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.
Boeing Phantom Works will equip the ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to look for released biological agents in the wake of U.S. military strikes under an $8.2 million, two-year contract from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). DTRA and Boeing will work with the U.S. Pacific Command and the U.S. Navy Third Fleet on the program, formally known as the Biological Combat Assessment System (BCAS) Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD).
Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition (RD&A) Delores Etter has signed into effect a new policy that will try to "curb" contractors' and program managers' "optimism" - and thus, overruns - in software projects. The policy requires Navy software contractors to show their "maturity and the discipline and the experience" to predict software development costs and schedules, she told a Navy Opportunity Forum in Washington on June 5.
A June 1 letter report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to the leadership of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces sounds a note of cautious optimism that the U.S. Air Force may be making progress in reforming its much-maligned space acquisition process.
