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.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.