Author Archives: Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D
Base Closure: Army Industrial Sites A Likely Target Issue BriefShortly before the holidays, the Bush Administration delivered an unwelcome present to every community in America hosting a military base: draft selection criteria for the biggest round of base closures ever. Four of the criteria focus on the [Read More...]
E-10 Crash Endangers Cruise-Missile Defense Issue BriefThe Air Force hasn’t lost a lot of aircraft recently to hostile fire, but hostile bureaucrats are definitely taking a toll. The latest airframe to lose altitude in Pentagon budget wars is the Multi-sensor Command and Control Aircraft, [Read More...]
Airborne Reconnaissance: The Plane Truth Issue BriefThe core of information-age warfare is a cluster of activities that military planners call intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). ISR is focused mainly on collecting information about enemy capabilities and intentions, a process that usually entails some form [Read More...]
Boeing Business Outlook Belies Critics Issue BriefThe nation’s newspapers are awash in allegations of improprieties at the Boeing Company. Airbus is displacing Boeing as the world’s leading producer of airliners. And several of the company’s biggest space programs are facing cost overruns and schedule [Read More...]
Centerpiece of Effective Missile Defense Emerges Issue BriefIt is now nearly half a century since the Soviet Union tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile, obliterating the distances that had long been America’s main defense against foreign aggression. Ever since that bleak day in 1957, U.S. [Read More...]
Networking the Navy – A Model for Modern Warfare Research StudyThe U.S. military is in the midst of a far-reaching transformation driven mainly by new information technologies. The same innovations that are revolutionizing global commerce and culture are also changing the way in which America wages war. Many [Read More...]
I-S-R Lessons of Iraq Research StudyThe war isn’t over.
– Conventional phase seemed fast & decisive
– Unconventional phase looks slow & difficult
– ISR needs vary greatly between phases
• Many of the most significant lessons are secret.
– ISR capabilities tend [Read More...]
MANPADS: Scale and Nature of the Threat Research StudyCarried & operated by one person.
– 30-40 pounds, 5-6 feet in length
– Fits in trunk of a car
• Easy to store & maintain.
– Simple, rugged design
– Long shelf-life (sealed canister)
• Easy to [Read More...]
What Transformation Means For The Defense Industry PresentationOver the next fifteen minutes, I’d like to explore what military transformation means for the defense industry by offering answers to three questions:
— First, how important is transformation as a driver of demand for defense goods?
— Second, [Read More...]
Raptor Really Is Essential Issue BriefSensing that Air Force leadership has been weakened by recent controversies, proponents of “real” transformation in the Office of the Secretary of Defense are once again asking questions about the F/A-22 Raptor. They want the Air Force to [Read More...]