Author Archives: Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D
Invisible Man: Barack Obama On National Defense Issue BriefToday’s Democratic Party is so stridently opposed to the war in Iraq that it’s hard to believe the same party presided over most of the big military buildups of the last century. Sometimes it seems more like the [Read More...]
Fading Signal: The Neglect of Electronic Warfare Issue BriefWhen you consider how much money Americans spend on defense — about $4 trillion so far in this decade alone — it’s amazing what a poor job we do of maintaining our military arsenal. In the years since [Read More...]
2009 Defense Budget: Key Patterns and Priorities Issue BriefToday, the Bush Administration requested that Congress provide the Department of Defense with a baseline budget of $515 billion in fiscal 2009 (beginning October 1 of this year). It also requested $21 billion for Department of Energy nuclear-weapons [Read More...]
Powering JSF: One Engine Is Enough Research StudyThe F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is being developed to meet the future needs of three U.S. military services and eight foreign allies for an agile, affordable multi-role aircraft. It is expected to be the biggest military aircraft program [Read More...]
Future Combat Systems: Why The Army Is So Committed Issue BriefWith several of the big networking initiatives begun during Donald Rumsfeld’s tenure as defense secretary beginning to implode, many observers are curious why the Army remains so committed to its Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. That vast collection [Read More...]
Why Recruit Pentagon Leaders from the Defense Industry? Issue BriefRunning the Pentagon isn’t most people’s idea of fun. The hours are long, the criticism is constant, and the pay isn’t much higher than the median household income in nearby Fairfax County. So it is getting harder to [Read More...]
Deal Of The Century: Who Will Win The Tanker Competition? Issue BriefSometime in February, the Pentagon’s Defense Acquisition Board will meet to ratify a plan for what looks likely to be the biggest purchase of wide-body aircraft in the world during the early decades of the present century. The [Read More...]
Gates Intelligence Reorganization Focuses On “Integration” Issue BriefNext weekend the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, Virginia will be hosting D.C. Big Flea, the biggest flea market in the mid-Atlantic states. If you are still looking for that flintlock musket to put over the fireplace in [Read More...]
Bush-Cheney Security Agenda Made Steady Progress in 2007 Issue BriefWhen Operation Desert Storm ended with a crushing defeat of Iraqi forces in early 1991, many pundits opined that President George Herbert Walker Bush was assured of re-election. Military success had made the President so popular that it [Read More...]
Final Bush Budget Signals Retreat From Transformation Issue BriefThe Pentagon is putting the final touches on its fiscal 2009 budget request, which will be sent to Congress in February. Covering military spending for the years 2009-2013, it is essentially the last defense budget of the Bush [Read More...]