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.
Although unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have long been predicted to be a booming industry, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington will likely accelerate their development and acceptance in a variety of missions, according to some analysts. "Even without this event, the prospects of the UAV industry getting more and more involved in military operations has been growing rapidly," Daryl Davidson, executive director of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), told The DAILY.
NASA is developing cockpit display technology that will use digital terrain and elevation data to paint real-time pictures of the landscapes pilots are flying over. Limited terrain visibility, due to weather or other factors, is still a major element in most fatal aircraft accidents, according to NASA.
The Space Vehicles Directorate of the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) at Kirtland Air Force Base has recently patented a launch system that allows a reusable launch vehicle (RLV) to be launched from a variety of military cargo aircraft. The system uses gas pressure to expel a missile-like 73-foot two-stage RLV from a pneumatic launch tube integrated into the cargo bay of a C-141B, C-5A, or C-17A aircraft with modified cargo doors.
