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.
Having been stymied so far in its efforts to equip intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) with conventional warheads, the Defense Department is turning to possible commercial alternatives for prompt global strike. Worried about the international reaction, Congress last year denied funding to the Conventional Trident Modification (CTM) program, which would have equipped 24 submarine-based Trident II (D-5) ICBMs with conventional warheads (DAILY, Aug. 6, 2006). CTM would have been capable of striking a target anywhere in the world in less than an hour.
The Department of Defense is proceeding with a new joint concept technology demonstration (JCTD) led by the U.S. Air Force and Navy that will allow nodes in an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) network to take over and direct datalink-equipped weapons to their targets. The JCTD just received approval from Congress and will have its first demonstration in two months, according to John Wilcox, JCTD program director at the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD).
The U.S. Army National Guard and Air National Guard need a total of $40 billion to get their equipment up to "an acceptable level of readiness," according to National Guard Bureau Chief Lt. Gen. Steven Blum. An acceptable level would be if the Guard had 80 percent of its equipment on hand and ready for operations at any given time, Blum testified during the final hearing of the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves on Capitol Hill Jan. 31. Critical issue
