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.
An independent task force sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations is recommending that the Department of Defense greatly increase funding for nonlethal weapons (NLW) and promote their use by the armed services. "We're serious about this," task force co-chair and former Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Paul Kelley (ret.) said at a press conference in Washington Feb. 26. "This probably is one of the most important additions ... to the military capabilities that I have seen in well over several decades."
Next month, the U.S. Navy will complete its preliminary design for the DD(X) surface destroyer, according to Rear Adm. Charles Hamilton, the Navy's program executive officer for ships. The DD(X) program is serving as a testbed for advanced technologies for future naval vessels, including autonomous fire suppression, integrated power systems and an advanced gun system capable of firing projectiles to a range of 100 miles.
The U.S. Army plans to develop three new aircraft as part of the comprehensive aviation restructuring that prompted the cancellation of the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter, according to Gen. Richard Cody, the Army's deputy chief of staff, G-3. The Army had planned to spend approximately $14.6 billion developing and procuring 121 Comanches from fiscal year 2004 through FY '11. With that money freed up, the service now plans to buy 796 other aircraft and an additional 801 aircraft upgrades (DAILY, Feb. 24).
