Steve covers military aviation, missiles and space for the Aviation Week Network, based in Washington.
Born in a U.S. Air Force family, he grew up on military bases around the world and came to Washington in 1997 to work for Army Times Publishing Co. as a journalist. Steve helped launch the Military.com portal in 2000, then joined the editorial team for Aviation Week’s web site in 2001. He reported on the Pentagon for Aerospace Daily in 2002 and 2003.
From September 2003 to September 2018, Steve covered defense and aviation issues and managed staff as the U.S. bureau chief for Jane’s Defence Weekly and later FlightGlobal. He has covered aviation stories on six continents and won multiple awards, including the 2017 Aerospace Media Awards honor for Best In-Depth Feature on the effort to revive Russia’s commercial aviation industry.
The U.S. Air Force has a preferred bomber fleet strategy that leaves room for up to 149 Northrop Grumman B-21s, a nominal 50% increase over the previously stated procurement objective of more than 100.
Unlike traditional weapons-firing platforms, most mobility aircraft lack onboard targeting systems. Two new organizations may form at least part of the enterprise needed to make the MC-130s and C-17s credible as weapons platforms.
