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 Department of Homeland Security has begun flying missions with the Predator B unmanned aerial vehicle over Arizona's border with Mexico and so far credits the aircraft with 87 arrests of illegal border crossers. The flights began Oct. 4 and are taking place out of Ft. Huachuca, Ariz., according to Rowdy Adams, senior associate chief at the Office of Border Patrol. DHS purchased one General Atomics Predator B and one ground control station in late August, choosing the system over competitor Northrop Grumman's Hunter II.
The Federal Trade Commission has issued a second request for information to Lockheed Martin and Boeing about their proposed United Launch Alliance merger. The companies believe the RFI is intended to give the FTC more time to consider the complex merger proposal and make an antitrust ruling. The companies already resubmitted their filing on ULA last month to give the FTC an additional 30 days, which ran out on Oct. 24.
The Defense Department has delivered a classified report to Congress on the threat to the U.S. posed by an electromagnetic pulse, more than a year after members of a civil commission on EMP concluded that such an event could do trillions of dollars of damage to the country's critical infrastructure.
