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.
Boeing is considering ranges for its new "sonic cruiser" of up to 10,000 nautical miles - which would allow nonstop service between cities as far apart as Sydney and New York. The sonic cruiser, which currently has no model designator, will carry between 175 and 250 passengers, and will cruise at 41,000 feet at speeds between Mach .95 and .98, according to Boeing.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) will have a major role to play in 21st Century military operations, but they still have plenty of maturing to do, according to the UAV "roadmap" just released by the U. S. Defense Department. The report says that UAVs are relegated to reconnaissance roles in large part because of their unreliability in comparison with manned systems. The accident rate for UAVs is 10 to 100 times the rate for manned aircraft, according to the report.
Scientists at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) in Pensacola, Fla. are applying their philosophy of artificial intelligence (AI) to aerospace, as part of a broad effort to make humans and machines work together more effectively. The IHMC was founded by Kenneth M. Ford and Alberto Canas at the University of West Florida in 1990 as an interdisciplinary research unit. The institute houses roughly 75 scientists from a wide variety of fields.
