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.
Northrop Grumman is generally supportive of the Boeing/Lockheed Martin United Launch Alliance merger and is confident that its competitive concerns about the deal are being addressed by the Defense Department, according to Alexis Livanos, president of Northrop Grumman space technology
Rep. Todd Akin is in negotiations with NASA about keeping the X-43 hypersonics team intact, according to a spokesman for the Missouri Republican. The team, which includes Boeing Phantom Works of St. Louis, set airbreathing speed records with their two successful scramjet demonstrations in 2004. Akin, a member of the House Science Committee, met with NASA Associate Administrator for Aeronautics Lisa Porter late last month to discuss the group's future.
After demonstrating level-4 control of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and its weapons from the cockpit of an AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter earlier this year, Boeing hopes to conduct cooperative flights with the Longbow and multiple UAVs this summer at Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz. Boeing hopes to use its Unmanned Little Bird and ScanEagle UAVs in the demonstration, which would be sponsored by the U.S. Army's Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (AATD).
