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.
Lockheed Martin is developing a software tool that the company says will allow a single operator to control multiple, differing unmanned systems and integrate them with manned platforms. Developed with internal research and development funds, the Generic Unmanned Supervisory Segment (GUSS) has been tested at the company's Center for Innovation in Suffolk, Va., and in a U.K. laboratory, according to the company.
A new congressionally mandated study by RAND Corp. affirms the U.S. Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) as the likely best solution for the nation's military space launch needs through 2020, and recommends greater service involvement to secure the program's future. With a string of successful launches, Lockheed Martin's Atlas V and Boeing's Delta IV EELVs "are a true success and are critical to national security," the study says. "The Air Force must rigorously protect this capability with resources adequate to sustain these programs."
Lockheed Martin says that following the completion of its contractual obligations on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) development program, the company is ready to dust off concepts for an unmanned JSF if service interest is there. Several years ago, the company put "significant effort" into developing two unmanned JSF concepts, according to Frank Mauro, vice president for advanced systems development at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.
