Black project

Black project is an informal term used to describe a highly classified, top-secret military or defense project that is not publicly acknowledged by government, military personnel, or contractors.

United States and black projects

The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is an example of an American black project, with its existence being classified information throughout its design and manufacture, as well as for several years after its service commenced.

In the United States, the formal term for a black project is an unacknowledged special access program (SAP). Black projects receive their funding from the black budget.

The US depends on private defense contractors to develop and build military equipment. The two most notable examples are Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. The R&D department of Lockheed Martin is commonly referred to as Skunk Works; it is responsible for a number of aircraft designs, highly classified R&D programs, and exotic aircraft platforms.

Two well known sites for testing of black projects are the Nevada Test site and Area 51.

Previously unacknowledged

Below are examples of previously unacknowledged black projects categorized per country.

China

Nuclear weapons program
Xian H-20 subsonic stealth bomber aircraft

France

Nuclear Weapons program

North Korea

Nuclear weapons program

Russia

Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic (mach 10) air-launched ballistic missile

South Africa (apartheid-era)

Project Coast chemical and biological weapons program
Atlas Carver multirole fighter aircraft

Soviet Union

Nuclear weapons program
Sputnik 1 artificial Earth satellite
Typhoon submarine
Vostok programme human spaceflight project

Sweden

Nuclear weapons program (was never completed)

Switzerland

Switzerland and weapons of mass destruction

United Kingdom

Enigma machine cipher device
Operation Hurricane Nuclear Weapons program

United States

Boeing Bird of Prey stealth technology demonstrator
Hughes Mining Barge CIA project authorized 1974 to raise sunken Soviet submarine K-129
KH-11 Kennen reconnaissance satellite
Lockheed CL-400 Suntan high-altitude, high-speed reconnaissance prototype
Lockheed Have Blue stealth technology demonstrator
Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk stealth ground-attack aircraft
Lockheed Martin Polecat unmanned aerial vehicle
Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird Mach 3.3 very high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft
Lockheed Martin SR-72
Lockheed U-2 very high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft
Manhattan Project Nuclear weapons program
Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit stealth bomber
Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider stealth bomber
Northrop Grumman RQ-180 stealth unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) surveillance aircraft
Northrop Tacit Blue
RQ-3 Dark Star high altitude reconnaissance UAV
Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk stealth helicopter
Lockheed Sea Shadow (IX-529) experimental stealth US Navy ship

References