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.
The Pentagon’s modernization accounts may face disproportionate cuts of up to 20% in fiscal 2014 if Congress allows government-wide budget restrictions to remain in place, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel tells key lawmakers. If Congress fails to reverse current budget caps, the Pentagon’s fiscal 2014 budget request will be slashed by $52 billion, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned in a letter to key lawmakers July 10.
FIREWORKS: A long-anticipated Missile Defense Agency test of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) program is planned for July 5. The operational test will gauge the first-generation Capability Enhancement I Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle, currently deployed in Alaska and California. The interceptor will fly from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., to knock down a target from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The GMD program had suffered a series of test failures before scoring a successful test in January.
As budgets in the U.S., Israel and across Europe contract, growth in global defense spending over the next four years will be concentrated in developing countries, according to a Global Defense Outlook report by Deloitte. Despite an overall contraction in defense spending by countries with large gross domestic products (GDP), those nations will still continue to invest in military equipment to address specific security concerns. For example, Japan will continue to invest in missiles, advanced fighter aircraft and helicopters.
