Author Archives: Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D
Longevity Of Missile Warning Satellites Unclear It is now nearly a year since the 23rd and last Defense Support Program (DSP) satellite failed in orbit. DSP-23 was the most advanced in a series of satellites designed to detect ballistic missile launches anywhere in the world using [Read More...]
STOPPING C-17 NOW WOULD HOBBLE FUTURE WARFIGHTERS Issue Brief
The U.S. Air Force is the only military organization in the world that operates a diverse fleet of airlifters capable of transporting large forces over long distances on short notice. The airlift fleet currently consists of three classes [Read More...]
Why Does O&M Spending Keep Going Up? The Pentagon has requested $277 billion in fiscal 2010 to fund operations and maintenance (O&M) activities in the regular military budget and overseas conflicts. That’s more than any other country spends on its entire military establishment, so you’d think pundits [Read More...]
Lockheed Littoral Combat Ship Picture Brightens The construction of Lockheed Martin’s first Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) was nobody’s idea of a smooth sail. Although the vessel performed well in sea trials, there were production setbacks, cost overruns and other problems — caused in part because construction [Read More...]
Is Europe Souring On Free Trade? Global security is about more than military matters, and this week there was a development on the trade front that may have security implications. European Union officials imposed preemptive penalties on imports of Chinese steel pipes to prevent harm to [Read More...]
Marines Facing Expeditionary Defeat In QDR Pentagon insiders know that a handful of Marine general officers such as Emo Gardner of the program analysis shop have a strong influence over the program views of defense secretary Robert Gates. However, the heavy Marine presence around Gates won’t [Read More...]
People Costs Squeezing Investment Out Of Pentagon Budget Congressional Research Service analyst Stephen Daggett had some stunning numbers about the rise in military personnel costs in testimony he gave earlier this year. In constant 2009 dollars, the cost of an average service member has risen from $55,000 per [Read More...]
Air Force Delay On Radar Plane Fix Hurts Soldiers Issue Brief
Every day, one of the Air Force’s 17 Joint Stars radar planes takes off from a base in Southwest Asia to conduct secret intelligence-gathering missions. A multimode radar installed on the plane’s belly monitors ground movements over a [Read More...]
Defense Workforce: Graying, Not Greening Clinton-era defense acquisition czar Jacques Gansler gave a presentation in mid-July demonstrating the benefits of public-private partnerships in bolstering efficiency. But he also demonstrated something else: if you want to work with the Pentagon’s civilian workforce, you better get used [Read More...]
Joint Stars: Is Air Force Letting Down Soldiers? One reason defense secretary Robert Gates decided the Air Force needed a change of leaders last year was his perception the service was too slow in providing intelligence to U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. His concern was mostly about [Read More...]