Author Archives: Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

Government Moves Likely To Destroy Solid Rocket Motor Industrial Base You don’t have to be a political scientist or an engineer to see what the Obama Administration plan for NASA’s manned space flight program means. It is the end of the road. The brave vision of human beings walking on [Read More...]
GE Challenges Lexington Assessment Of Alternate Engine On Monday I wrote an issue brief arguing that the defense department can no longer afford to sustain second sources for military systems. I used General Electric’s alternate engine for the F-35 joint strike fighter as an example, and warned [Read More...]
Defense Subcommittee Likely To See Changes In Style Under Chairman Dicks There isn’t much mystery about who will be the next chairman of the House appropriations defense subcommittee. The new chairman will be Congressman Norm Dicks, who has earned the job by virtue of his seniority, expertise and tireless support of [Read More...]
Defense Industrial Base: Second Sources Not Affordable Issue Brief The 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review has produced the most competent, coherent report ever generated in the history of that much-maligned process. It is not a sweeping vision of military transformation, but rather a practical assessment of the security [Read More...]
BAE Systems Settlement Closes Book On Long-Running Corruption Cases Friday’s announcement that BAE Systems has settled long-running corruption cases with the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.K. Serious Fraud Office is very big and very good news for the world’s number-two military contractor. Press releases from both governments [Read More...]
With Obama Backing Big Weapons Budgets, Is Politics A Waning Predictor Of Spending Priorities? Sixteen months ago, in October of 2008, I wrote an improbable issue brief titled, “Five Reasons Weapons Spending Won’t Fall.” It argued that if Barack Obama won the White House, he wouldn’t slash weapons outlays the way other recent Democratic [Read More...]
Gates Plan For C-17 Contradicts Industrial Base Focus During budget briefings this week, defense secretary Robert Gates has gone out of his way to insist that the time has come to end production of the C-17 airlifter. Gates acknowledges that the C-17 is a versatile carrier of cargo, [Read More...]
The Obama Budget: More Debt Makes America Weaker If you’ve been following congressional hearings about the near collapse of America’s financial system, then perhaps you have already figured out why both political parties were so blind to the danger. They were blind because they did not want to [Read More...]
New Report Shows Startling Teen Pregnancy Rate Among U.S. Minorities The Washington Post reported on January 26 that a long decline in pregnancy rates among American teenagers ended at mid-decade, and the pregnancy rate has begun rising again. The story, based on a study from the respected Guttmacher Institute, suggested [Read More...]
QDR Can’t Solve Three Biggest Defense Challenges Details of the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review have begun to circulate, and it looks pretty much like my colleague Dan Goure predicted: a warmed-over version of the Bush defense posture. That isn’t all bad, because by the end of its [Read More...]
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