Fergie's Tech Blog

The U.S. Black Budget Bonanza

Nick Schwellenbach writes on the Project for Government Oversight blog:

The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments' Steven Kosiak has estimated the "black" or classified defense budget has ballooned to $30.1 billion, or 19%, of the total fiscal year 2007 Department of Defense budget request (via TPMMuckraker). This total is split roughly evenly between research and development (R&D) funding and acquisition programs. The amount spent on classified acquisition has nearly doubled since the mid-1990s--a rate much faster than unclassified acquisition programs.

As Kosiak notes, the record of black programs has been mixed. Though programs like the F-117 stealth fighter have been considered highly successful, the failed A-12 Navy stealth bomber was a massive loss for the taxpayer because of the lack of oversight.

posted by Fergie @ 5/26/2006 07:24:00 AM