Author Archives: Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D
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Lockheed Martin Offers To Shoulder Risks On F-35 Maintenance With Fixed-Price, Performance-Based Contract (From Forbes)
September 16, 2019- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Lockheed Martin is proposing to assume most of the risk for sustaining the tri-service F-35 fighter. Under an offer presented to the Pentagon in August, the company would reach and exceed fleet readiness of 80% by 2025 for a fixed [Read More...] -
Secret Pentagon Space Plan Driven By Fear Of China (From Forbes)
September 12, 2019- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The U.S. military has become alarmed by threats to its space systems, and most of the danger originates in China. The Pentagon doesn’t disclose intelligence about the vulnerability of America’s orbital assets or what “counterspace” initiatives it believes Beijing is [Read More...] -
Backing NASA’s Human Spaceflight Program Could Help Democrats Win Back The White House (From Forbes)
September 9, 2019- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The Trump Administration has a plan for returning U.S. astronauts to the Moon, and there’s no evidence that Democratic presidential candidates are going to support it. President Obama gutted his predecessor’s effort to do something similar. However, failing to back [Read More...] -
Why Aircraft Carriers Are The Most Cost-Effective Way Of Containing China’s Military (From Forbes)
September 3, 2019- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D There has been a lot of speculation lately about how China’s heavy investment in new military capabilities might be compromising the survivability of U.S. aircraft carriers in the Western Pacific. In reality, though, the carriers are less vulnerable today than [Read More...] -
Five Reasons An Economic Recession Could Be Bad News For The Defense Industry (From Forbes)
August 26, 2019- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D There is a longstanding theory that defense stocks are an effective hedge against recessions because the defense business does not follow the rhythms of the commercial business cycle. However, every recession is different, and if one were to begin over [Read More...] -
Contract Award Confirms BAE Systems Status As World’s Leading Electronic Warfare House (From Forbes)
August 22, 2019- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D F-35 airframe integrator Lockheed Martin has awarded BAE Systems a contract to execute Block 4 upgrades to the fighter’s electronic warfare system. This move ensures that BAE will remain the electronic warfare source for the foreseeable future on what is [Read More...] -
How Budget Games In Congress Endanger The Lives Of U.S. Troops (From Forbes)
August 20, 2019- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Congress has not managed to complete a federal budget in time for the new fiscal year even once in this century. So there’s a good chance that fiscal 2020 will commence on October 1 with yet another continuing resolution. If [Read More...] -
JLTV, Successor To Humvee, Tests U.S. Army’s Ability To Stick With A Plan (From Forbes)
August 16, 2019- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The Army and Marine Corps are buying a successor to the venerable Humvee light truck that is more survivable, versatile and reliable. Called the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, it is a response to threats encountered fighting insurgents in Southwest Asia [Read More...] -
How The U.S. Army Can Play A Much Bigger Pacific Role Deterring China (From Forbes)
August 13, 2019- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D In the Pentagon’s planning for great-power conflict, Europe is generally considered an Army-Air Force arena, while East Asia is considered a Navy-Marine Corps arena. But the U.S. Army may have a bigger role to play in deterring Chinese aggression than [Read More...] -
Why China Can’t Target U.S. Aircraft Carriers (From Forbes)
August 9, 2019- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Critics of U.S. aircraft carriers have been warning for decades that the warships were becoming vulnerable to attack by long-range anti-ship missiles. The latest source of this threat is said to be China. However, the missiles aren’t of much use [Read More...]