On this Washington Roundtable episode of the Defense & Aerospace Report Podcast, sponsored by Bell, our guests are Dov Zakheim, PhD, former DoD comptroller, now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Dr. Patrick Cronin of the Hudson Institute, Jim Townsend, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Europe and NATO who is now with the Center for a New American Security and Michael Herson of American Defense International.

Topics:

— Prospects for a debt ceiling deal as President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy meet

— Impact of debt deliberations on defense spending outlook

— New committee assignments and what they mean

— What Beijing is messaging by sending reconnaissance balloons over the United States as White House calls off Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing in the wake of Chinese surveillance balloon flight over United States

— The case for bringing down the balloon to study determine its capabilities and signal that violations of American airspace won’t be tolerated

— What’s next as Russia speeds up offensive before Ukraine gets new armored vehicles and tanks

— Whether NATO nations will supply Ukraine with combat aircraft as Biden rejects F-16 fighters as allies like France and other Viper operators express openness to transferring jets to Kyiv

— Growing US perception that Britain’s military capabilities are eroding with economic prosperity

— Agreements in the wake of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s visits to Seoul and Manila, including landmark deal to return US forces to Philippines

— US-India emerging tech initiative

— Rift between American Jews and Israel’s Netanyahu government as Blinken visits Israel and Palestinian Authority

— Israel’s drone attack on Iranian weapons sites