Black project
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In the United States a black project is a classified military/defense project, unacknowledged by the government, military personnel, and defense contractors. Familiar examples of U.S. military aircraft developed as black projects are the F-117 stealth fighter and B-2 stealth bomber, which were highly classified and denied to exist until ready to be announced to the public.
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[edit] Legal issues
Black programs have been criticized[who?] for violating the Receipts and Expenditures clause of the United States Constitution.[citation needed] Article I, Section 9, clause 7 of the United States Constitution requires the government to publish a "regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money".
[edit] Money issues
Because black programs are not disclosed as part of the United States official budget, critics contend that this violates the United States Constitution. Partially to dissuade critics, the United States Department of Defense sets aside a large portion of their annual budget as "the black budget".[citation needed] This money is said to be divided in undisclosed portions among all black projects so that a record of how much public money is expended in undisclosed ways will still be publicly available.[citation needed]
[edit] Previously classified black projects
- B-2 Spirit stealth bomber
- Boeing Bird of Prey technology demonstrator
- F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter
- KH-11
- SR-71 Blackbird
- Lockheed U-2
- Lockheed Martin Polecat
- Northrop Tacit Blue
- YF-23A ATF Program
- Operation Cyclone[1]
- RQ-3 Dark Star high altitude reconnaissance UAV
[edit] Currently classified black projects
- KH-13 spy satellite
- X-41 Common Aero Vehicle military spaceplane
- SR-72 stealth reconnaissance UAV[2]
- SR-91 Aurora hypersonic spy aircraft (unconfirmed)
[edit] References
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