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.
Armed with new funding tools recently approved as part of the FAA reauthorization act, Kent Statler, executive vice president for commercial systems at avionics supplier Rockwell Collins, sees airlines beginning to phase in NextGen on a regional basis. High-density airports, possibly in the Northeast, could begin to require aircraft flying in and out to be compliant with certain NextGen technologies, Statler tells Aviation Week editors on a swing through Washington.
Orbital Sciences Corp. estimates it will take a $10-15 million hit this year with NASA's decision not to fly its replacement Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO-2) on the Taurus XL launcher. Orbital hopes to recycle the solid-fuel rocket motors it acquired for the mission, says CEO David Thompson. But after fairing-separation failures sent the first OCO and NASA's Glory satellite to watery graves, he concedes there are no more launch contracts for the Taurus XL.
A multinational missile defense program scored two recent votes of confidence from the Pentagon, but Capitol Hill is likely to remain a thorn in the program’s side. Lockheed Martin’s Medium Extended Air Defense System (Meads), being developed by the U.S., Germany and Italy, scored $400.9 million for the program in the Pentagon’s fiscal 2013 budget request. And Defense Secretary Leon Panetta acknowledged the U.S. commitment to invest in another year of developing the system.
