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.
Within the next three weeks, the Air Force will release a modified request for proposals (RFP) for the botched Light Attack Support contract. The service selected Sierra Nevada/Embraer to build 20 Super Tucanos for use in Afghanistan over a Hawker Beechcraft AT-6-based design. But the $355 million contract was abruptly terminated earlier this year after Hawker Beechcraft filed suit in federal claims court. “We lacked confidence in the documentation available,” Air Force Secretary Michael Donley says. “That was the basis for withdrawing the contract award.”
NASA pilots will take the space shuttle Discovery for a spin over the nation's capital—and Capitol—before delivering it to the Smithsonian Institution's Udvar-Hazy Center later this month (see photo). The retired orbiter, known as the workhorse of the shuttle fleet, is due to leave Kennedy Space Center April 17 atop a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) en route to the National Air & Space Museum annex at Dulles International Airport. Two NASA T-38 trainers scouted photo angles over Washington last week, descending to about 1,500 ft.
Despite deep divisions in the U.S. Congress, lawmakers are not missing an opportunity to express their support for the defense of Israel. The question is just how much they will provide in the end. The Pentagon recently said it would ask for more cash to purchase Rafael's Iron Dome short-range rocket and mortar defense system for Israel. And while some lawmakers are so enthusiastic about Iron Dome that they have already introduced a bill toward that end, there is no consensus about the amount of the allocation.
