Based in Washington, Jen managed Aviation Week’s worldwide defense, space and security coverage from 2013 to January 2024.
Prior to taking on the Executive Editor role, Jen was Aviation Week's Congressional Editor. Jen came to Aviation Week in March 2011 from Politico, where she covered the intersection of defense and politics. She also worked as a reporter and editor for Defense Daily, Inside the Army, The Other Paper and The Columbus Dispatch.
Jen received a Master’s degree in journalism as a Kiplinger Fellow at the Ohio State University. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in history and journalism from the University of Michigan.
Singapore’s defense minister provided a fairly lukewarm description of the island nation’s interest in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, saying twice that the military is in “no particular hurry” to buy the advanced fighter. “We’re in no particular hurry, because our F-16s are still very operational, and they’re due for upgrades,” Ng Eng Hen said during a Dec. 12 press briefing with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. “It is a serious consideration.”
After less than two years in development, Textron’s low-cost, jack-of-many-trades Scorpion aircraft has made its first flight at McConnell AFB in Wichita. The company is promoting the 1.4-hr. milestone as “one of the fastest developments of a U.S.-built tactical jet.”
The FAA has decided NASA astronauts can be allowed to engage in operational flight functions up to and including piloting a commercial space vehicle for aborts, emergency response, and monitoring and operating environmental controls and life-support systems during FAA-licensed commercial space launches and reentries. But astronauts beware: Training to become employable by commercial providers may force a take-it-or-leave-it proposition to either commit to remaining an astronaut, or commit to pursuing a career as a commercial space pilot.
