like.

Given that the USAF only bought 50 odd F117s was a mass produced naval version viable?
 
The flying Dorito. The A12 is simply a designation, it would be bestowed on whatever the next attack plane is, but I wonder what a semi stealth naval attack bomber in the 80s-90s would look like.

Given that the USAF only bought 50 odd F117s was a mass produced naval version viable?

I've read a book about prototypes developed by the Lockheed Skunk Works.

Lockheed had hoped to produce a naval version of the F-117A in conjunction with an F-117B (longer range, heavier version) that would replace the F-111 for the U.S. and the Panavia Tornado IDS version for the British RAF.

A total of some 400 plus aircraft were envisioned.
 
The problem that both the A-12 and the F-117N had in common was that salt air and radar-absorbent materials didn't mix. One assumes that those issues have been solved with F-35, though.

The Navy would've been better off if they had simply gone ahead with the A-6F program in the first place or reactivated it after the A-12's cancellation.

There was also the A/FX program, which envisioned a joint Navy-AF strike aircraft to replace the A-6 in the Navy and Marine Corps, along with the F-111 and F-15E in the AF. Canceled by the Clinton Administration in 1994 and JSF substituted.

The Lockheed-Martin A/FX entry:

AFX_USN_VFA35.jpg
 
The A - 6 Intruder a truly great strike platform and disappointing that the A - 6 F was never adopted into service.

As to your question uncertain of how it would perform, but it would have been a better fit IMO than the Super Hornet in the strike role.
 
The A6F would not be able to take advantage of the semi-stealth that was available in the 80s and incorporated into the B1B and Super Hornet. While a carrier borne mini B2 seems to be too much to shoot for, tarting up an early 60s bomber seems to me as not reaching far enough. The Bombcat would have been better, its a much newer basic design than the A6 and has a lot more intrinsic dynamic capability.
 
The A6F would not be able to take advantage of the semi-stealth that was available in the 80s and incorporated into the B1B and Super Hornet. While a carrier borne mini B2 seems to be too much to shoot for, tarting up an early 60s bomber seems to me as not reaching far enough. The Bombcat would have been better, its a much newer basic design than the A6 and has a lot more intrinsic dynamic capability.

One of the problems with F-14 variants is that (contrary to public perception) the Navy had loathed the Tomcat for decades. Mainly due to its massive size, lack of reliability (routinely out of each 12 plane squadron on a carrier, only 8 or 9 were available for combat), and the early history of compressor stalls that led to the deaths of dozens of pilots.
 
The problems with the Tomcat were due to the TF-30 engine, forced on the Navy by one Rep. Les Aspin...why? The engine was built in his district. The Navy really wanted the F401 or the F110 (on the D), and the D was the Tomcat the Navy really wanted. Blame Dick Cheney for killing that....

Having a dedicated strike aircraft on carriers frees up the Hornets for air superiority tasks, with the ability to compliment the strike birds when necessary. A-6F or the A/FX would've done that.
 
IIUC many of the problems of the TF30-412 engine were ameliorated in the TF30-414A which were fitted to the final 102 F14A and 929 412s were converted to 414As during the 80s.
 
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