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.
Among advanced developments hindered by the ongoing budget saga on Capitol Hill is the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's proposed XS-1 experimental spaceplane. Darpa is polling industry for interest in developing a reusable hypersonic vehicle with expendable upper stages that can put as much as 5,000 lb. in space up to 10 times over 10 days. But Boeing, which has a lot of relevant technology in its X-37 spaceplane, isn't ready to commit. There is some uncertainty about what is and isn't going to be funded, Muilenburg says.
One way to try to escape cataclysmic budget uncertainty is to cover all the bases. Consider EADS's Lakota Light Utility Helicopter, one of the programs that fared poorly in President Barack Obama's long-term budget plans. The Army asked for just 10 this year and no more after that. But members of Congress appear to be persuaded by EADS's pitch of a low-cost, robust platform that delivers on time and is entrenched in the U.S. industrial base. The House's spending committee added funding to procure 31 Lakotas, and its Senate counterpart funded 20.
CARTER DEPARTS: Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter will step down on Dec. 4, leaving the Pentagon after four and a half years. Carter left Harvard at the start of President Barack Obama’s first term to serve as the Pentagon’s top acquisition official under Defense Secretary Robert Gates. In 2011, he was promoted to become the second-highest ranking civilian in the Defense Department under Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. In a statement, his third boss, Chuck Hagel, says Carter will help ensure a smooth transition: “The Department will miss him. I will miss him.”
