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.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in a variety of sizes, shapes, and nationalities peppered the skies over the Webster Field Annex of Naval Air Station Patuxent River July 30, as part of the first International Unmanned Aviation Demonstration. The public demonstration, the first of its kind ever held in the U.S., was sponsored by Pax River's Program Executive Office for Strike Weapons and Unmanned Aviation, in conjunction with the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI).
The National Coalition of Spaceport States (NCSS) is calling for setting aside $10 million of the Department of Transportation budget to provide matching grants for space infrastructure development. The 14-state coalition, which is dedicated to developing a nationwide system of spaceports, also wants satellite export licensing to be shifted from the State Department back to the Commerce Department. Congress shifted satellite export licensing from Commerce to State in 1998, but some aerospace groups contend State moves too slowly.
Recent top-level Department of Defense meetings to revise the military's "terms of reference" document may show both problems in the strategic review process as well as a lack of imagination concerning future capabilities, according to some defense analysts. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and the Joint Chiefs of Staff have been revising the classified strategy document, in an effort to clear up ambiguities about force structure requirements, as the deadline for the next Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) draws closer.
