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 U.S. began extensive air and artillery strikes against Islamic State group targets in Syria on Dec. 19 in retaliation for the killing of three Americans on Dec. 13 by a gunman affiliated with ISIS, U.S. officials said.
