Author Archives: Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D
-
Combat Vehicle Fire Extinguishers Pose Threat To Service Members (From RealClearDefense)
January 9, 2018- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D During the Cold War, the U.S. Army and Marine Corps installed highly pressurized Automatic Fire Extinguisher Systems in their tanks and troop carriers to protect crews from flash fires caused by incoming rounds. After 9-11, the same systems were installed [Read More...] -
Electronic Warfare: The Part Of The F-35 Fighter Story You Haven’t Heard (From Forbes)
January 9, 2018- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The tri-service F-35 fighter program was designed from its inception to evade detection by radar and heat-seeking missiles. Combined with speed, agility and onboard weapons, these “stealth” features make the F-35 a highly survivable aircraft even in heavily contested air [Read More...] -
Five Reasons The U.S. Army Must Modernize Faster To Avoid Catastrophe (From Forbes)
January 3, 2018- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The U.S. Army hates begging Congress for money, but its new management team has figured out that begging is a lot better than being unprepared when the next war begins. So Army Secretary Mark Esper and Under Secretary Ryan McCarthy [Read More...] -
F-35 Ascending: The Pentagon’s Biggest Program Had Its Best Year Ever In 2017 (From Forbes)
December 20, 2017- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The tri-service F-35 fighter program is wrapping up 2017 in better shape than it has ever been before. Deliveries to three U.S. military services and overseas allies are up 43% from last year, and expected to continue rising steadily in [Read More...] -
Memo To Senate Banking Committee: Ex-Im Bank Needs A Leader Who Believes In The Mission (From Forbes)
December 15, 2017- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Next Tuesday the Senate Banking Committee will vote on five nominees to the Export-Import Bank’s board. Four of the nominees deserve to be supported. The fifth, former New Jersey congressman Scott Garrett, should be rejected. For some inexplicable reason, the [Read More...] -
Iconic B-52 Bomber Epitomizes Air Power — And The Way Weapons Ought To Be Bought (From Forbes)
December 5, 2017- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The U.S. Air Force is planning to install new engines on the B-52 bomber, arguably the most iconic airframe in the history of aviation. It might seem a little late in the game to be putting new propulsion systems on [Read More...] -
What’s New At The Reagan Defense Forum This Year? The Threat Of North Korean Nuclear Attack (From Forbes)
December 1, 2017- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The rapidly emerging nuclear threat that North Korea poses to the U.S. will likely be a topic of discussion at this weekend’s Reagan National Defense Forum. A good place to start in figuring out how to respond would be to [Read More...] -
Ten Things The Air Force Won’t Tell You About Its Plan To Kill Recap Of The J-Stars Radar Plane (From Forbes)
November 29, 2017- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The Air Force has decided to cancel recapitalization of its aging J-Stars radar planes, arguing that the aircraft won’t be survivable in future air campaigns against adversaries like Russia. The service plans to develop an alternative architecture based on linking [Read More...] -
Air Force Space Launch Plan Multiplies Risks But Won’t Meet Military Requirements (From Forbes)
November 27, 2017- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center is pushing ahead with a “launch service agreement” for future military missions in space that seems to be full of defects. First, it requires prospective providers to develop a new heavy-lift rocket [Read More...] -
5 Reasons The Army’s New Battlefield Networking Strategy Won’t Work (From Forbes)
November 20, 2017- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The Army last week tried to lay out its “halt-fix-pivot” strategy for recasting how future battlefield communications should be organized. It didn’t make much sense. As Sydney Freedberg of Breaking Defense observed, there is a real danger that the Army [Read More...]