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.
Lockheed Martin is finding out that reestablishing compliance with Pentagon auditing standards on its top aircraft programs—including the multibillion-dollar F-35—is not as easy as once thought. Noncompliance is also hitting the company's bottom line, as the Pentagon is increasing its withholding on payments for production.
VETO BAIT: Just as it did for the House version of the defense authorization bill, the White House is threatening to veto the defense spending bill for 2013. The Obama administration has a long list of objections to the bill, but its biggest problem is the fact that the House bill exceeds by more than $5 billion spending caps on the Pentagon established last year by the Budget Control Act (BCA). And even though that amount is offset by reductions in other House spending bills, the shift is a no-go for the administration.
While the House overwhelmingly overturned the U.S. Air Force’s request to end funding for Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk Block 30, the company’s bid to protect the high-altitude UAV faces a much tougher fight in the Senate. The Air Force wants to place 18 of the Block 30s in storage and says it can save $2.5 billion over several years by continuing to operate the manned U-2 spy aircraft. The House Appropriations Committee rejected that, keeping funding to operate the UAVs and adding funding for an additional three.
