USAF Code Name Projects 'Senior......." et al.

Having just read through an article on previously classified Airforce projects, some of the Code names bear some interest.

Senior Bowl (the supersonic D-21 drone launched by the SR-71/M-21 mother ship)

Senior Crown (the SR-71 and YF-12 programs)

Senior Trend (F-117 Nighthawk)

Senior Sky (F-22 development)

Senior Book signified Taiwanese U-2 operations over China

Senior Look referred to U-2 operations in Europe

Senior Blade (ground station for exploiting U-2R digital imagery)

Senior Mace (signals intelligence exploitation)

Senior Year (the current U-2 satellite data link)

Senior Citizen (which Arkin says included "Aurora"-type high-speed reconnaissance aircraft or other low-observable systems)

Taken From Senior Projects

Senior Ice- the B-2 bomber progam

Tim
ATS Director of Counter-Ignorance

Senior Peg - B2 competitor

www.abovetopsecret.com... < your own thread

[edit on 17-2-2005 by Vanguard]

and Senior Suter and Senior Keystone and...

Senior Citizen was V/STOL tactical transport aircraft. See picutres at:

www.hitechweb.szm.sk/stealth4b.htm

My quyestion is, you've originally listed a bunch of aviation programs with the name beginning with "Senior..." and said this bears some interest. Why does this bear interest? I there something that I missed other than they all start with the word Senior? Most of those listed have been in the public domain for years if not decades.

Some programs that begin with the codeword "senior" are unacknowledged spacial access programs, and are still classified to this day.

The fact that there exists many "senior" programs that are acknowledged or unclassified serves to "dilute" any possible accidental revelation of a black project's real name.

If something called "senior accountant" slipped out in some congressional budget document, most observers would say "Meh. Just another USAF technology program, if it is even real". The trick is trying to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Originally posted by burntrock
My quyestion is, you've originally listed a bunch of aviation programs with the name beginning with "Senior..." and said this bears some interest. Why does this bear interest? I there something that I missed other than they all start with the word Senior? Most of those listed have been in the public domain for years if not decades.

Primarily for information purposes. They all are linked to avaiation and alot of people in this forum, myslef included, have a fetish for all things aviation. Understanding and knowing various code names for projects helps link programs together. May not comin in usefull today, but if you are doing research and come across it you can begin to link things and build a picture using non classified data. Tom Clancy made a fortune doing just this in fact.

Originally posted by burntrock
My quyestion is, you've originally listed a bunch of aviation programs with the name beginning with "Senior..." and said this bears some interest. Why does this bear interest? I there something that I missed other than they all start with the word Senior? Most of those listed have been in the public domain for years if not decades.

Primarily for information purposes. They all are linked to avaiation and alot of people in this forum, myslef included, have a fetish for all things aviation. Understanding and knowing various code names for projects helps link programs together. May not comin in usefull today, but if you are doing research and come across it you can begin to link things and build a picture using non classified data. Tom Clancy made a fortune doing just this in fact.

Originally posted by FredT

Tom Clancy made a fortune doing just this in fact.

Ain't that the truth...

Ahh, I get the reasoning. I think you could include a few other list words too. Although not as common as Senior, words like Blue, Tacit and others have come up a few times in the same manner as well.