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:

— Deliberations to avoid a US debt default as worries mount over full-year continuing resolution and prospect of defense cuts

— New committee leadership assignments and members, as well as move by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to oust three prominent Democrats from panels

— Washington approves M1 tanks for Ukraine, clearing the way for Germany to export Leopards

— Concern that Russia might capture US M1s prompts Army to seek new build tanks without top secret armor protection rather than pull existing vehicles from inventory

— What the public wrangling over weapons for Ukraine signals, and whether the alliance is still moving too slowly to equip Kyiv as Moscow prepares another offensive

— Implications of White House move to designate Russia’s Wagner mercenary group as transnational terror organization

— Turkey vows to block Sweden from joining NATO after man burns copy of Koran in from of Turkey’s embassy in Stockholm, complicating Sweden and Finland’s accession as Budapest signals reluctance to support the alliance’s expansion

— What it will take to win over Ankara and Budapest

— NATO Secretary General visits South Korea and Japan as US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin prepares to visit Seoul and Manila

— Update on AUKUS effort to equip Australia with nuclear powered submarines as AUKMIN convenes

— Palestinians stage mass demonstrations in wake of Israeli raid on suspected militants that killed nine