Message posted by quellish (Member since 06/26/2008) on August 11, 2023 at 11:08:07 PST:
> The Secret Projects Forum mentions that Appendix E of "Future Years Defense Program (FYDP) Structure," DoD 7045.7-H, dated April 2004, lists Aurora as "historic" rather than active, in which case whoever suggested Aurora could be flying in a different guise as a subsonic reconnaissance platform had no idea that the Quartz/AARS program was still in the design phase when the P-1 budget document containing the name Aurora was written, but was canceled in 1992 without producing hardware. The 2004 FYDP Structure document lists the Aurora program element as historical (inactive), but it does list the program element code, which had not be readily available elsewhere previously. The Aurora program element was a procurement (not R&D) program in the FY86 budget estimate published in early 1985. That program element was not associated with a "stealth hypersonic aircraft" until the LA Times article published in 1988. The idea that the Aurora program element was funding for the B-2 is somewhat plausible but still has some issues. Funding a program that way would be "changing the color of money", which is illegal. Funding for the B-2 during that period was (probably) coming from other places that had appropriate oversight - USAF has never detailed how the B-2 program was funded during this period but an analysis of the DoD budget during the relevant years suggests the majority came from "Other Production Charges" I am not aware of anyone suggesting "Aurora" flying as a subsonic reconnaissance aircraft., much less during that time period. The QUARTZ/AARS program did produce hardware, which was lost in an accident. This is what triggered the redesign and forced teaming with Boeing.
In Reply to: Updating page "The AURORA Program, Dead or Alive?" posted by Vahe Demirjian on August 10, 2023 at 9:47:42 PST:
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