What are the current secret Black aviation projects?

I think you made those up...

I don't think there are any substantial Black Projects now. I expect the only Black Projects are smaller unmanned vehicles or more at systems level. I would be surprised if something like Aurora was operating.

The reason for it is not there like it was during the arms race in the Cold War. Those years saw aircraft and technology race ahead with aircraft such as the SR-71. Back then you had a clearly defined enemy that you had to keep one step ahead of. Now you do not have that race for Technology you had during the 50's, 60's, 70's & 80's.

The reasons I don't think any sizeable Black Project exists are:
1) There were a few sightings, and "regular" earthquake readings that were unexplained during the 1980s and very early 1990's. Over the last 10 years these sighting have fallen away to virtually zero. Either there haven't been any or People that have seen it are keeping very quiet for fear of the Men in Black turning up.
2) Spotters & Enthusiasts are everywhere, with the ability to communicate in a way they never could 20 years ago. Back in the 1980's there were dozens of bases in the UK you could sneak a jet into, now a large number of these have gone leaving one a few frontline bases that could host the jet for a stop over. Then you have to take into consideration that most enthusiasts are armed with Cameras, and mobiles, so if anything interesting was to be seen the word, or photographic evidence would be out very quickly.

I think most development is now looking into unmanned vehicles rather than high altitude recon aircraft.

I don't think Aurora or whatever was seen in the early 1990s ever went into service, as no sightings or evidence such as seismic booms have been recorded since. Would there really be anything to gain by keeping a 20 year old project "black" now anyway?

Careful now.
Down with this sort of thing.

One of my mates was living close to the base at the time, said it was a very strange couple of days, troops everywhere, lots of jeeps.

There also the small fact the US is completely and utterly broke.

Re satellites: there was the ASM-135 anti-satellite missile which was sucessfully tested. It was launched from an F-15, and was supposed to destroy the target with a blast of metal fragments. Last test was back in 1986.



This and loads of other intersesting things in "Aurora" by Bill Sweetman. Bit out of date now (1993), but black projects (both known and otherwise) are discussed at some length.

Have a look at 'Billion Dollar Secret' http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-397554639... It's from 1999 but i'm sure some of still relevant today. In it, a top bod from Lockheed Martin Skunk Works cites the F-117 (now not in service) to be a "grey project" in that it is in the public eye but there are aspects of it's design/capabilities that are still classified. I suspect that this applies to the B-2 nowadays. I understand it is kept under armed guard at airshows.
I'd place money on a hypersonic jet being in operation now and very technically advanced nano-UAVs.

Makes sense to me, they hid the F117 for soooo many years before making it public so why not continue and improve the technology for something even more stealthy and faster?
Failing that I think they'll just make more unmaned stealth bombers and have the pilots on the ground.

I'd have thought there would most value in the development of low altitude nano drones for both surveilance and combat roles - certainly in the current post cold war environment. Less resources, money and casualties, quick & easy transportation (and easy to keep under wraps) & deployment and to an extent, disposable.

A grid of fixed position drones for example could provide intelligence and support to secure a large area for ground troops.

The idea of deploying a similar system in a civil context has much less comfortable implications obviously.