Originally Posted by
Commando Cody
In the case of the A-12 it should be remembered that the team that might actually know how to build such an aircraft walked away from the competition. They decided that the only thing worse than losing the competition was winning it. .
There have been many historical inaccuracies written regarding the A-12 program cancellation, most written by individuals with limited access to information and biased preconceptions.
Grumman lost the ATA competition due to company arrogance that as manufacturer of the A-6 they could not lose.
Note, MCAIR was equally guilty of arrogance on the ATF contract, thinking that as manufacturer of the F-15 they could tell the USAF how the specifications should be written.