black project

American  

[blak proj-ekt, -ikt] / ˈblæk ˈprɒdʒ ɛkt, -ɪkt /

noun

1. a covert undertaking by a country’s military and defense forces, often carried out at a secret location, outside the law and other systems of protection and oversight.

   It would later be revealed that development of the stealth bomber had been a black project with an unlimited “black budget.”

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Etymology

Origin of black project

Coined in 1727, in the sense of “plotting a mutiny,” by English author Daniel Defoe ( def. ) in A New Voyage Round the World by a Course Never Sailed Before

Example Sentences

She was as guarded as the architect of a Pentagon "black project," working in a locked room of an Old Executive Office Building suite with a private entrance.

From Time Magazine Archive