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.
President Bush's May 15 speech calling for 6,000 National Guard troops to be sent to the southern border of the U.S. to back up the Border Patrol is likely to help speed the integration of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into the national airspace, according to a Pentagon UAV official. Most likely to benefit from the announcement are small UAVs such as AeroVironment's Raven, which has been used extensively by Guard troops deployed to Iraq, according to Dyke Weatherington, head of the Pentagon's Unmanned Aircraft System Task Force.
Retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Arnold Punaro says he was "surprised" at the extent of equipment shortages within the National Guard and Reserve, where even basic items such as trucks and communications gear are wearing out. Punaro is chairman of a 13-member panel charged by Congress to study the future of the Guard and Reserve and recommend needed changes in law and policy to ensure it can continue meeting its responsibilities. Guard and Reserve forces are being deployed at unprecedented levels in support of ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Raytheon has begun flight-testing its APG-63 V(3) active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, which the company is producing for Air National Guard F-15C fighter jets. The flights began on May 5 using a Raytheon-owned test bed aircraft. There have been four flights so far. The company will continue flight-testing through the end of the month, pause to analyze data, and then resume flights in June.
