Author Archives: Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D
Military Threats Are Growing, But Military Spending May Not Follow Suit (From Forbes)
Military threats are growing steadily. The logical response would be to increase defense spending accordingly. However, four trends are converging to make that response less likely. First, the Pentagon has already received sizable after-inflation spending increases since President Trump entered [Read More...]
Tanks Are Crucial To Ukraine’s Future Battlefield Success. The U.S. Needs To Provide Them. (From Forbes)
Ukraine’s offensive failed because it could not overcome entrenched Russian defenders. In the absence of decisive air power–which neither side possesses–the only way to penetrate such defenses is with massed armor. Kyiv has a collection of disparate armored systems, but [Read More...]
Next-Gen Interceptor Is Pentagon’s Only Option For Defeating Future North Korean ICBMs (From Forbes)
North Korea’s nuclear-weapons program is steadily advancing, including three successful tests of ICBMs this year. Building out a defense against this threat should be an urgent priority for the Pentagon, but in fact efforts have lagged. Now U.S. defenders face [Read More...]
RTX Promotion Of Chris Calio To CEO Is A Vote For Competence And Continuity (From Forbes)
Global aerospace and defense enterprise RTX disclosed on December 14 that it is elevating chief operating officer Chris Calio to the position of chief executive officer, effective May 2. This is the culmination of a multiyear process aimed at finding [Read More...]
Why China’s Growing Challenge To Big Tech Is A Problem For The Pentagon (From Forbes)
During the last two decades, U.S. manufacturing has undergone a steady decline, thanks in no small part to competition from China. As the ‘arsenal of democracy’ has gradually eroded, the Pentagon has turned increasingly to software and service providers to [Read More...]
Airbus May Seek New Subsidies, Sparking A Transatlantic Trade War (From Forbes)
Last week, the chief executive of Airbus hinted that his company might seek government subsidies to launch development of new aircraft. If that came to pass, it would likely spark a trade war between Europe and America, because European “launch [Read More...]
U.S. Army Moves To Mobilize And Disperse Its Increasingly Vulnerable Command Posts (From Forbes)
The U.S. Army has traditionally set up its combat command posts in clusters of tents near the action. That won’t do anymore. Any fixed location within range of enemy weapons is likely to be taken out early in the fighting, [Read More...]
Why The Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft Remains Army Aviation’s Top Modernization Priority (From Forbes)
The U.S. Army is seeking a new scout helicopter called the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft, or FARA. Its mission is to penetrate the battlespace in future conflicts far beyond the forward edge of friendly forces, searching for enemy forces and [Read More...]
Why Block Buys Of Warships Are Needed To Match China’s Naval Buildup (From Forbes)
The U.S. Navy is facing a major naval buildup by China, and it is struggling to keep up. If the Navy is to meet the challenge, it will need to spend its funds wisely–including especially the money dedicated to ship [Read More...]
Why Using Nuclear Weapons In Ukraine Is A Real Option For Putin (From Forbes)
Using nuclear weapons for anything other than deterrence has become unthinkable in the West. Not so in Moscow. Every new iteration of Russian strategy stresses the centrality of nuclear systems in Moscow’s defense posture–including in regional conflicts along Russia’s periphery. [Read More...]