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.
BALTIMORE - The joint Air Force/DARPA Autonomous Aerial Refueling program has begun flight-testing using a Lear Jet as an unmanned aerial vehicle surrogate, and plans its final "graduation" demonstration in 2007. The program primarily is focusing on the Air Force's boom/receptacle style of aerial refueling, rather than the Navy's probe/drogue method. Begun in 2002, the program has more than 25 participating organizations, including the Air Force Research Laboratory, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics and NASA.
Unmanned aerial vehicle builder AeroVironment is flight-testing a subscale prototype UAV featuring a new long-endurance liquid hydrogen fuel system at Yuma, Ariz., according to company officials. The company-funded vehicle flew for the first time on May 27 and then again on June 2 for roughly an hour each time, marking what the company believes is the first time a UAV has flown on liquid hydrogen. The aircraft flew in racetrack patterns, both under manual control and autonomously through waypoints. Global Observer
BALTIMORE - After conducting a series of failed experiments last year, the Air Force's Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Battlelab is seeking industry's help to develop sense-and-avoid systems for small UAVs. The Battlelab wants to develop an inexpensive system for small UAVs to sense and avoid other aircraft, allowing them to conduct routine file-and-fly operations in joint airspace. The scheme the Battlelab had settled on involved a series of electro-optic cameras installed on the aircraft.
