You can smell the fear and worry here at the annual Geoint conference. The budget cuts that Director of National Intelligence Jim Clapper outlined yesterday may be as deep as $40 billion over the next 10 years, sources here say. The consensus number is closer to $25 billion, but more than three sources cited $40 billion.



How much of that comes from next year’s budget is, at this point, anyone’s guess. For purposes of scale, the intelligence community spent $80.1 billion in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 last year. Clapper told the Geoint annual conference yesterday that the intelligence community faces “double digit cuts” over the next decade.



The magnitude of the intelligence cuts– however deep they really are — has executives grasping for information and reassurance where they can find it. One of the biggest targets in the intelligence world may be two companies — Digital Globe and GeoEye.