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.
The Defense Department's total information technology (IT) budget for fiscal 2007 is $30.9 billion, down from $31.9 billion in FY '06, according to John Grimes, assistant secretary of defense for Networks and Information Integration (NII). Forty-seven percent, or $14.3 billion, of the FY '07 total is for communications and computing infrastructure. Warfighting systems account for 28 percent, or $8.8 billion. Business systems account for $4.5 billion, or 15 percent, and information assurance represents $2.3 billion, or 7 percent.
The U.S. Army has decided to drop the Armed Robotic Vehicle (ARV) from the Future Combat Systems (FCS) program, bringing the total number of systems in the mammoth modernization effort down to 14. Last week, Brig. Gen. Thomas Cole, deputy program manager for FCS program integration, said the ARV is being cut from production and put back into the science and technology base (DAILY, Jan. 22). Another possible casualty is one of the unattended munitions being developed for FCS, a source told The DAILY.
Back in flight-testing following a crash that grounded the system for a year, the A160 Hummingbird unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is slated to upgrade to a turboshaft engine during the next quarter that will boost its power and endurance.
