Author Archives: Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

May 27, 2009Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

Obama Is Right: The F-35 Doesn’t Need Another Engine Issue Brief President Obama startled the aerospace industry earlier this month when he attacked a congressionally-mandated program to build an “alternate” engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. It isn’t common for presidents to question spending programs supported by heavyweights [Read More...]

May 19, 2009Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

Saudi Fleet Modernization Bolsters Global Partnering Issue Brief The National Defense Strategy cites strengthening of allies and regional partners as a key means of meeting U.S. security objectives. Working with allies is also one of five strategic principles underpinning the defense department’s on-going quadrennial defense review. [Read More...]

May 13, 2009Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

Pentagon Needs Clear Plan For Electronic Warfare Issue Brief It isn’t easy to be nostalgic about the Cold War, but back then military planners had at least one advantage that they no longer enjoy today: everybody agreed on what the big threats were. They originated mostly in [Read More...]

May 7, 2009Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

Quadrennial Review Skirts Biggest Management Challenge Issue Brief Congress has mandated that the defense department must conduct a comprehensive review of military strategy and capabilities at the beginning of each new presidential administration. The latest such “quadrennial defense review” (or QDR) began in April, with plans [Read More...]

May 5, 2009Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

Defense Market Drivers & Trends Through 2012 Presentation to Jane’s U.S. Defense Conference I am very pleased to be here today, sharing the stage with experts whose professional accomplishments in the defense arena greatly exceed my own. I have been asked to spend 15 minutes discussing future [Read More...]

April 28, 2009Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

The Business Case For Buying Tankers From Both Teams Issue Brief Without aerial refueling, the global reach of U.S. air power would be severely limited. However, nearly 90% of the tankers in the current refueling fleet — 453 planes — are Eisenhower-era KC-135s that average 50 years of age. [Read More...]

April 21, 2009Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

Gates Goals Undercut Air Force Capabilities and Leaders Issue Brief Air Force chief of staff Norton Schwartz faced biting criticism from his service’s senior leaders in a video teleconference last week. They accused him of betraying the service’s requirements process by siding with defense secretary Robert Gates in [Read More...]

April 14, 2009Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

Analytic Flaws in the Emerging Gates Defense Posture Issue Brief Defense secretary Robert Gates says that the program changes he proposed last week reflected the need to “rebalance” the nation’s military posture in light of recent operational experience. That is only half right. They also reflect the fact [Read More...]

April 6, 2009Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

Tanker Process Totally Lacking in Transparency Issue Brief Ever since Senator John McCain threw a monkey wrench into efforts to lease new aerial-refueling tankers five years ago, the Air Force has been struggling to implement an alternate strategy. It has spent a lot of time and [Read More...]

April 1, 2009Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

Progress On Marine Vehicle Barely Noticed By Media Issue Brief The Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle has been getting some rough treatment in the media lately. Reporters and pundits say it is over budget, behind schedule and plagued by design defects. Now for the good news: most of the bad [Read More...]