DoD initiates Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program
The Defense Intelligence Agency launched a classified research initiative to study future aerospace technologies. Congress allocated ten million dollars through supplemental appropriations. The program sought to analyze potential threats from advanced foreign weapon systems.
Background
During fiscal year 2008, the Department of Defense established the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program through the Defense Intelligence Agency. The initiative received ten million dollars in funding via the Defense Supplemental Appropriation Act. Officials tasked the program with investigating foreign advanced aerospace applications and projecting technological developments over four decades. Via TheBlackVault.com (FOIA), documents reveal the agency awarded a sole-source contract to Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies to conduct research across twelve technical domains including propulsion, materials, and human effects.