Based in Washington, Jen manages Aviation Week’s worldwide defense, space and security coverage.
Prior to taking on her current role, Jen was Aviation Week's Congressional Editor. Jen came to Aviation Week in March 2011 from Politico, where she covered the intersection of defense and politics. She also worked as a reporter and editor for Defense Daily, Inside the Army, The Other Paper and The Columbus Dispatch.
Jen received a Master’s degree in journalism as a Kiplinger Fellow at the Ohio State University. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in history and journalism from the University of Michigan.
NEW DELHI — With India’s emphasis on growing its indigenous defense industry, open competitions are drawing promises of co-production. Emphasizing the ongoing U.S. push to share more technology with India, Raytheon is competing to sell several missile defense systems to its air force and army. That includes offering its Hawk XXI for the army’s ongoing competition for up to 1,500 short-range surface-to-air missiles.
The trend lines for next year's defense budget are clear: The Pentagon is putting its investments in technology associated with the U.S. “pivot” to the Asia-Pacific region. That means intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities will be in demand in fiscal 2015 and beyond, along with long-range strike programs, warship construction and weapons that counter anti-access, area-denial strategies by China.
Sharing borders with China and Pakistan, both of which have undertaken their own weapons modernization efforts, and having borne the brunt of devastating terrorist attacks, India has undertaken its own military transformation. Without its own defense industrial base, India's modernization has been fueled by imports, and India now tops the list of global weapons buyers in the last five years (see map on pages 74-75). Despite procurement delays due to India's current political situation, the trend is expected to continue in the long term.
