Author Archives: Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D
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Pratt & Whitney Poised To Become Engine Of Growth For United Technologies (From Forbes)
April 6, 2017- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D United Technologies is one of the world’s biggest industrial conglomerates, and it manages to get robust returns from all four of its major business units. But the breakout performer going forward will likely be Pratt & Whitney, one of the [Read More...] -
If Nuclear Deterrence Fails, What’s The Plan? (From RealClear Defense)
April 3, 2017- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D U.S. nuclear strategy is focused mainly on deterring rational leaders in full control of their arsenals from contemplating aggression. When foreign leaders aren’t rational or aren’t in full control of their arsenals, it doesn’t work so well. Nor does it [Read More...] -
U.S. Marines Send F-35 Fighters To South Korea — And A Signal To The North (From Forbes)
March 30, 2017- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The Pentagon disclosed recently that Marine F-35B fighters are operating in South Korea for the first time in joint training exercises with the Republic of Korea military. The exercises are conducted to assure the two allies can mesh seamlessly in [Read More...] -
BAE Systems, Third Biggest Global Military Contractor, Approaches Major Leadership Change (From Forbes)
March 27, 2017- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D On June 30, BAE Systems chief executive Ian King will retire, and the next day he will be succeeded in that position by Charles Woodburn, 46, a longtime executive in the global energy sector. Mr. Woodburn inherits an enterprise that [Read More...] -
How White House Budgeting Director Mick Mulvaney Sabotaged Trump’s Defense Spending Increase (From Forbes)
March 24, 2017- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D President Trump has made rebuilding America’s military one of his top priorities. He says it is more important than controlling budget deficits. However, that is not the way White House budgeting director Mick Mulvaney apparently sees it. He has structured [Read More...] -
Georgetown University Students Get Military Buy-In on Novel Approach To Solving Security Problems (From Forbes)
March 21, 2017- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The Security Studies Program at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service has come up with a truly novel approach to solving national security problems. A class called Hacking4Defense groups graduate students into interdisciplinary teams that apply lean startup theory [Read More...] -
Capitalism In Space: The Beguiling Myth Market Forces Can Fix Everything (From Forbes)
March 16, 2017- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D On March 10 the Center for a New American Security released a report entitled “Capitalism in Space” that argued the government should abandon its traditional approach to managing civil and military space programs, relying more on “free enterprise” to get [Read More...] -
Versatile V-22 Osprey Is The Most Successful New Combat System Since 9-11 (From Forbes)
March 13, 2017- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D At its inception in the early 1990s, the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor was so controversial that Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney repeatedly tried to terminate it. He didn’t succeed, because Congress and the Marine Corps could see the game-changing potential of [Read More...] -
Army Needs One Hour Of Federal Spending Per Year To Fix Vulnerable Links — And Can’t Find It (from Forbes)
March 9, 2017- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D If you can’t move on the modern battlefield, then you probably can’t survive. However, most of the U.S. Army’s combat units are equipped with communications gear that requires them to come to a halt before communicating with headquarters. If they [Read More...] -
Air Force “Light Fighter” Concept Seems A Bit Light On Logic (From Forbes)
March 6, 2017- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Despite suffering from a chronically underfunded modernization budget, the Air Force is pressing ahead with experimentation on yet another new aircraft. It’s a propeller-driven “light fighter” that could be used to attack irregular forces such as ISIS from so-called permissive [Read More...]