Classified open source programs

[Zaphod58]

After some digging, a list of classified programs with open source information has been put together. Some are pretty obvious, but others are just now leaking out tiny bits of information.

Lockheed P958:
Mentioned in the Lockheed quarterly reports for the last few quarters, but just now mentioned by name. About 1.8 billion dollars invested so far. Not a fighter, not a bomber, but something that engineers inside the company are calling a game-changer. It’s part of the “Aero Classified” workshare and has the company’s chief engineer directly attached. They have also mentioned that they're putting basically all available hands on the program.

Northrop Project Lotus:
Built at Scaled Composites in Mojave. Large, jet-powered UCAV that likely serves as Northrop’s entry for the Air Force’s CCA Increment 2. The layout shows a top intake, long fuselage, and canted tails. Think survivable autonomous wingman rather than disposable drone.

Boeing F-47/NGAD:
The first airframe is already under construction. The exact shape, propulsion, and sensors are locked down under a Special Access Program. Expect a tailless, blended body design and full integration with CCAs.

RQ-180/P-ISR:
Northrop’s penetrating ISR platform. Never confirmed publicly but widely believed to be operational out of Tonopah. Replaces the Global Hawk and shares design cues with the B-21. Some watchers call it the “Great White Bat.”
 
Lockheed Mayhem(DARPA):
Long-range hypersonic demonstrator aimed at sustained Mach 5 + flight using combined-cycle propulsion. It’s part of the push toward reusable hypersonic strike aircraft rather than one-shot missiles.

Boeing X-66A TTBW:
Officially a civil research jet, but the airflow and materials research have defense roots. Some subprojects under the same umbrella deal with laminar-flow stealth surfaces for reconnaissance platforms. Program is currently paused.

Kratos Black Programs:
“Oblivion” and “Dark Fury” have both appeared in financial filings. Likely small stealth UCAVs built for rapid-fire attritable testing tied to CCA Increment 1.

Anduril Ghost Bat/Fury 2:
U.S. adaptations of the MQ-28 Ghost Bat being built under Anduril’s autonomy program in California. These are expected to work as fast, loyal wingmen paired with manned command nodes.

Northrop RQ-NEXT:
Follow-on to the RQ-180, probably sharing systems with the B-21. References to “Cross-Domain ISR” in budget lines fit this slot. Deep-penetration reconnaissance that can also deliver payloads.
 
DARPA LongShot/GA-ASI Gambit 5:
LongShot is an air-launched drone that carries its own missiles. Gambit 5 is a carrier-deck CCA designed around a modular core. Both have open test phases, but the real autonomy code and sensors are locked up under SAP.

[Signal Witch]

The pattern is clear. The U.S. is building a networked air force where one manned jet acts as the brain and a swarm of unmanned systems handle the reach. NGAD and F/A-XX sit at the top of that pyramid, while programs like Lotus, Gambit, and Oblivion fill out the lower tiers.
 
Every one of these projects pushes toward the same goal: distributed, stealthy, AI-driven airpower that fights as a single organism instead of a formation of pilots.

[Zaphod58]

The pattern is clear. The U.S. is building a networked air force where one manned jet acts as the brain and a swarm of unmanned systems handle the reach. NGAD and F/A-XX sit at the top of that pyramid, while programs like Lotus, Gambit, and Oblivion fill out the lower tiers.
 
Every one of these projects pushes toward the same goal: distributed, stealthy, AI-driven airpower that fights as a single organism instead of a formation of pilots.

It's like with the F-35. People don't realize how much air warfare has changed and is changing in front of our eyes. Pilots as recently as Desert Storm, and even OIF would have killed for the kind of networking we have now, and are working towards. It's truly amazing to see how much things have changed even in the last 10-15 years.

[Blackfingers]

Problem with the F35 and the B21 is getting the rest of the arsenal to catch up.It was always a catch 22 of spending money upgrading legacy fighters or systems or mothball them and put all the money into new tech.

[Signal Witch]

If you guys don't mind, I'm going to do some further analysis on Zaphod's list. 

 Regarding the Hypersonic Lineage: Mayhem, and P958, “Black Ice / Arctic Fox”





Every few years, something new slips out of the desert. A fuel permit. A thermal test chamber. A line in a budget that doesn’t fit anywhere. That’s how we know the U.S. isn’t done chasing speed. It’s just gone quiet about it.
 
What’s showing up now are signs of two parallel hypersonic aircraft efforts. They share the same physics but serve different masters.
 
Lockheed’s P958 Program
 
This one’s the heavy hitter.

Lockheed Martin’s filings list a classified project called P958 that’s already absorbed billions and taken “fixed-price production lot” charges, something you don’t see unless real hardware exists.
 
The work ties straight back to Palmdale, where new cryogenic fuel infrastructure has been going in. That’s not for coffee storage. It’s for something that burns hot, fast, and very clean.
 
If you line up the hints, P958 fits the mold of what insiders have nicknamed Black Ice or Arctic Fox, a crewed or optionally crewed hypersonic aircraft meant for long-range reconnaissance and strike. Think Mach 5 and beyond, using a turbine-to-scramjet powertrain and new materials that can take the heat.
 
It isn’t fantasy. It’s just buried deep enough that no one will admit it’s real until it has to be.
 
Project Mayhem
 
Now look at what’s public.

The Air Force Research Lab’s Project Mayhem is a hypersonic testbed meant to prove multi-mission, air-breathing propulsion. Leidos leads it, with Kratos and others handling component work. It’s unmanned and labeled “expendable,” so it’s not the next spyplane. It’s the laboratory that feeds one.
 
Everything about it, the fuels, the scramjets, the heat management systems, lines up with what a reusable aircraft like P958 would eventually need.
 
How They Connect
 
You can think of Mayhem as the engine room and P958 as the ship it will one day power.
They share the same DNA in air-breathing propulsion, adaptive materials, and digital design, but the goals split.
Mayhem tests what’s possible.

P958 builds something that can fly it again and again.
 
So when people talk about the U.S. fielding a next-generation hypersonic aircraft, they are really seeing the results of these two paths converging, one visible and one buried.
 
What It Means
 
The U.S. isn’t just playing with missiles anymore.

It’s building sustained hypersonic reach—aircraft that can move across continents in minutes, gather data, strike, and return.
You won’t see photos. You’ll just catch the echoes in budgets, contracts, and maybe a streak of light over the Mojave that isn’t supposed to be there.
 
My thoughts
 
If I had to guess, P958 and Mayhem belong to the same family tree. Mayhem is the research branch, P958 is the operational one, and Black Ice / Arctic Fox is the name that fits the look of it. The public will hear about Mayhem first. P958 will show up later, already flying.

[Zaphod58]

My turn to expand on Signal Witch for a change. 

All the bleeding edge programs have a path through Plant 42. Boeing does some work with Phantom Works in St Louis, but they also have a facility at Plant 42, along with Northrop and Lockheed. There are very few bleeding edge programs that don't come through Plant 42 hangars. 

Hypersonics are proving to be hard, but there are some interesting developments going on. Once you get past Mach 5, aircraft skin heats up so much that fuel begins to break down due to the friction of passing through the atmosphere, even at extremely high altitudes. As thin as the air up there is, you will still see aircraft skin glowing orange. To help with the fuel problem, engineers are turning to cryogenic fuels. Cryogenic fuels are fuel that require extremely low temperatures for storage, in excess of -450F. This also allows them to be used as cooling for the airframe and skin, by running through the airframe just under the skin and using their extreme cold to help dissipate the heat from the speed, before going to the engine to be burned for propulsion. 

The best fuel so far is liquid hydrogen. It burns clean, has a lot of energy when burned, and works very well as a coolant when passing around the aircraft. There are also some variants of JP7 being developed, which would allow the fuel to be pre-heated and run through the cooling loop to the engine, known as regenerative cooling. Current fuels, like JP8 can't withstand the amount of heat generated by the airframe and would break down long before reaching the engine. 

Permit filings in LA County were found for building new storage tanks and fuel lines at the Lockheed portion of Plant 42, without specifying fuel type, but the structure appears to be for low temperature systems. During our trip to the area, we also noticed new fuel tanks added to the Skunk Works facility. That appears to be part of the new construction going on. At the same time, job postings in California show demand for cryogenic systems engineers, hydrogen handling technicians, and thermal management specialists. Several of those listings reference Palmdale directly or companies known to operate inside Plant 42. That is not normal for conventional aircraft work. Those are positions tied to liquid hydrogen and advanced fuels.

It all adds up to new platforms being developed at Plant 42, such as P958 and Mayhem, for TBCC and Scramjets to use. This is a sign that there are new projects on the horizon going higher, and faster than ever before.

[Signal Witch]

LOL, This stuff should be paid content. 

 There is still no public photo or document that says “cryogenic fuel farm for hypersonic aircraft,” but the pieces all line up. Palmdale does the build, Tonopah does the testing, and Groom keeps it quiet. The pattern matches how every past black program came to life.
 
If those new tanks at Palmdale are what they appear to be, the next time someone sees a faint contrail over Nevada that climbs too fast and too straight, it might not be a rocket. It could be one of ours, running cold fuel through a hot sky.

[Zaphod58]

LOL, This stuff should be paid content. 

Anywhere else and it would be. 

[Quantum12]

Anywhere else and it would be. 

Thank you for this amazing thread.

[Blackfingers]

And all this has been going on for decades as well.Follow the bread crumbs from not just the Sr71 but the Vigilante, Valkyrie, Concord,Space Shuttle,X15.Plus a lot of seen but un named platforms from Groom (White Buzzard) and high speed green lights (see Green lady).
Also take note of not just the major players now but a lot of the smaller companies of the past that have been gobbled up but have had major tech in the high speed game.

This also allows them to be used as cooling for the airframe and skin, by running through the airframe just under the skin and using their extreme cold to help dissipate the heat from the speed, before going to the engine to be burned for propulsion. 

With 3D printing composite skins channels and other cool things can be designed in.I always thought 3D printing in a pure helium atmosphere could trap the gass in the spaces between the infill creating a lighter structure.There is also this.
 3D printed electronics technology