I haven't mentioned it much, but the Navy A-12 died a deserved death at the hands of the SecDef early this year for cost overruns and inept program management. While the aircraft was highly advanced and stealth capable, it was simply too costly (over 80 million apiece) and its mission included daylight attack. A line had to be drawn somewhere. Unfortunately, it seems the novel and capable V-22 Osprey is also in dire straights.
The Air Force selected the F-22 as the ATF and the rumour is that both aircraft met or exceeded performance expectations during the testing but that the real deciding factor against the F23 was not the aircraft but the performance of the parent company with regards to its bungling with the A-12. Unfortunately for Northrop, that only leaves it with the B-2 and most likely very few of those will be built. For all practical purposes, Northrop may well be out of the Military aircraft market within a few years.
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