Author Archives: Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D
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F-35 Rising: The Pentagon’s Biggest Weapon Program Made Major Progress in 2015 (From Forbes)
December 21, 2015- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The tri-service F-35 fighter, by far the Pentagon’s biggest weapon program, is finishing up the most successful year in its history. Not only did Congress and the Obama Administration give the program increased budgetary resources last week, but every facet [Read More...] -
Fighting ISIS: Why The Obama Narrative Isn’t Connecting (From Forbes)
December 17, 2015- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D President Obama’s strategy for defeating radical jihadists is a sensible balancing of conflicting objectives that shows signs of succeeding. However, you’d never know that from looking at public-opinion surveys about his performance in dealing with the likes of ISIS. He [Read More...] -
Obama Backs Biggest Nuclear Arms Buildup Since Cold War (From Forbes)
December 15, 2015- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Barack Obama has been a proponent of nuclear disarmament his entire adult life, but you’d never know that to look at the sprawling strategic modernization agenda his administration is pursuing. The president’s plan involves replacing every delivery system in the [Read More...] -
War In Europe: Why The Army Is Worried (From Forbes)
December 11, 2015- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine has forced the Pentagon to rethink what threats might be facing Europe in the years ahead. However, not much has been done to bolster U.S. forces that would have to cope with further Russian land [Read More...] -
Tracking Terrorists: Congress Presses Pentagon To Speed Replacement of JSTARS Radar Planes (From Forbes)
December 8, 2015- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Sixty members of Congress, including most members of the defense authorization and appropriations panels in the House, are pressing the Pentagon to get moving on recapitalization of the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS). The fleet of 16 ground-tracking [Read More...] -
Is CNN Making Us Less Safe? (From Forbes)
December 4, 2015- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Every time there is a mass shooting in America, the media engage in a ritualized debate about the Second Amendment, and whether new technology makes it necessary to rethink the right to keep and bear arms. Curiously, this same logic [Read More...] -
The Air Force Is Taking Way Too Long To Buy A New “T-X” Trainer For Its Young Pilots (From Forbes)
December 1, 2015- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D The U.S. Air Force operates an aged fleet of 500 Cold War training aircraft that are used to instruct young pilots in how to fly fighters and bombers. The planes are called T-38 Talons, and they are well past their [Read More...] -
Why “Containing” ISIS Might Not Be Such A Bad Strategy (From Forbes)
November 25, 2015- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D President Obama attracted a lot of criticism when he told an interviewer the day before terrorist attacks in Paris that ISIS was “contained.” What he meant was that the expansion of the land ISIS controls had ceased, not that its [Read More...] -
Killing ISIS: Five Reasons American “Boots On The Ground” Will Backfire (From Forbes)
November 20, 2015- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D Although the American public strongly opposes any return of U.S. ground forces to the Middle East, little by little that is what’s happening. The U.S. troop count is over 3,500 in Iraq, special forces are being permanently stationed in Syria, [Read More...] -
Why BAE Systems Decided To Stick With Services While Other Big Pentagon Contractors Are Exiting (From Forbes)
November 16, 2015- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D BAE Systems, the world’s third biggest military supplier, disclosed last week that it had decided not to sell the technical services businesses of its U.S. subsidiary, despite multiple expressions of interest from potential buyers. It thus is resisting a trend [Read More...]