Author Archives: Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D
White House Export Goals Require More Weapons Sales Issue Brief
On March 11, President Obama signed an executive order establishing a “national export initiative.” The order implements his commitment in the State of the Union address to double U.S. exports over the next five years. It’s a very [Read More...]
Boeing Launches Bid To Build Next White House Helicopter The Boeing Company disclosed today that it intends to be a bidder in the competition to build a next-generation presidential helicopter. It said it had purchased the rights to build a domestic version of the AgustaWestland EH101 helicopter — the [Read More...]
Apocalypse Soon: Baby Boomers Confront Death I was born in 1951, part of the postwar surge in child-bearing that came to be known as the Baby Boom. The Baby Boom was preceded by relatively low birthrates during the Depression and the War, and it was followed [Read More...]
Joint Force Needs To Replace Aged Jamming Systems Soon In the two decades since the Cold War ended, the world has undergone a technological revolution. Every facet of commerce and culture has been reshaped by the growing ubiquity of digital sensors, processors and networks. We tend not to notice [Read More...]
Boeing 737 Emerging As Centerpiece Of Future Joint Fleet Issue Brief
The U.S. Navy is conducting a highly successful effort to replace its aging fleet of maritime patrol planes with a military version of the Boeing 737 passenger jet. The planes will perform anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare from land [Read More...]
F-35 Review Shows How Best Intentions Of Reformers Often Backfire The F-35 joint strike fighter has survived a Nunn-McCurdy review required of all weapons systems that exceed so-called “critical” thresholds for cost increases. Defense acquisition czar Ashton Carter will tell Congress this week that the program is essential to national [Read More...]
Navy Patrol Plane Investment Can Be Leveraged To Provide Low-Cost Replacement Of Joint Stars One of the biggest budget puzzles faced by Air Force planners is how to modernize the service’s aging fleet of manned electronic-sensing aircraft. These aircraft come in three flavors: the E-3 AWACS planes that provide air surveillance, the E-8 Joint [Read More...]
Warfighters And Taxpayers Would Benefit If Gates Remained At The Pentagon Through 2012 Pentagon insiders say that defense secretary Robert Gates has seriously considered departing his present position on two previous occasions, and now is contemplating closing out his public career shortly after this year’s midterm elections. God knows Gates and his staff [Read More...]
Buying Second Engine For F-35 Wastes Money, Hurts Military Issue Brief
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is being developed to replace most of the Cold War tactical aircraft operated by three U.S. military services and nine allies. The success of the program depends on holding down costs. However, House [Read More...]
Tanker Wars: Failing To Consider Subsidies Rewards Wrongdoing, Undermines Free Trade Later this week, the House of Representatives will decide whether the Pentagon should be directed to consider European aircraft subsidies in comparing proposals to develop the Air Force’s next aerial-refueling tanker. If you think that sounds boring, then you probably [Read More...]