Author Archives: Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D
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Why Slow Construction Of The Navy’s ‘Fabulously Successful’ DDG-51 Destroyer When Plans For A Successor Are Unclear? (From Forbes)
November 20, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The DDG-51 Arleigh Burke class of destroyers is one of the most successful naval construction programs in modern history. It is the most versatile destroyer ever built, and on any given day dozens are deployed around the globe. But the [Read More...] -
How A Low-Cost Upgrade Could Make Hundreds Of Air Force C-130s Safer And More Useful (From Forbes)
November 17, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The U.S. Air Force’s C-130 transport has remained versatile and relevant for seven decades through the timely implementation of upgrades to the original airframe. Today, it is time for another such upgrade: an enhanced vision system to amplify the value [Read More...] -
Four New Weapons That Will Define The Biden Defense Posture (From Forbes)
November 13, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Predicting the priorities of a new presidential administration is risky business–especially when it hasn’t even taken office yet. However, President-elect Biden has a long and fairly consistent track record on defense, so when it comes to weapons programs some of [Read More...] -
Airbus Wants To Sell Space Services To U.S. Spy Agencies. That Raises Some Questions. (From Forbes)
November 9, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The U.S. arm of Airbus Space & Defense reorganized last summer to bid for classified intelligence work. An early target reportedly will be the opportunity to sell commercial imagery to the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). But such work is highly [Read More...] -
Biden Win Would Be A Mixed Blessing For Aerospace, But A Trump Win Could Be Worse (From Forbes)
October 30, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D President Trump has been a friend of the domestic aerospace sector during his first term, increasing Pentagon weapons outlays and promoting overseas arms sales. However, a second Trump term could be problematic if he tries to decouple from China, withdraws [Read More...] -
Will President Biden Make The Same Mistake On Missile Defense That President Obama Did? (From Forbes)
October 23, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D When Barack Obama became president in 2009, he almost immediately set about scaling back missile defense efforts for protecting the American homeland that he had inherited from his predecessor. In the end, he killed almost everything. The only program that [Read More...] -
Get Ready For President Biden To Throw U.S. Security Policies Into Reverse (From Forbes)
October 20, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D President Trump’s national security policies are very different from the bipartisan posture that has prevailed in the postwar era. Having played a central role for decades in fashioning that postwar consensus, Joe Biden has left an extensive political record of [Read More...] -
Will The Pentagon’s Bold Battle Force 2045 Plan Finally Fix Sealift? (From Forbes)
October 16, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D There are reasons to suspect that the Battle Force 2045 plan for remaking America’s Navy will not come to much. It’s too ambitious and the timing is all wrong. However, there are elements of the plan that are both affordable [Read More...] -
Why Secretary Esper’s Call For Light Carriers Would Make The U.S. Navy Weaker (From Forbes)
October 13, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D On October 6, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper unveiled his outline of what the future U.S. naval fleet should look like. Called Battleforce 2045, there would be more of everything, except for large-deck, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. When it comes to [Read More...] -
Report: A Robust Tech Sector Is Critical To U.S. National Security (From Forbes)
October 9, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Technologies spawned by the information revolution are transforming every facet of the global economy. Like any other upheaval, the information revolution will produce winners and losers. If Washington does not want its military to be one of the losers, it [Read More...]