Author Archives: Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D
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Why President Trump Needs A Five-Year Defense Plan On Day One (From Forbes)
December 22, 2016- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D President-elect Donald Trump’s goals for revitalizing U.S. military capabilities are similar to those that president-elect Ronald Reagan espoused in 1981. One lesson to be learned from Reagan’s success in rebuilding a hollow military is that it’s important to have a [Read More...] -
How Trump Can Fix The F-35 Fighter Program Without Hurting American Warfighters, Workers Or Allies (From Forbes)
December 20, 2016- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The F-35 fighter program is a technological marvel, but as president-elect Trump has suggested, it doesn’t need to cost as much as it does. Somewhere between 20-30% of program costs result from compliance with government regulations — regulations that in [Read More...] -
Boeing Defense Headquarters Moving To The Nation’s Capital (From Forbes)
December 13, 2016- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The Boeing Company has decided to move the headquarters of its defense and space unit to the nation’s capital from Saint Louis, joining a migration that in recent decades has seen most of the Pentagon’s biggest suppliers relocate top brass [Read More...] -
Five Reasons Trump’s Twitter Attack On The F-35 Fighter Is Dead Wrong — And Dangerous (From Forbes)
December 12, 2016- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D President-elect Donald Trump’s latest attack on the aerospace industry targets the F-35 fighter. He says program costs are out of control. Not so: the most common version of F-35 will cost less than Trump’s Boeing 757-200 when it was new, [Read More...] -
Forget About Air Force One: This Is The Plane That Will Give President Trump The Most Trouble (From Forbes)
December 8, 2016- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The controversy surrounding Air Force One will be fleeting, because the Air Force hasn’t settled on program requirements or contract terms yet. The Air Force’s plan to build a new bomber is another matter. The B-21 Raider (as it is [Read More...] -
How Defense Secretary James “Mad Dog” Mattis Will Remake The Pentagon (From Forbes)
December 5, 2016- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D President-elect Trump’s decision to select retired Marine Corps General James N. Mattis as the next Secretary of Defense portends big changes for the Pentagon. Mattis is one of the most gifted warfighters of his generation, a battle-hardened intellectual who actually [Read More...] -
How President Trump Can Avert A Crisis In U.S. Space Policy (From Forbes)
December 2, 2016- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D President-elect Trump may be facing a crisis in U.S. space policy during his tenure thanks to the cost-driven policies pursued by his predecessor. Because current space policy tends to favor a low price-tag over risk-reduction, the government has backed into [Read More...] -
Trump May Be About To Derail The Pentagon’s Nuclear Plans (From Forbes)
November 29, 2016- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D During his campaign for the White House, president-elect Donald Trump repeatedly cited the need to modernize America’s aging nuclear deterrent. However, because of the complexities surrounding a presidential transition, Trump’s election may result in a near-term setback to the modernization [Read More...] -
Aircraft Carriers: The Unique Value of America’s Most Famous Combat System
November 29, 2016- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Aircraft carriers are the preeminent expression of U.S. military power. The United States is the only nation that operates a fleet of large-deck, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. With unlimited range and the capacity to destroy hundreds of surface targets per day, [Read More...] -
Boeing’s Big Push Into Services Will Bolster Revenues And Returns, Reduce Cyclicality (From Forbes)
November 22, 2016- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Boeing, America’s biggest exporter, disclosed Monday that it will reorganize its business with the goal of tripling services revenues to $50 billion over the next ten years. It also revealed that the next head of its commercial-aircraft unit will come [Read More...]