Author Archives: Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D
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Air Force’s ‘Skyborg’ Robotic Wingman Will Revolutionize How Air Warfare Is Waged—And How Weapons Are Bought (From Forbes)
August 28, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The Air Force Research Laboratory is developing a family of robotic air vehicles designed to work with manned aircraft in heavily contested airspace. The program, known as Skyborg, will leverage autonomous vehicle technology, seamless connectivity and open architectures to suppress [Read More...] -
Boeing’s Philly Rotorcraft Plant Faces A Difficult Decade As Army, Marines Shift To New Priorities (From Forbes)
August 25, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The biggest industrial employer in Southeastern Pennsylvania is facing an uncertain future thanks to the Trump Pentagon. The two top rotorcraft programs at Boeing Vertical’s headquarters in suburban Philadelphia are both likely to see declining demand in the near future [Read More...] -
The Logic Of ICBMs, And Why A President Biden Is Certain To Agree (From Forbes)
August 20, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D There has been media commentary of late suggesting that Joe Biden might slow modernization of U.S. ICBMs if he is elected president. That is not going to happen. The plan to replace 50-year-old Minuteman III missiles originated in the Obama [Read More...] -
U.S. Navy Mounts Campaign To Convince Congress That Unmanned Vessels Are Critical To Winning Future Wars (From Forbes)
August 17, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Unmanned systems are one of the Navy’s top modernization priorities, but it seems the air vehicles are faring better on Capitol Hill than vessels in the water. Congress has repeatedly rebuffed or revised Navy requests for funding in a way [Read More...] -
Japan’s Rethink Of Aegis Ashore Could Tie Up Navy, Increase Costs And Cause Delays (From Forbes)
August 11, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D On June 15, Japan’s defense minister surprised Washington by suspending work on Aegis Ashore, a system designed to defend the home islands against a North Korean missile attack. Apparently Tokyo will need to craft a modified plan that minimizes the [Read More...] -
Army Breakthroughs In Long Range Fires Raise Novel Questions About Targeting, Organization & Command (From Forbes)
August 7, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The U.S. Army’s top modernization priority is increasing the range and lethality of its fires. That effort is going so well that it is now generating options for the future beyond what would have been imaginable a decade or two [Read More...] -
Ten Performance Gains The Ford-Class Carrier Will Deliver That A Nimitz Never Can (From Forbes)
August 5, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The USS Gerald R. Ford, lead ship in a new generation of large-deck, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, is a lot more capable than the Nimitz class which it will replace. It can launch a third more aircraft sorties each day, including [Read More...] -
Impact Of Pentagon Weapons Spending On Jobs (And Votes) In Four Battleground States (From Forbes)
July 30, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D U.S. presidential elections tend to be decided by small numbers of voters in a handful of battleground states. Partisan sentiment is so evenly split in those states that seemingly minor factors can decide who wins all of a state’s electoral [Read More...] -
Aerojet Concentrates Solid Rocket Motor Work At Camden, Arkansas In Bid To Bolster Competitive Positioning (From Forbes)
July 27, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Aerojet Rocketdyne has shifted production of large solid rocket motors to Camden, Arkansas from its heritage headquarters site in Sacramento, California. Camden isn’t the most likely place to locate a hub of aerospace innovation, but that is what the company [Read More...] -
Why Boeing Believes It Will Win The Competition To Supply Heavy-Lift Helicopters To Germany And Israel (From Forbes)
July 23, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The Boeing Company is competing head-to-head with the Sikorsky unit of Lockheed Martin to supply a new generation of heavy lift helicopters to Germany and Israel. Both countries are looking to replace aged CH-53D helicopters, which in effect makes Sikorsky [Read More...]