From: skunk-works-digest-owner@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu To: skunk-works-digest@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu Subject: Skunk Works Digest V3 #7 Reply-To: skunk-works-digest@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu Errors-To: skunk-works-digest-owner@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu Precedence: bulk Skunk Works Digest Tuesday, 10 August 1993 Volume 03 : Number 007 In this issue: [none] Rumors and Replies See the end of the digest for information on subscribing to the skunk-works or skunk-works-digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: sbooth@gallifrey.win.net (Simon Booth) Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1993 4:42.59.94 Subject: [none] subscribe ------------------------------ From: larry@ichips.intel.com Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1993 10:24:46 -0700 Subject: Rumors and Replies Rumor: There is a rumor that the next issue of PM or PS has the Boeing airbreathing TSTO as a cover story. Paul McGinnis writes: >I've seen the code-name "Senior Citizen" used as the new identity of Aurora. >Based on work I've been doing trying to investigate and understand the >Department of Defense's "black" budget (i.e the Special Access Programs >whose cost and purpose is highly classified), I believe that the name that >is actually being used for this aircraft is "Senior Year". The reason I >say this is based on information from "National Defense Authorization Act >for Fiscal Year 1993" (House of Representatives Report 102-527). In this >document, Defense Program Element 0401316F, "Senior Citizen" is part of >a group of tactical aircraft R&D programs. Under intelligence R&D programs, >is 0301317F, "Senior Year" Operations. Given that there have been reports >of Aurora activity for a number of years, it would be reasonable that the >Air Force is operating the aircraft, but not building new Auroras. > >The "Senior" designation has been used for manned "black" aircraft for >a number of years - I think the first "Senior" program was "Senior Book", >the U-2R variant that was used during the end of the Vietnam War. Here's >a list of recent "Senior" programs: > "Senior Trend" - F-117A stealth fighter > "Senior CJ" - B-2 stealth bomber (possibly "Senior SeaJay" - the name > was spoken in a conversation) > "Senior Citizen" - TR-3A ?? > "Senior Year" - Aurora ?? >Also, the Air Force has a new program called "Have Flag". It seems that >the "Senior" designator is used for programs that are used in service, while >"Have" refers to aircraft like "Have Blue" that are tests of advanced >concepts. Thanks Paul for the research! Don't forget SENIOR SMART and SENIOR WARRIOR, also among some of the more recent SENIORs, which are also rumored to be intelligence systems. Sylvain HANNETON for Emmanuel Marin writes: >Subject: AW&ST/Popular Mechanics/Jane's Defence Weekly > >Hello, all subscribers, > >I'm writing this from France and I would like to ask the US contributors this >vey simple question : >What is the reliability of the above three magazines (see the subject line) >as far as "Black Programs" are concerned ? I understand that P.M. is the >less reliable one. Well, I don't think that P.M. is less reliable. I guess I disagree with all the implications of the word 'reliable'. PM is certainly less specialized and less knowledgeable in the aerospace field. Aerospace and Defense are the main domains of AW&ST and Janes. No need to get into an arguement about which of AW&ST and Janes is 'better'. I think what you are looking for is that they are both relied upon by the world's aerospace and defense industry for professional A&D information, news, and even speculation. Governments have also used them in the past as well. On their 'informed' speculation, they have both been very wrong, as well as very right. Also, classical UFO's are not in the domains of either. Think very carefully about what I just said. John Erling Blad writes: >Lately the name SR-75 has emerged, I do not know if the plane exist but ... SR-75 is the name that the Testors Plastic Model Co. marketing group has applied to one of their new plastic AURORA models that are about to hit the market. See Rick's message of a week or so ago about this. The SR-75 model is an XB-70 like shape and portrays an airbreathing booster for an airbreathing hypersonic reconnaissance vehicle. The model of the delta shaped hypersonic reconnaissance aircraft will be available about a month later. Larry ------------------------------ End of Skunk Works Digest V3 #7 ******************************* To subscribe to skunk-works-digest, send the command: subscribe skunk-works-digest in the body of a message to "listserv@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu". If you want to subscribe something other than the account the mail is coming from, such as a local redistribution list, then append that address to the "subscribe" command; for example, to subscribe "local-skunk-works": subscribe skunk-works-digest local-skunk-works@your.domain.net To unsubscribe, send mail to the same address, with the command: unsubscribe skunk-works-digest in the body. Administrative requests, problems, and other non-list mail can be sent to either "skunk-works-digest-owner@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu" or, if you don't like to type a lot, "prm@ecn.purdue.edu". 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