Jeff has been involved in aerospace journalism since the mid 1990s. Prior to joining Aviation Week, Jeff served as managing editor of Launchspace magazine and the International Space Industry Report. He has been the editor and chief of Aviation Week's Aerospace Daily & Defense Report since 2007 and has been a regular contributor to Aviation Week magazine. He received his B.A. from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va.
USAF COMMS: Arinc Engineering Services has won the U.S. Defense Department’s Data Link Services Provider contract, which means the company will continue as the primary provider of commercial aviation communication services for the U.S. Air Force. The company has fulfilled this role since 2001. The award, managed by the Defense Information Systems Agency, has a total value of $20 million over five years.
NEW CONTRACT: Lockheed Martin has reached a new three-year agreement with members of the Federated Independent Texas Union (FITU), covering about 270 workers who perform manufacturing planning, tool design and tool manufacturing planning in the Fort Worth, Texas, facility that houses production of the F-35, F-16, major portions of the F-22 and other aircraft programs. The contract became effective at midnight on June 13. About 4,500 of the 14,400 workers at the Fort Worth plant are represented by unions.
The U.S. government still has not established plans to fully restore the environmental sensing capabilities removed from the Npoess and GOES-R satellite programs, and gaps in coverage are expected to begin in 2015, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). “Both Npoess and GOES-R were envisioned to fulfill requirements for weather, space weather, and climate monitoring,” GAO says in its report. “However, in 2006, both of these programs were restructured due to growing costs.”
