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.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is receiving help from the National Reconnaissance Office's classified spy satellites as it scrambles to help people in areas of the Gulf Coast devastated by Hurricane Katrina. FEMA asked NRO for the assistance, according to recently appointed NRO Director Donald Kerr. "At the end of the day, there's nothing like some of our capabilities for providing people a view of things as they are, rather than as they were," Kerr said during a press briefing at the Pentagon.
The Office of Naval Research is reviewing white papers describing basic research aimed at countering improvised explosive devices as part of its counter-IED "Manhattan Project." ONR released a broad agency announcement in July calling for research that can be "applied to the detection, neutralization, destruction and mitigation of the effects of these devices and to the advance prediction of the occurrence or potential for occurrence of IED events."
The military services are considering a proposal from F-35 Joint Strike Fighter builder Lockheed Martin for a suite of JSF pilot training simulators ranging from traditional high-fidelity cockpit trainers down to applications that could run on laptop PCs. Rapid improvements in commercial computer and gaming technology are allowing for certain training tasks to be offloaded onto cheaper, off-the-shelf simulators, according to Lorraine Martin, vice president of flight solutions for Lockheed Martin Simulation, Training & Support.
