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.
EADS North America formally announced its offering of the UH145 for the Army's Light Utility Helicopter competition on Aug. 24, marking the company's first effort to become a prime contractor on a major U.S. military procurement, said Chairman and CEO Ralph Crosby. Becoming a sole prime for the U.S. Defense Department is "something that we set out to do three years ago when EADS North America was established," Crosby said during a teleconference Aug. 24.
The launch of the Global Positioning System IIR-M1 spacecraft aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket is being delayed until mid-September at the earliest as Boeing tries to diagnose recent problems with the batteries used in the Delta rocket family's flight termination systems. The batteries power the avionics that command the rocket to destroy itself if it veers off course. GPS IIR-M1 will not launch until engineers are certain the batteries will perform as needed, according to Boeing spokesman Robert Villanueva.
The Raytheon/EADS team vying to build the Army's Future Cargo Aircraft is concerned about the procurement quantity in the service's recent draft request for proposals, which has dropped from an expected 33 to a maximum of 30.
