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 Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) hopes to go two for four when it conducts the latest test of its Midcourse Defense Segment (MDS) missile defense system July 14, which it said will be the most challenging one yet. The $100 million test includes the planned intercept of a modified Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile, to be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California sometime between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. eastern daylight time. It will carry a mock warhead and a single decoy.
Lockheed Martin officials said the July 9 test of the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile defense system (DAILY, July 10) was a success because it hit a remotely piloted F-4 aircraft, even though it missed a Hera tactical ballistic missile (TBM) target. "We view it as a major success because we completed the overall program objectives," Ed Squires, senior vice president for Air and Missile Defense at Lockheed Martin, told The DAILY. "What we were trying to prove today is, not only hit another Hera target, but hit a remotely piloted aircraft."
New missile defense test facilities in Alaska could form a "triangle" of sites offering increased flexibility as the Bush Administration ramps up its missile defense R&D efforts, according to the Pentagon. The other points on the "test bed" triangle would be the existing sites at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and Kwajalein atoll in the Pacific.
