Khaberni - In recent months, US reports, notably from The Wall Street Journal, have issued warnings about unprecedented erosion in the stockpile of strategic ammunition due to the war on Iran. These stories are based on the massive use of vital systems such as "THAAD" and "Tomahawk" missiles, which has raised concerns about Washington's ability to face a potential parallel crisis with China.
Despite the White House and the Pentagon's quick denial of any capability gap and confirmation of the arsenal's readiness, this contradiction presents observers with two possibilities: either a real military gap that might take about 6 years to recover, prompting Washington to adjust its emergency defense plans for Taiwan, or that leaking these sensitive figures is deliberately employed to create a sense of urgency to justify requesting historic defense budgets.
Regardless of the accuracy of these figures, this debate opens the door to a deeper approach looking at the hidden structure of American defense funding, specifically what is known as the "black budget".
What is the black budget?
The term "black budget" refers to that part of government spending allocated to intelligence programs and military operations classified as "top secret", completely concealed from public view.
Despite being an informal term, it represents real and substantial funds; in the fiscal year 2026, the US government requested about $115.5 billion solely for secret intelligence, distributed over two main categories.
Transparency Versus National Security
As explained by law professor Robert Turner in his testimony before Congress, the founding fathers of the United States early on recognized the potential conflict between democratic transparency and national security requirements. Therefore, the first Congress established an "emergency fund" for President George Washington without requiring him to provide detailed accounting, a practice that was followed by the fourth American President, James Madison, to finance secret foreign operations.
As the state developed, this historical practice was translated into enforceable legislation, notably the "Central Intelligence Agency Act" of 1949.
This law granted the agency's director the authority to spend secret funds based solely on his signature, exempting him from presenting invoices or undergoing public audits, an immunity repeatedly affirmed by US courts as they rejected lawsuits demanding access to those records.
How Are Billions Concealed?
Practically, Washington does not possess a "black treasury" separately but relies on a complex financial system based on division and camouflage.
According to "Congressional Research Service" (CRS) reports, the intelligence budget is divided into two main tracks: the "National Program" (NIP) concerned with major strategic plans for agencies like the Central Intelligence Agency, and the "Military Program" (MIP) dedicated to tactical support.
To pass these funds without drawing attention, they are dissolved within the budgets of other ministries, primarily the Department of War.
According to "Wired" magazine, secret projects are listed under routine spending items or are given vague codenames (such as the TRACTOR project series), making it extremely difficult for any external observer to trace the flow of money and link it to its actual programs.
Security levels rise to their peak in what are known as "Special Access Programs" (SAPs). Here, "Waived SAPs" are particularly secretive circles, being exempt from the usual congressional notification requirements, and briefing details can be limited to a very narrow circle including specific leadership in Congress.
Washington justifies this financial opacity with a simple security reason, as clarified by Professor Robert Turner. The idea is that hostile intelligence services closely monitor the Pentagon's budget to track Washington's actions.
If suddenly large amounts are allocated to fund a specific program, this "financial surge" would immediately attract opponents' attention and reveal that America is developing a new secret weapon. Thus, concealing the funds prevents opponents from tracking these moves.
Snowden's Shock
To understand the extent of what these budgets can hide from oversight, it's sufficient to look back at 2013. That year, a former contractor with US intelligence named Edward Snowden leaked highly classified documents to The Washington Post.
This leak was a major shock, as it disclosed to the world for the first time, with numbers, how tens of billions from the "black budget" were spent to fund global spying networks and offensive cyber programs.
Snowden's leaks showed that these massive programs are not subject to actual public scrutiny, and their detailed discussion is limited to closed sessions with a limited number of Congress members.
From this precedent, the rhetoric of "depleting missiles" today can be read as more than just a military description. While the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) warns that the ammunition used in Iran depleted two-thirds of the "Patriot" missiles and more than 80% of the "THAAD" missiles, these figures could be the strongest justification for convincing Congress to pass a historic defense budget of 1.5 trillion dollars. It is worth noting that many sources confirm that the ammunition crisis is real, having been severely depleted in both Ukraine and the war on Iran, amidst wide skepticism in US decision-making circles about the factories' ability to replenish it in the near future.
Within this astronomical public figure ($1.5 trillion), there is room to pass additional billions for secret intelligence programs under the usual camouflage items, parallel to allocating exceptional, public budgets for major arms companies like "Lockheed Martin" and "RTX" to accelerate ammunition production.
