Saying that “nobody could tell him how much it would cost to keep the program going,” Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney announces that he is canceling the McDonnell Douglas/General Dynamics A-12 Avenger attack aircraft program for default. The A-12 would have been the Navy’s first stealth aircraft.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
