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.
In an effort to protect every soldier in the operational Army from bullets and blast fragments, the U.S. Army plans to procure 840,000 Interceptor Body Armor (IBA) sets by fiscal year 2006, according to Col. John Norwood, program manager for soldier equipment at Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier. "That's a lot in anybody's book," Norwood said at the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement's (IDGA) Lightweight Materials conference in Washington last week. "We're approaching the halfway mark at this point in time."
In a recent report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommended that the Department of Defense (DOD) delay the Space Based Radar's (SBR) product development phase to allow more time to determine if the technologies needed for the system are maturing fast enough. If, however, DOD decides that SBR should proceed to product development with "less than mature" technologies, GAO recommended the department be prepared to add time and money or make tradeoffs with other DOD space programs to address SBR's requirements and resources.
NASA's recently reconstituted Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) held its third meeting in Washington July 28-29 as it prepares to take over responsibility for safety oversight of the shuttle program from the Stafford-Covey Return to Flight Task Group. Chief among the concerns of both groups is the successful transmission of knowledge, according to ASAP Chairman Vice Adm. Joe Dyer (USN-Ret.). Stafford-Covey will dissolve formally when the shuttle flies again.
