Pentagon spending on "black," or classified, projects has almost doubled since the mid-90's, the Washington Post says. Relying on this think tank report, the paper notes that such outlays are now at their highest levels -- $23.2 billion -- since 1988.

"But unlike the 1980s, when it was widely known that the 'black' budget was going to the development of stealth aircraft such as the B-2 bomber and F-117 fighter, the uses of the classified accounts today are far murkier," according to the Post.

"This is an administration that likes to play I've got a secret," Globalsecurity.org's John Pike tells the paper. "The growth of the classified budget appears to be part of a larger pattern of this administration being secretive."

THERE'S MORE: "A large part of the increase in the DoD black budget is due to the surge in intelligence spending," Steven Aftergood, who heads the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy, tells Defense Tech.

"There has been a significant thrust towards 'recapitalization' of intelligence, including new initiatives in overhead reconnaissance (spy satellites), NSA modernization, etc."