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.
The Air Force Research Laboratory hopes to resume demonstrations of space-based relay mirror technology that have been on hold since the era of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). Orbiting relay mirrors could one day be used to redirect and refocus the beams from airborne or ground-based laser systems, greatly extending their range and power.
Recent helicopter accidents during Operation Enduring Freedom could have been prevented had the aircraft been equipped with the Tactile Situational Awareness System (TSAS), according to its creator, Navy Capt. Angus Rupert. TSAS (DAILY, Apr. 17, 2001) uses the pilot's sense of touch to provide spatial orientation and situational awareness. After a successful operational assessment last year, Rupert hopes TSAS soon will be installed on operational helicopters.
The Navy plans to test the two Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle systems it requested in the fiscal 2003 budget in a broad area maritime surveillance (BAMS) role, according to Global Hawk manufacturer Northrop Grumman. BAMS began as a subset of the Navy's Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA), according to Ernest Snowden, director of system requirements for Northrop Grumman's Airborne Early Warning and Electronic Warfare Division.
