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.
Secretary of the Army Francis Harvey said he has not yet accepted the idea that fixing the troubled Aerial Common Sensor program necessarily will require additional money. Service officials have estimated that changing ACS airframes could increase the cost of the program's $879 million system development and demonstration phase by 50%. For now, the proposed ACS payload exceeds the capacity of the Embraer ERJ-145 business jet - the original platform choice - by about 3,000 pounds.
Boeing's Unmanned Little Bird helicopter is gearing up for a second round of weapons testing at Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., in November, according to Waldo Carmona, Boeing's general manager and director of advanced Army systems. During a previous round of tests at Yuma in August, the Unmanned Little Bird fired nine 2.75-inch rockets and three Hellfire missiles. Two of the missiles hit their target, while the third went into the ground and failed to detonate. The Defense Department later determined that the missile itself was faulty, Carmona said.
A recent study performed by Langley Research Center for NASA's science mission directorate recommends an airship as the best vehicle for the future exploration of Saturn's moon Titan. The success of the Cassini-Huygens mission, which landed a probe on Titan earlier this year (DAILY, Jan. 20), has sparked considerable interest in the mysterious moon - the only moon in the solar system known to have an atmosphere.
