Author Archives: Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D
Why Missile Defense Makes More Sense Today Than During The Cold War
Remarks to the Congressional Missile Defense Conference
I want to spend ten minutes today explaining why missile defense is more feasible and desirable now than it was during the cold war.
Let me begin with a little bit of history. [Read More...]
Aging Air Force Fleet Requires New Ideas To Sustain
Issue Brief
As Air Force planners struggle to balance their final budget request for this disappointing decade, it is becoming increasingly apparent that many of the service’s planes will require the aerospace equivalent of geriatric care for the foreseeable future. [Read More...]
How The Air Force Fell So Far
Issue Brief
The forced resignation of the Air Force’s top civilian and uniform leaders last week is the latest chapter in a chronicle of decline that has been unfolding for decades. The political influence of U.S. air power has gradually [Read More...]
Navy Destroyer Plans Don’t Make Sense
Issue Brief
If you think that having three surface warfare officers in a row at the helm of the U.S. Navy has created a bias in favor of surface combatants, then you must not be paying attention to news about [Read More...]
Tanker Controversy: Questions The Air Force Must Answer
Issue Brief
It is now three months since the Air Force shocked the world by awarding the contract for its next-generation aerial-refueling tanker to Northrop Grumman and the European parent of Airbus. Throughout that time, service officials have insisted that [Read More...]
A History Lesson On Why The F-22 Fighter Is Essential
Issue Brief
Imagine that in 1902, Secretary of War Elihu Root had told President Teddy Roosevelt the difficulty of suppressing the Philippine Insurrection proved future weapons would need to be useful in conducting irregular warfare. I know, you aren’t so [Read More...]
Obama and McCain Share Many Views on Defense
Issue Brief
The conventional wisdom about American politics is that the nation has become deeply polarized since the Vietnam War, with voters increasingly crowding to opposite extremes of the political spectrum. For example, the May 11 New York Times contained [Read More...]
The Next Quadrennial Defense Review Needs To Be Delayed
Issue Brief
It is now nearly 20 years since the Berlin Wall was breached, providing a powerful symbol of communism’s impending collapse. That event also marked the end of an era in American defense planning, because the military challenge posed [Read More...]
Boeing And The Air Force At War: The Damage Spreads
Issue Brief
If you want to understand how former allies end up going to war — or former lovers end up getting divorced — take a look at how Boeing and the Air Force are treating each other in their [Read More...]
Economic Security: The Coming Era of Re-Regulation
Issue Brief
Remember the Reagan Revolution? It’s over. For 30 years, the political system has been dismantling the burden of taxes and regulations imposed on the economy by the New Deal. When Ronald Reagan won the White House in 1980, [Read More...]