Defense Technology International - March 2008 - (Page 31)

GOOGLE EARTH All three major U.S. military aircraft manufacturers have special projects divisions. Northrop Grumman’s appears to deal primarily with black projects. Lockheed Martin Skunk Works and Boeing Phantom Works conduct black and white programs. The magnitude of black defense programs is difficult to gauge for one reason: The Pentagon budget includes the complete budget for national intelligence. In gross terms, however, it’s not difficult to find large classified budget elements in unclassiﬁed documents. The bulk of the money appears to be in three places. In the R&D budget, there is a section for “operational systems development” for each service. Satellite view of USAF Flight Test Center Detachment 3—popularly In Fiscal 2009, the USAF budget known as Area 51—reveals a large base with recent construction work. in this category is $17.5 billion. Much of the black budget is associ- for advanced programs at Boeing’s InteBut listed items add up to only $7.2 billion. Moreover, $1.87 billion of this covers ated with intelligence community (IC) grated Defense Systems unit, recalls one two line items, “evaluation and analysis activities. The secret intelligence budget incident from his USAF career: “When I program” and “special evaluation sys- includes large nonexotic elements—even was working in the classiﬁed world I ran tem,” names for black programs. They a ﬁle cabinet for the CIA is a black-bud- a test that was successful, and briefed it are among projects that have continued get item. IC payrolls are the same and at the Pentagon. One of the senior ﬂags for years under the same program ele- probably account for the $11.7-billion there asked why we weren’t buying it. I ment numbers but di erent names (the item noted above. told him that in another compartment, One unambiguous barometer of I was working on something that would “evaluation and analysis program” was until 1994 “Copper Coast”). In all, $12.2 activity in black aircraft projects is totally obviate its value. But that was billion of the “operational systems devel- development of USAF’s secure ﬂight- more than 20 years ago.” test base at Groom Lake, Nev., popuopment” budget is black. Since then, a more formal structure There is another big piece of black larly and inaccurately known as Area has been established, with cross-cutting money in USAF’s procurement budget, 51. (It is Flight Test Center Detach- committees overseeing all black projunder “other base maintenance and ment 3, with headquarters at Edwards ects. Today, Muellner says, the quessupport equipment,” where listed items AFB, Calif.; identiﬁcation is “Homey” tion of whether white-world programs add up to $808 million. This falls short of in navigational databases.) Groom Lake may waste money duplicating what has the listed category total by $13.4 billion. was established by the CIA in 1955, as a been accomplished in the black no lonThe line item that accounts for the dif- temporary test base for the U-2. ger arises: “The question is in the other The ﬁrst major post-1960s expansion direction—do classiﬁed programs have ference, “Selected Activities,” was listed with a dollar amount until Fiscal 2006, occurred when Reagan-era programs full access to the white world? We don’t when it was suppressed after zooming reached the ﬂight-test stage in the late want classiﬁed programs reinventing from $5.4 billion in Fiscal 2000 to $12 1980s. However, only one project tested stu that’s in the white world.” at Groom Lake since then has been disbillion in Fiscal 2004. Another question, according to The third major element in the classi- closed—Boeing’s Bird of Prey. Muellner, “is whether there is enough Satellite photography in 2007 shows sharing going on between classified ﬁed budget is operations, where a line item under “administration and service-wide the first new construction at Groom projects—that’s what the A-12 dispute activities” is listed as “other programs,” Lake since the late 1980s, with a large is about.” (Boeing still contends that a hangar being built at the southern end factor in its problems with the Navy’s with $11.7 billion in Fiscal 2009. Other lodes of black-program money of the site, and renovation and expan- A-12 stealth bomber, canceled in 1991, are found in USAF’s missile and space sion of the “south base” hangars built for was that the company did not have procurement budget. Again, listed items Oxcart. The “scoot-and-hide” hangar at access to critical data from other LO fall short of the total. The di erence is the midpoint of the airﬁeld has also been programs.) “It’s a legitimate question,” around $1 billion annually, which cor- enlarged. The purpose of this shelter is Muellner says, “although since the A-12 responds to National Reconnaissance to minimize interruptions of ﬂight tests there’s been a much higher degree of Office spacecraft procurement. The when non-U.S. imaging satellites pass by sharing and cross-access.” I Navy plans in 2009 to spend $1.2 billion overhead. One common concern is whether black on R&D programs with code names like To read one of many weblog posts on Chalk Eagle and Link Plumeria that have projects lead to waste, due to a lack of black projects, go to DTI’s homepage, been in the budget for years. Either they oversight or duplication between whiteAviationWeek.com/dti, and click require a long time for development or world and classified efforts. George on ‘Extras for this issue’ under Muellner, recently retired vice president are slush-fund lines. ‘DTI Interactive.’ AviationWeek.com/dti MARCH 2008 DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL 31 http://www.aviationweek.com/dti http://www.aviationweek.com/dti

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Defense Technology International - March 2008

Defense Technology International - March 2008 Contents Sweden Cancels SEP; Israel Launches Imaging Satellite; Geotextiles Secure Ammo Dump U.S. Navy Taps Neural Architecture Software to Assure Job Satisfaction Shrapnel-Like Pieces of Reactive Materials Increase Explosive Force of Bombs Technology is Rapidly Closing the Gap Between Sensors and Shooters Italian Army Program Aims to Develop a Fully Networked Land Force Political and Military Uncertainties Plague U.S. Defense Budget Democrats Put Pentagon on Notice Over Spending and Policy at DTAR Conference Russian Combat Vehicle Protects Tank Formations from Anti-Armor Weapons European Battlelabs Use Simulation to Verify Technologies and Stretch Defense Funds Malaysia Accelerates Fleet Modernization to meet Long-Term Goals U.S. Navy Says Composite Raiding Boat May Reduce Injuries From Wave Shocks Seeing Isn’t Believing When it Comes to Deciphering Funds for Secret Projects Advances in Sensors and Propulsion Make Torpedoes Ever More Lethal FAA is in No Rush to Approve Rules that Let UAVs Fly in Civil Airspace USS Truman Carrier Strike Group Patrols a Rough Neighborhood 24/7 U.S. says Sino-Russian Space Disarmament Plan is Riddled with Pitfalls Hyperspeed Projectile; “Sound Cloak” Hides Subs; Improving Nuclear Forensics Dutch Air Commodore Theo ten Haaf Analyzes the Impact of Rotary-Wing Operations One Soldier’s War is a Behind-the-Headlines Look at Russia’s Campaigns in Chechnya Black Budgets are Huge and Growing, and Often Conceal Amazing Failures

Defense Technology International - March 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.