Author Archives: Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D
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Lockheed Martin Forecasts 40% Reduction In F-35 Sustainment Costs Over Five Years (From Forbes)
September 17, 2021- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D On September 13, the F-35 Joint Program Office awarded prime contractor Lockheed Martin a three-year contract for sustainment of the fighter. Lockheed will provide maintenance, training, supply chain management and fleet analytics. The company expects to reduce its portion of [Read More...] -
Why Nothing Can Replace Large-Deck, Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carriers In U.S. Strategy (From Forbes)
September 14, 2021- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The United States is the only nation that operates a fleet of large-deck, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers–eleven in all. They are the signature expression of American military power, and by far the most powerful conventional warfighting system ever conceived. Unfortunately, much [Read More...] -
Why America’s Retreat From Afghanistan Reinforces The Case For Foreign Arms Sales (From Forbes)
September 10, 2021- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The evacuation of U.S. personnel from Afghanistan is not the only time in recent history when Washington has given up on a fight and left locals in the lurch. It happened in Saigon in 1975, in Beirut in 1983, in [Read More...] -
Five Factors That Should Drive The FTC’s Assessment Of A Lockheed-Aerojet Merger (From Forbes)
September 7, 2021- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The Federal Trade Commission appears to be wrapping up its analysis of Lockheed Martin’s proposed merger with Aerojet Rocketdyne. Every merger is unique, but this transaction may be more unusual than most given the players and products involved. Here are [Read More...] -
Why Raytheon Technologies Could Become America’s Biggest Aerospace & Defense Business In This Decade (From Forbes)
September 2, 2021- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D When Raytheon and United Technologies merged in 2020 to become Raytheon Technologies, they created an aerospace enterprise with unrivaled market breadth and technical depth. There is a real possibility that by mid-decade, RTX will be the biggest aerospace and defense [Read More...] -
Recompete Of Joint Light Tactical Vehicle Will Test Whether The Army Can Keep Its Eye On The Ball (From Forbes)
August 30, 2021- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The U.S. Army’s program to field a more resilient and versatile successor to the Humvee light truck has unfolded in remarkably smooth fashion. Manufacturer Oshkosh, which won the contract in 2015, has delivered 13,000 vehicles to the Army and other [Read More...] -
The Biggest Military Tech Opportunity Of The Biden Years Isn’t A Weapon, It’s A Network (From Forbes)
August 24, 2021- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The Department of Defense is pursuing a technology initiative called Joint All-Domain Command and Control aimed at tying together the sensors and shooters of the joint force in a single, integrated warfighting architecture. The notion of network-centric warfare has been [Read More...] -
How CACI Broke Out Of The Pack To Lead Defeat Of Unmanned Air Systems (From Forbes)
August 20, 2021- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D CACI is not in the habit of bragging. So few people probably realize that the $6 billion company headquartered in suburban Washington, has become a global leader in defeating unmanned aircraft systems. In fact, it may be the global leader: [Read More...] -
Lockheed Martin’s Flexible Intelligent Factory At Palmdale May Be A Model For Biden Industrial Policy (From Forbes)
August 17, 2021- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Last week Lockheed Martin unveiled the factory of the future at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. It’s a fully digitized, easily reconfigurable space of 215,000 square feet in which automation and virtual reality figure prominently to ease the [Read More...] -
Why A Nuclear Deterrent Without ICBMs Would Be Dangerous And Destabilizing (From Forbes)
August 13, 2021- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The United States has long maintained a nuclear “triad” of land-based ICBMs, sea-based ballistic missiles, and bombers. Now some members of Congress are proposing that Washington forego replacing its aged ICBMs. That would be dangerous, because the number of targets [Read More...]