Author Archives: Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D
Five Reasons An L3Harris Merger With Aerojet Will Not Face The Obstacles Lockheed Martin’s Bid Did (From Forbes)
L3Harris Chairman & CEO Chris Kubasik announced in December that his company would seek to merge with Aerojet Rocketdyne. The last time a company–Lockheed Martin–sought to acquire rocket-engine maker Aerojet, it was rebuffed by federal regulators. This time is likely [Read More...]
Lockheed Martin Protest Of Army Rotorcraft Award Alleges Unequal Treatment, Rampant Subjectivity (From Forbes)
Lockheed Martin, in consultation with team member Boeing, has filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office alleging that the Army made multiple mistakes in awarding the development contract for its future assault aircraft to Bell Helicopter/Textron. Among other things, [Read More...]
The Navy’s Plan To Modernize Military Sealift Makes Sense. Congress Needs To Keep It Funded. (From Forbes)
Sealift is essential to sustaining an overseas war effort. The U.S. Navy is responsible for supplying that sealift when and where it is needed. The service is working to modernize a fleet of sealift vessels that average over 40 years [Read More...]
If Russia Is This Bad At Conventional Warfare, What Does That Tell Us About Its Nuclear Posture? (From Forbes)
Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine is a fiasco. Virtually every facet of its military performance has exhibited deficiencies, presumably reflecting the decay in Russian society after 20 years of Putin rule. It is not realistic to assume that Moscow’s strategic [Read More...]
Ten Ways Hypersonic Weapons Can Strengthen Strategic Deterrence (From Forbes)
When strategists discuss strategic deterrence, they are almost always talking about nuclear weapons. However, the Pentagon is planning to introduce non-nuclear hypersonic missiles into the joint force later in this decade, and the novel features of those systems could contribute [Read More...]
HII’s Tech Transformation Is Making It Much More Than America’s Biggest Shipbuilder (From Forbes)
The name of Huntington Ingalls is synonymous with shipbuilding. That, ironically, is why the company has begun referring to itself a simply HII. Although it plans to remain the nation’s biggest builder of warships, its Mission Technologies unit is growing [Read More...]
Biden’s Antitrust Crusade Is A Negative For National Security (From Forbes)
The Biden administration has adopted a more aggressive approach to antitrust enforcement than that of his predecessor, and the tech industry is high on its list of targets. There is nothing wrong in principle with this stance, but in practice [Read More...]
The Army Needs A Long-Term Plan For Keeping Its Apache Helicopters Lethal And Survivable (From Forbes)
The AH-64 Apache helicopter is the Army’s premier airborne tank killer, and thus plays a pivotal role in future land warfare plans. The service is currently remanufacturing 812 Apaches to an “E” variant, a process it has undertaken every dozen [Read More...]
SNC Positions To Win U.S. Army’s Next Theater Recon Aircraft (From Forbes)
The U.S. Army needs to replace its aging Guardrail recon aircraft, which lacks the functionality and survivability required for an era of great-power competition. It has a long-term plan that involves acquiring a fleet of modified business jets with greater [Read More...]
Why The Next Chairman Of The Joint Chiefs Should Be From The Air Force (From Forbes)
Only one Air Force officer has managed to become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the last 40 years. The Air Force, which subsumes the Space Force within its military department, is overdue for another crack at the [Read More...]