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.
A successful test launch of a Raytheon UGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile from the United Kingdom Royal Navy attack submarine HMS Trafalgar Aug. 7 has put the system on schedule to reach operational capability with the RN by the end of the year. The test, which took place at 8:30 a.m. Central Daylight Time in the Gulf of Mexico, makes Trafalgar the third Tomahawk-capable RN submarine. The Royal Navy is the first and only military outside the U.S. to obtain the system. Three previous Tomahawk tests were conducted with the RN in November 1998.
A prototype arc fault circuit breaker (AFCB) for aircraft use has completed ground tests and is set to begin flight testing aboard an FAA 727 and a Navy C-9 later this month at Naval Air Station Patuxent River. The last set of ground tests built upon previous testing done onboard a parked C-9 and 727 to ensure normal onboard aircraft functions didn't trip the breaker.
Next year Northrop Grumman Corp. will begin flight testing an experimental airframe designed to produce quieter sonic booms, in support of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Quiet Supersonic Platform (QSP) program (DAILY, Mar. 1). The two-year, $35 million QSP program is aimed at laying the foundation for quieter supersonic aircraft that will be able to fly unrestricted over land - an activity currently requiring an FAA waiver.
