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 final design review for the Navy's Fire Scout Vertical Takeoff and Landing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VTUAV) has been completed and hardware is now being built in anticipation of systems integration tests this summer. "Engineering and manufacturing development fabrication assembly is well-underway," said Doug Fronius, vice president of Advanced Development for Northrop Grumman's Unmanned Systems product team.
Within the next few days the U.S. Navy will be deploying ships to begin the final evaluations of Raytheon's Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) system - the last tests before it can be certified for wartime use. The CEC program office and the Navy test team are currently meeting at Mayport Naval Station in Jacksonville, Fla. to go over final plans for the Operational Evaluation (OPEVAL), which will be fully underway by late this month and will run through the first week of May.
The Navy is pushing commercial competitors to create a new targeting system that will eliminate the Achilles' Heel of precision munitions - bad weather. The push has sprung from recent experiences such as Desert Storm, during which one third of air sorties were turned back because of weather over the target site. In Kosovo the figure was two thirds.
