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.
After being rushed into the field to support the troops in Iraq, the U.S. Navy's Silver Fox unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is returning to its roots as a whale spotter. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) and Advanced Ceramics Research (ACR), Inc. of Tucson, Ariz., originally began developing the Silver Fox as a platform for spotting whales before naval exercises and experiments. As war preparations heated up, the Navy asked the team to rush the UAV overseas for use as a reconnaissance platform (DAILY, April 14).
The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is funding two companies to explore new methods for generating electrical power from the natural motion of ocean waves. When Marine Corps units establish a beachhead, typically the power generation infrastructure in the area has been disrupted or destroyed, according to Edward Patton, business area manager for Scientific Applications & Research Associates (SARA), Inc., of Huntington Beach, Calif.
The U.S. Navy plans to test a new type of submarine steering system next month at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Carderock that uses shape memory alloys (SMA) to direct the outflow from the sub's propeller. The "Smart Duct," which encloses the propeller, changes shape after an electrical charge is applied to it. SMA actuation eliminates the need for traditional hydraulic actuators, provides enhanced maneuvering and control at low speeds, and offers a reduced acoustic signature, according to developer Continuum Dynamics, Inc. of Ewing, N.J.
