The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments’ Steve Kosiak has crunched the numbers on DOD’s classified, or “black,” programs in the 2007 budget—revealing that black programs “appear to account” for approximately $30.1 billion of the acquisition funding. Kosiak says that the 2007 black acquisition budget is higher than any budget since 1988, which was $29.4 billion in 2007 dollars. According to Kosiak’s analysis, funding for black programs has grown “substantially faster” than funding for overall acquisition.
Air Force depots are not typically meant for quick repair jobs, but during Operation Epic Fury, the service moved some of its stateside heavy maintenance capability forward to fix battle-damaged aircraft closer to the fight.
