Author Archives: Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D
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The Navy’s Window For Right-Sizing Its Carrier Onboard Delivery Fleet Is Rapidly Closing (From Forbes)
September 7, 2022- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The U.S. Navy several years ago made the smart decision to replace aged turboprop aircraft used for delivering critical supplies to carriers at sea with a version of the Bell/Boeing V-22 tiltrotor. Tiltrotors combine the vertical agility of a helicopter [Read More...] -
Will The FTC Try To Unwind Northrop Grumman’s 2018 Merger With Orbital ATK? (From Forbes)
August 9, 2022- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D In 2018, the Federal Trade Commission allowed Northrop Grumman to acquire rocket-motor maker Orbital ATK, with conditions. Now Politico reports that FTC lawyers believe Northrop violated those conditions. That violation may have resulted in Boeing dropping out of the competition [Read More...] -
Beijing’s Blockade Of Taiwan Is The Latest Sign Washington Needs To Streamline Its Defense Trade With Allies (From Forbes)
August 5, 2022- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The United States government maintains a complex system for controlling arms sales called International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR. It is designed to prevent military technology from falling into the hands of bad actors, but it impedes sending the [Read More...] -
Bell/Textron Says Keeping Future Vertical Lift On Track Is Critical To Renewing The Rotorcraft Industrial Base (From Forbes)
August 2, 2022- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The U.S. Army is expected to award a contract for the development of a Black Hawk helicopter successor in October. It is potentially a very big program, and competing industry teams are straining to prevail. One team, led by Boeing [Read More...] -
Boeing Has Bottomed. It Could Recover Quickly. (From Forbes)
July 29, 2022- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Boeing’s second-quarter results, released Wednesday, were a mixed bag. However, looking beyond the numbers, there is evidence that recovery from its recent rough patch is well under way. The company will likely deliver 400 737 narrowbody jetliners this year, and [Read More...] -
Suddenly, The F-35 Fighter Is Everywhere (From Forbes)
July 26, 2022- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D July is shaping up to be a good month for the F-35 fighter. Greece disclosed it wants to buy 20 of the stealthy aircraft, maybe more. The Czech Republic revealed it wants 24. And the Pentagon reached a handshake deal [Read More...] -
How Unmanned Warships Might Provide A New Paradigm For Naval Shipbuilding (From Forbes)
July 22, 2022- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The Navy has identified unmanned systems as a high-priority investment area, and is developing a diverse array of robotic sea vehicles. Some of these vehicles are genuinely autonomous warships, but with no crews. The Navy’s main focus to date has [Read More...] -
How To Slash The Time And Money Needed To Build Warships–Without Cutting Capabilities (From Forbes)
July 19, 2022- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The U.S. Navy has been struggling unsuccessfully for 20 years to increase the number of warships in its fleet above 300. If wants to keep up with China–which will have 400 warships by the end of the decade–it will have [Read More...] -
Why Reining In Big Tech Could Be Bad News For U.S. National Security (From Forbes)
July 7, 2022- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The U.S. government is contemplating a raft of initiatives for regulating Big Tech, meaning the largest digital enterprises such as Apple and Amazon. There are valid reasons for regulating the sector more tightly such as protecting privacy and suppressing illegal [Read More...] -
COO Chris Calio Says Raytheon Technologies Is Proving The Value Of The Merger (From Forbes)
July 1, 2022- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D When Raytheon and United Technologies disclosed their intention to merge three years ago, they laid out a vision of a consolidated enterprise that would be nearly unstoppable in aerospace and defense. It did not take long for that vision to [Read More...]