Defense & Aerospace Business Report

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Washington Roundtable, Mark Montgomery, a retired US Navy rear admiral and former INDOPACOM J-3 who is now the senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, former Pentagon Europe chief Jim Townsend now with the Center for a New American Security, and former Pentagon Comptroller Dr. Dov Zakheim join Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss a US presidential campaign in full swing, controversy over former President Trump’s campaign visit to Arlington Cemetery, Ukraine continues its advance into Russia as analysts say Moscow lacks the people or equipment to stop it, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan’s visit to Beijing as China is accused of stealing US internet service provider data and Indo-Pacific Commander Adm. Sam Paparo says US ships might have to escort Filipino ships being bullied by Chinese forces, the US Navy awards Korea’s Hanwha Ocean a contract to repair a US logistics s

The Collaborative Combat Aircraft promises to redefine how the U.S. Air Force flies and fights. But what is it, and how do we get from here to there? The author of a new report on CCAs, Gregory Allen, director of the Wadhwani Center for AI and Advanced Technology at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, join us with some of the answers. And of course, we have headlines in airpower. Thanks, GE!

Bill Lynn, former deputy defense secretary and current Leonardo DRS Chairman and CEO, joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss the budget outlook, growth markets in a tight budget environment, how the two presidential candidates would impact defense spending if elected, the impact of the Biden administration’s first ever defense industrial strategy, whether long-running reform efforts are changing how the Pentagon does business, how the company decides what to make in house and what to buy from suppliers as analysts suggest that vertical integration is increasingly key to accelerating programs and better controlling cost, how the Pentagon will regard industry for their investment as companies like Anduril raise private capital to develop weapons for the Pentagon, and a status report on Leonardo DRS as the second anniversary of it’s December 2022 listing approaches.

Todd Harrison of the American Enterprise Institute joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss the budget outlook as Congress prepares to return to DC early next month, the Pentagon’s innovation efforts, why vertical integration will be increasingly important for Pentagon contractors, Anduril’s growth strategy, and why former President Trump’s endorsement of a Space National Guard is a bad idea.

On today’s program, sponsored by HII, Byron Callan of the independent Washington research firm Capital Alpha Partners joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discusses his takeaways from the Democratic National Convention and compares national security messaging from both parties presidential campaigns, a growing sense that the Russo-Ukrainian war is approaching stalemate in 2025, his latest essay “The Four Rungs on the Defense Wall of Worry,” and a look at the week ahead.

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Business Roundtable, sponsored by Bell, Dr. Rocket Ron Epstein of Bank of America Securities and Richard Aboulafia of the AeroDynamic advisory consultancy, join host Vago Muradian discuss Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s statement that the central bank would cut interest rates by half a percent especially after employment figures were adjusted downward; Sierra Nevada wins the US Army’s High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System or HADES spyplane contract; Boeing sells 36 new AH-64 helicopters to South Korea, but the company’s 777X jetliner is grounded after the company discovered a structural issue that will be expensive to fix; the last of 23 VH-92 helicopters were delivered to the Marine Corps by Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky as the president’s new helicopter, but it can’t replace aging Blackhawks and Sea Kings until the new aircraft is cleared to land on the White House lawn; companies like Bell that selected Spirit AeroSystems for defense aerostructures

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Washington Roundtable, Dr. Patrick Cronin of the Hudson Institute think tank, Cavas Ships co-host Chris Servello, former Pentagon Europe chief Jim Townsend of the Center for a New American Security, and former Pentagon Comptroller Dr. Dov Zakheim join host Vago Muradian discuss takeaways from the Democratic convention that nominated Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as the party’s candidates for president and vice president; national security themes from Chicago; Ukraine’s offensive into Russia continues as Russian forces gain ground in Donbas; Beijing protests senior US officials meeting with the Dalai Lama; Chinese and Philippine ships collide in the South China Sea; the Gaza war continues as hopes of a ceasefire fade; Iran wavers on attacking Israel; and top Israel security leaders warn that Jewish extremists represent an existential threat to Israel.

Modernization, low reenlistment, recruitment challenges, and re-orienting a force for great power competition aren’t just concerns for the active Air Force. We’ll talk these issues and more with the Chief of the Air Force Reserve, Lieutenant General John Healy. And of course, the week’s top headlines in airpower. All powered by GE!

James Chew, the global group director for aerospace and defense at Cadence Design Systems who also is the chair of the National Defense Industrial Association’s Science and Engineering Technology Division, joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss how DoD can better harness commercial innovation for military needs, the key to greater agility, making tradeoffs to field systems at the speed of relevance at affordable cost, impact of microelectronics investment and where else the government needs to invest to bolster US industrial capacity, and whether efforts to throttle adversary nations like China can succeed.

On today’s Strategy Series program, sponsored by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Dr. Darrell Bricker, the CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs who also advises on the agenda at the annual Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia every November, discusses the latest polling in the US presidential race, top issues for voters and where national security ranks among their concerns, notion of immigration as a national security issue, how public perceptions can shape more thoughtful immigration policies, impact of vice presidential choices on race, impact of the Gaza war on Democrats and how unruly pro-Palestinian demonstrations could undermine Harris’ tough on crime image, perceptions of Israel in the wake of the Gaza war, global security concerns, perceptions of Russia and Ukraine as the war grinds on, and an update on right wing as well as populist movements worldwide with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.

On today’s program, sponsored by HII, Sam Bendett of the Center for Naval Analyses and Dr. Eugene Rumer of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace discuss Ukraine’s continuing invasion that’s seized more than 1,000 square kilometers in Russia’s Kursk region, Moscow’s inability to stop Ukraine’s advance, how Vladimir Putin will respond, and whether Kyiv’s gambit will change the vector of the conflict; and Byron Callan of the independent Washington research firm Capital Alpha Partners discusses a draft paper by Arizona State University’s Hendrik Bessembinder — Which Stocks Generated the Highest Long-Term Returns — over the past century, Rheinmetall’s proposed $950 million acquisition of Loc Performance, Boeing’s big week for F-15 fighters as well as AH-64 helicopters and E-7 radar planes, and a look at the week ahead with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Business Roundtable, sponsored by Bell, Dr. Rocket Ron Epstein of Bank of America Securities, Sash Tusa of the independent equity research firm Agency Partners, and Richard Aboulafia of the AeroDynamic advisory consultancy, join host Vago Muradian discuss Wall Street’s strongest strongest run in nine months on a brighter US economic forecast after lower than expected inflation; a big week for Boeing as Israel orders 50 new F-15 Eagle II fighters with plans to refurbish 25 older model jets, Poland commits to buying 96 AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, and the US Air Force puts the E-7 radar plane under a development contract; coming off record earnings, Rheinmetall proposes the $950 million acquisition of Loc Performance, a Michigan based engineering company with a role on key US Army’s vehicle programs as well as agricultural and construction equipment; the Global Business Travel Association says that business travel won’t return to pre pandemic levels until 2027; and

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Washington Roundtable, Dr. Patrick Cronin of the Hudson Institute think tank, former Pentagon Europe chief Jim Townsend of the Center for a New American Security, and former Pentagon Comptroller Dr. Dov Zakheim join host Vago Muradian discuss a US presidential race that continues to tighten as Democrats will gather next week in Chicago for their nominating convention, Harris’ and former President Trump’s national security views, Ukrainian forces’ depending attack into Russia, the State Department’s export control exemptions to realize the AUKUS partnership for new nuclear attack submarines or other technologies, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s decision to step down at the end of the month, US-Japan-Korea relations deepen as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol proposes a new North Korea policy, Israel steps up operations in Gaza compounding the humanitarian crisis in the enclave as Iran and its proxies continue to deliberate on how to respond to Israel’s recen

The F-15EX Eagle II isn’t your (grand) father’s fighter. It’s in demand around the world. We’ll find out all about it – and hints of things to come -- from Mark Sears, Boeing’s VP of Fighters, and Rob Novotny, their Director of Business Development for Fighters. And we have the week’s top headlines in airpower. All powered by GE!

On this month’s innovation conversation to highlight key topics in the countdown to the Apex technology and innovation conference next January in Washington, sponsored by Clarion Defence, Dan Fata, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Europe and NATO during the Bush administration who is now the principal at the Fata Advisory consultancy, and Miles Taylor, the former chief of staff at the department of homeland security who is now with the new technology advisory firm Washington Office, discuss the new DC chapter of the Capital Factory in Austin — Station DC — that aims to become the nexus of the technology ecosystem in Washington, the importance of bringing together the entire tech community from small firms to heritage primes and everything in between, Station DC’s role in bringing together industry, the Pentagon as well as lawmakers, the bottlenecks innovative firms see as impediments to progress and more with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. To learn more about the Apex confe

On today’s Strategy Series program, sponsored by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Mark Montgomery, a retired US Navy rear admiral who is now the senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the executive director of the Cyber Solarium 2.0 project, discusses his recent participation in a wargame in Taiwan that explored how China can economically coerce the island democracy in ways below the threshold for a US response, how Washington and its allies need to rethink their approach to Beijing’s novel techniques to undermine Taiwan and other regional governments, efforts to better bring together Indo-Pacific and European allies toe better deter China, whether US efforts to bolster its warfighting capabilities are making progress quickly enough to continue deterring Beijing, and the role of US Air Force B-2 bombers in the recent sinking of a decommissioned amphibious assault ship and the need for more and longer-range anti-ship weapons with D

On today’s program, sponsored by HII, Sam Bendett of the Center for Naval Analyses and Dr. Eugene Rumer of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace discuss Ukraine’s offensive into Russia’s Kursk region; whether the risks of the operations are worth the rewards; how Moscow will respond; and what to expect from the Army 2024 arms show; and Byron Callan of the independent Washington research firm Capital Alpha Partners discusses takeaways from the National Defense Industrial Association’s Emerging Technologies conference last week; Anduril’s move to raise $1.5 billion for a giant new production facility for large-scale unmanned systems production; prospects for a wider regional war as Iran considering attacking Israel after Jerusalem assassinated key Hezbollah and Hamas leaders; Ukraine’s attack into Russia; polling in US presidential race and Vice President Harris’ national security stance; and a look at the week ahead with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Business Roundtable, sponsored by Bell, Dr. Rocket Ron Epstein of Bank of America Securities, Sash Tusa of the independent equity research firm Agency Partners, and Richard Aboulafia of the AeroDynamic advisory consultancy, join host Vago Muradian discuss world markets rocked by Japan’s biggest stock plunge since 1987; Boeing’s new CEO Kelly Ortberg tells employees he and his team will be walking factory floors — and does so on Day One at the company’s helm; NASA suggests that two astronauts launched on Boeing’s StarLiner spacecraft in June might have to be recovered by SpaceX next February; Rheinmetall posts record-breaking sales; Anduril raises $1.5 billion to “rebuild the arsenal of democracy” by “hyperscale” hiring, investment and facilities for new weapons production; a Voepass airlines ATR 72 regional turboprop crashed outside Sao Paolo killing all 62 aboard; British Airways and Virgin have both suspended flights to China; and Joby Aviation claims it will start

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Washington Roundtable, Dr. Patrick Cronin of the Hudson Institute think tank, Michael Herson of American Defense International, former Pentagon Europe chief Jim Townsend of the Center for a New American Security, and former Pentagon Comptroller Dr. Dov Zakheim join host Vago Muradian discuss Vice President Harris’ decision to tap Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate as the Democratic ticket gains ground on former President Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance; Ukraine launches an offensive into Russia; the leaders of the United States, Egypt and Qatar call on Israel and Gaza to strike a ceasefire that would release hostages and end bloodshed in the devastated Palestinian enclave; Australia and America deepen their already deep partnership; Norway joins a US carrier deployment in the Pacific; Germany joins the UN Command policing the inter-Korean border; and Pentagon acquisition and sustainment chief Bill LaPlante is seeking weapons cooperation across

It’s been a very busy few weeks in airpower, with a new blue-ribbon panel to reconsider NGAD and NGAS, FLRAA going into full scale development, F-16s arriving in Ukraine, and much more. Aviation Week defense editor Steve Trimble helps make sense of it all, including the top headlines in airpower. Powered by GE!