Author Archives: Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D
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Early Lessons From The U.S. Army’s Campaign To Conquer COVID-19 (From Forbes)
May 6, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The U.S. Army has done a remarkably effective job of responding to COVID-19. It has minimized the spread of the viral infection within its ranks, and helped local communities to cope with a surge in cases. So what lessons have [Read More...] -
How Aerojet Rocketdyne Manages To Play An Outsized Role In The U.S. Defense Supply Chain (From Forbes)
May 1, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D U.S. policymakers in recent years have become increasingly concerned about the fragility of the defense supply chain. Critical suppliers can become choke-points in the production process if their operations are impaired and no alternate source exists. A case in point [Read More...] -
How The Navy’s CMV-22B Osprey Helps Make Distributed Maritime Operations A Reality (From Forbes)
April 28, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The Navy is implementing a warfighting concept called Distributed Maritime Operations that disperses its warships over vast areas in order to optimize their offensive and defensive options. That will required it to change how it provides logistical support to the [Read More...] -
Pentagon Study Would Cut Aircraft Carriers, Undermining Most Useful U.S. Warfighting System (From Forbes)
April 24, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The Pentagon’s cost assessment and program evaluation shop, widely known as CAPE, has apparently proposed that the number of aircraft carriers in the U.S. fleet be reduced from eleven to nine. That would effectively reduce the number of carriers that [Read More...] -
Leidos Discovers Its Business Model Adapts Surprisingly Well To Coronavirus (From Forbes)
April 22, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D If you were going to invent an enterprise that could cope well with a global pandemic, it would probably look a lot like Leidos. The $12 billion provider of IT, science and engineering services to federal customers is largely insulated [Read More...] -
How Coronavirus Could Permanently Transform The U.S. Military (From Forbes)
April 20, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Much of official Washington seems to believe that once the coronavirus crisis passes, the nation can get back to normal. That might turn out to not be the case. There may never be a reliable vaccine to ward off COVID-19, [Read More...] -
Coronavirus Makes The National Security Case For Rebuilding U.S. Maritime Power Compelling (From Forbes)
April 17, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The coronavirus crisis will lead to a great deal of reflection on how America deals with the rest of the world, particularly China. One area where Washington needs to reclaim lost ground is the commercial shipbuilding and shipping industry, where [Read More...] -
Five Reasons Pentagon Weapons Spending Won’t Be Cut To Help Washington Cope With Coronavirus (From Forbes)
April 13, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D With the economy seemingly brought to a standstill by the coronavirus crisis, it is easy to believe that military modernization plans will be undercut by changing national priorities. However, there are multiple reasons to doubt that big cuts in weapons [Read More...] -
Why The Air Force’s Latest Flight Plan For Its KC-46 Tanker Looks Likely To Finally Deliver Success (From Forbes)
April 9, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Earlier this month, the Air Force disclosed amendments to the contract it has with Boeing for developing its next-generation aerial refueler. The planes are badly needed to replace aged Cold War tankers, without which many combat aircraft in the joint [Read More...] -
Despite Coronavirus, Textron’s Defense Business Got Two Big Boosts In March (From Forbes)
April 7, 2020- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Providence, Rhode Island-based Textron is a major player in aerospace. It dominates manufacture of small and medium-size business jets, it provides aircraft simulation and training services, it develops reconnaissance drones, and it is one of three large integrators of rotorcraft [Read More...]