Jeff has been involved in aerospace journalism since the mid 1990s. Prior to joining Aviation Week, Jeff served as managing editor of Launchspace magazine and the International Space Industry Report. He has been the editor and chief of Aviation Week's Aerospace Daily & Defense Report since 2007 and has been a regular contributor to Aviation Week magazine. He received his B.A. from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va.
Putting the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system on extended alert status last year in response to North Korea's ballistic missile tests provided an effective shakedown of the system and allowed the team to work out bugs that could not have been discovered any other way, according to GMD prime Boeing. "Quite frankly, the system is much more robust than we hoped for," said Scott Fancher, Boeing's GMD program director "Its performance exceeded our expectations."
Challenges with the integration of the beam control/fire control system caused the first live shootdown test of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) Airborne Laser (ABL) program to slip from its original target of 2008 into 2009, according to prime contractor Boeing.
The U.S. Air Force's Directed Energy Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., is working on a new type of solid-state laser system that uses thin discs of material as the lasing medium rather than solid blocks. "The advantage there is in the capability to keep the laser cool, so when you can keep it cooler that's helpful from a thermal/power management standpoint," Directed Energy Directorate head Susan Thornton told The DAILY in an interview.
