Author Archives: Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D
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Why SpaceX Lost Its Bid To Ban Russian Rocket Engines (From Forbes)
July 7, 2016- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The most bitterly contested issue this year in Senate floor debate of the National Defense Authorization Act was whether the Pentagon would be able to continue using Russian rocket engines to launch military satellites. SpaceX mounted a major lobbying effort [Read More...] -
Could Terrorists Pick America’s Next President? (from National Interest)
July 6, 2016- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Although the Obama Administration has done a good job of keeping terrorists out of the United States, it has not been able to prevent them from invading the American psyche. Voters are so concerned with the terrorist threat that a [Read More...] -
Blocking Exports: How Senator Shelby Is Hurting Alabama — And America
June 30, 2016- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Today marks the anniversary of one of the dumbest moves ever made by political zealots in Congress. Last year, a misguided minority of House Republicans succeeded in shutting down the Export-Import Bank, making America the only major trading nation without [Read More...] -
After Five Years Of Flat Revenues, Strategies Of Big Defense Companies Begin To Diverge (From National Interest)
June 29, 2016- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Big U.S. military contractors have begun making major strategic moves as they weather the sixth year of a downturn in domestic military demand. Initially the companies were content to apply the usual litany of tactical measures deployed whenever Pentagon demand [Read More...] -
Navy/Lockheed MUOS Satellites Deliver Huge Boost In Global Military Connectivity (From Forbes)
June 28, 2016- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Last week the Navy completed orbiting its Mobile User Objective System satellite constellation with the successful launch of a fifth satellite. For the time being, the satellites will be sustaining joint connectivity using legacy waveforms, but sometime later this year [Read More...] -
As Foreign Arms Sales Surge, Washington Struggles To Speed Approvals (From Forbes)
June 22, 2016- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D U.S. foreign military sales have increased from $28 billion in 2013 to $34 billion in 2014 to $47 billion last year as the Obama Administration seeks to shift some of the burden of regional security to overseas partners. The government [Read More...] -
Leidos CEO Roger Krone Focuses On People As Integration Of Lockheed Services Unit Approaches (From Forbes)
June 17, 2016- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Reston, Virginia-based solutions company Leidos Holdings is about to double in size as it absorbs the IT and technical services unit of Lockheed Martin. Leidos CEO Roger Krone sees big opportunities ahead in the market segments the combination will address, [Read More...] -
Submarine Production Poised To Outpace Other Pentagon Programs Through 2030 (From Forbes)
June 15, 2016- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D It’s hard to get weapons production up significantly when Congress has capped military spending through the end of the decade, but submarines look poised to do quite well going forward. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office figures sub construction will [Read More...] -
America’s Worn-Out “Arsenal of Democracy” Looks More Like an Antiques Roadshow (From National Interest)
June 10, 2016- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Chinese pilots observing U.S. military planes near their airspace must be surprised at what an aged collection of aircraft the world’s sole remaining superpower is operating. The Air Force RC-135 and Navy EP-3 Aries II that have been intercepted in [Read More...] -
U.S. Security Requires Flexibility On Russian Rocket Engines
June 8, 2016- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The Senate later this week will vote on whether to loosen proposed restrictions on the use of Russian RD-180 rocket engines. This issue is not as complicated as some “experts” make it seem. The bottom line is that if Russian [Read More...]