The fiscal year 2024 Defense Department budget request to Congress is out and though I often look for what’s not in there, this year what jumped out at me is the number of classified programs for which little explanation is given. The recent leaked documents on Ukraine and other subjects certainly raises questions regarding what’s really classified, and why. One has to wonder why so much is classified, but more important, how the Defense Department is able to extract $800 billion plus from the American public while providing so little tangible regarding what we’re buying.
Some codenames and classified projects in the budget:
AJME
Artemis: “sensor package optimized for high-altitude operations.”
Athena
Aurora
Avatar
Bedlam
Birdseye Yonder
Big Blue
Black Hole Sun
Brutus
Bullseye
Chariot
Cheep Date: “Fire and forget EW submunition uses adversary RF for guidance and delivers EA or cyber effects over hours or days when within range.”
Complete Pivot
Crystal Vista
Cyber Gemeni
Dark Skies
DISARM
Dragon
Eclipse
Elastic Sky X (ESX) Infrastructure
El Camino: “enhance unmanned aerial systems (UAS) navigation in adverse conditions.”
Endless Diver: SOCOM unmanned undersea vehicleV
Equinox
Eris
EXACT
Galaxian
Ghost Fleet
Golden Apple
Gollum
Grandstand
HAYFINS: “ground-based system supporting space and autonomy modernization priorities by fusing protection technologies, artificial intelligence/machine learning, and legacy systems enabling freedom of maneuver in support of multi-domain operations.”
Hefted Blue
Hoover
Hurt Locker
Identity Warrior: “leveraged advances in optics, cloud computing, and AI/ML to passively capture and analyze human signatures at a distance.”
Iron Quest
Jaded Unicorn
Kestrel: “improve the Warfighter’s ability to execute undersea missions, bringing immediate benefit to the operational force.”
JUNU
LOGAN
LUCAS
Mulligan: SOCOM low probability of intercept RF communications system.
Northpole: “A high performance neural inference computing substrate to enable next generation AI, ML and autonomy applications supporting EW such as detection, classification, prediction, sensor fusion and scene analysis.”
Pathfinder (NORAD)
Perched Mantlet
Phantom: “a tool suite and end-user training applications that modernized DoD capabilities to keep pace with future RF spectrum technologies.”
Point Break
PRISM
Prometheus Emerald
Project 2106
Project 3567
Project 6312
Project Herald
Project Maven
Quicksink
Quiet Riot
Radiant Touchstone
Raging Parakeet (RP)
RAGNAR
Retract Larch: PE 0606005D8Z / Special Activities
Samurai
Scornful Mustang
Scout
SDT: Special access program: PE 0603838D8Z.
Sea Archer
Seaman’s Eye
Shadow Cat
Shawshank
Silent Swarm 23
Sky Blue: “SUNet also hosts Sky Blue, which enables USEUCOM to collaborate with multinational partners and coordinate the transfer of critical security assistance to Ukraine.”
Sky Mark
The Gates
Turul
Virtual Stingray 23
Walkoff: Special Access Program, PE 0603600D8Z.
Wallfly
Wildcat
Wolfpack