Originally Posted by
Stu666
Never ceases to amaze me how they spent all that money researching and developing these fantastic aircraft, only to mothball them a few years later. And then they languished in a hangar, virtually untouched for the next 20-odd years. Surely the US could've got more use out of them? I understand it was political and due to internal rivalries, but even so, what a monumental waste of technology and taxpayer money. No wonder they kept them secret for so long.
Unfortunately not something unique to just the A-12. The USN had a research sub nearly sink in 2002. They spent 3 years and many millions to fix, upgrade and then conduct sea trials on it only to retire it to a museum in 2006.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Dolphin_(AGSS-555)