US spends $75 billion a year on intelligence
Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:23:02 GMT
The head of US intelligence, Dennis Blair |
The head of US intelligence has disclosed for the first time the overall cost of Washington's spending on intelligence in one year.
Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair said on Tuesday that the US spends $75 billion a year on intelligence, including military-related activities.
Blair gave the full budget figure as he delivered his 2009 National Intelligence Strategy, a blueprint outlining the priorities for the next four years, AFP reported.
The figure represents well over 10 percent of the annual US defense budget of around $650 billion.
Budgets for the United States' 16 intelligence agencies and their 200,000 employees were a closely-guarded secret until 2007.
The figure for non-military intelligence work was given as $47.5 billion last year.
AGB/HGL