Black project

A black project is a term used for a highly classified military or defense project publicly unacknowledged by government, military personnel, and contractors. Examples of United States military aircraft developed as black projects include the F-117 Nighthawk stealth attack aircraft and the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, both of which were highly classified and denied as existing until ready to be announced to the public. In the United States, the formal term for a black project is Special access program (SAP). The money that funds these projects is referred to as the black budget.

Examples

United States

Previously classified

Manhattan Project
B-2 Spirit stealth bomber
Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk stealth helicopter
Boeing Bird of Prey stealth technology demonstrator
F-117 Nighthawk stealth ground-attack aircraft
KH-11 Kennen reconnaissance satellite
SR-71 Blackbird Mach 3.3 very high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft
Lockheed CL-400 Suntan high-altitude, high-speed reconnaissance prototype
Lockheed U-2 very high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft
Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel
Lockheed Martin Polecat unmanned aerial vehicle
Northrop Tacit Blue
Operation Cyclone[1]
RQ-3 Dark Star high altitude reconnaissance UAV
Lockheed Sea Shadow (IX-529) experimental stealth US Navy ship
Hughes Mining Barge CIA project authorized 1974 to raise sunken Soviet submarine K-129
SR-72 stealth reconnaissance UAV, confirmed by Lockheed Martin in October 2013.[2][3]

Speculated or classified

Stealth Blimp Reconnaissance platform [4][5][6]

Aurora
TR-3

People's Republic of China

Xian H-20 subsonic stealth bomber aircraft

South Africa

Project Coast
Atlas Carver multirole fighter aircraft

References

Greenwald, Glenn. "Dangerous Travels". Dangeroustravel.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
"An SR-72 in the works?". Airforcetimes.com. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
"Meet the SR-72". Lockheed Martin Corporation. Archived from the original on 2018-02-07. Retrieved 2015-06-17.
"Investigation Casts Light on the Mysterious Flying Black Triangle". space.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2009. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
"Mystery - Blimp". Fas.org. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
"The stealth blimp dot com". Thestealthblimp.com. Archived from the original on 2019-08-05. Retrieved 2013-09-09.

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[1] Greenwald, Glenn. "Dangerous Travels". Dangeroustravel.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2013-09-09.

[2] "An SR-72 in the works?". Airforcetimes.com. Retrieved 2013-09-09.

[3] "Meet the SR-72". Lockheed Martin Corporation. Archived from the original on 2018-02-07. Retrieved 2015-06-17.

[4] "Investigation Casts Light on the Mysterious Flying Black Triangle". space.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2009. Retrieved 2013-09-09.

[5] "Mystery - Blimp". Fas.org. Retrieved 2013-09-09.

[6] "The stealth blimp dot com". Thestealthblimp.com. Archived from the original on 2019-08-05. Retrieved 2013-09-09.