$5 Billion Misunderstanding The Collapse of the Navy's A-12 Stealth Bomber Program

9781557507778

1557507775

In April 1990 the U.S. Navy's A-12--a replacement aircraft for the outdated A-6 Intruder--had the support of the Secretary of Defense before Congress. Nine months later Secretary Cheney cancelled the A-12, making it the largest weapons program ever terminated by the Pentagon & the first cancelled for default with the Pentagon making demands that the contractors return the money already paid them. Ten years later, questions remain unanswered & lessons are still to be learned. With access to a wealth of government & contractor documents & more than a hundred players at all levels of involvement, James Stevenson takes readers into the once-forbidden world of classified "special access" programs to examine the demise of the A-12, charging that the documents exposed fraudulent & even illegal activity. He faults the navy not just for mismanagement but for ignoring the statues & regulations that require Congress to appropriate money before entering into contracts. Rather than a single big mistake, he finds the A-12's path from honor to derision to be littered with hundreds of mistakes & attempts to right wrongs or cover them up. In recounting the events that eventually led to the Stealth bomber's cancellation, Stevenson cites countless examples of the mismatch between perception & reality experienced by navy program managers, the defense department, Congress, & the contractors. In the process of telling the story, he takes on the entire defense acquisition process & its responsibility for the program that cost American taxpayers over $5 billion yet produced not a single airplane for their defense.