Author Archives: Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

July 14, 2010Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

Naval Shipbuilding: Northrop Grumman Takes Next Step In Strategic Repositioning Northrop Grumman disclosed on July 13 that it would consolidate naval shipbuilding operations on the Gulf Coast, and seriously consider exiting the shipbuilding business through a sale or spinoff of its yards. Chief Executive Officer Wes Bush bluntly stated what [Read More...]

July 13, 2010Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

EFV Debate Is Really About The Future Of The Marine Corps Issue Brief Inside the Navy, a defense newsletter, reported last week that Pentagon policymakers have decided to take the advice of the Government Accountability Office and review whether the business case for the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) is still valid. [Read More...]

July 12, 2010Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

EADS Strains To Conceal The True Nature Of Its Tanker Bid Last week, U.S. aerospace giant Boeing and its European counterpart, EADS, submitted proposals to supply the Air Force’s next-generation aerial-refueling tanker. The service plans to buy 179 modified commercial transports in the first phase of a multi-decade program that eventually [Read More...]

June 30, 2010Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

World Trade Organization Denounces Airbus Business Practices, Compromising Tanker Bid The world’s preeminent trade body today released a detailed report documenting that European commercial-transport producer Airbus has engaged in predatory, illegal trade practices since it was first established in the 1970s. The World Trade Organization (WTO) said that Airbus has [Read More...]

June 29, 2010Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

Pentagon Cost-Cutting Initiative Elicits Bemused Reaction From Defense Industry The initial public reaction of senior defense-industry officials to the Pentagon’s latest cost-cutting initiative was positive, but behind the scenes executives are confused and worried. They don’t doubt the sincerity or logic of what defense acquisition czar Ashton Carter is [Read More...]

June 28, 2010Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

New Pentagon Cost-Cutting Proposals Could Impact Contractor Margins The Department of Defense today will propose a series of cost-cutting initiatives intended to reduce the budgetary burden of contracting for military goods and services. In meetings with industry executives, acquisition workers and the media, Under Secretary of Defense for [Read More...]

June 25, 2010Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

Split Decision On Global Hawk Leaves Fate Of Most Capable Unmanned Aircraft In Question The outcome of the Defense Acquisition Board’s June 24 meeting on the future of the Global Hawk unmanned aerial system appears to have been a split decision, with some airframes and sensors approved while funding of others was deferred. The [Read More...]

June 24, 2010Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

F-35 Appears To Be Overcoming Political Troubles There is so much misleading information about the F-35 joint strike fighter in the public record that I feel a need to return to the subject periodically in an attempt to provide some balance. I’m happy to say this time [Read More...]

June 23, 2010Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

Lesson Of The McChrystal Flap: Give The Strategy A Year, Then Get Out The problem with Gen. Stanley McChrystal isn’t the childish things he and his aides said to reporter Michael Hastings of Rolling Stone. The real problem is that his strategy in Afghanistan isn’t working. The troops hate it, the public is [Read More...]

June 22, 2010Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

Changing Defense Budget Environment Drives Shift In Company Strategies Remarks to the BB&T Capital Markets Defense Teleconference The defense business isn’t like other sectors of the U.S. economy. There is only one customer that matters — the federal government — and that customer’s behavior often diverges from what we [Read More...]