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.
Lockheed Martin and Spectrum Astro will compete as one team for the Global Positioning System (GPS) III prime contract, Spectrum Astro announced May 7. The Lockheed/Spectrum team will compete against a team led by Boeing. Spectrum Astro previously led its own team competing to design and build the next-generation satellite navigation and timing system.
The X-50A Dragonfly unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) should have its first flight at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona "any day now," according to Van Olinger, who manages the project for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Working out of a small trailer in the desert, the flight team is engaged in "a very slow, methodical process in which the final version of the flight software is installed on the vehicle and then a number of ground tests are taken," Olinger told The DAILY.
With sponsorship from the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Navatek Ltd. of Honolulu is preparing to begin sea trials for its new hybrid "lifting body" ship in late July or early August. The hybrid lifting body combines a conventional mono- or multi-hull ship design with one or more "underwater wings" (the lifting body) that raise the main hull from the surface of the water at high speeds, while providing stability at low speeds. Midfoil
