Defense & Aerospace Report

Todd Harrison of the American Enterprise Institute joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to preview the Trump administration’s $1.15 trillion 2027 defense budget request; what will be included in the Reconciliation 2.0 measure that will boost 2027 military spending to $1.5 trillion; what would be included in a supplemental funding measure for Iran war costs; and analysis of Navy, Air Force and Army department budgets.

On today’s Look Ahead program, sponsored by HII, Byron Callan of the independent Washington research firm Capital Alpha Partners joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss what’s next as both Tehran and Washington test the ceasefire adopted last week that paused the US-Israel war on Iran; whether higher government spending to offset higher energy and other societal costs in the wake of the conflict will reduce resources for defense; what to expect as the Trump administration prepares to submit its 2027 defense spending request to Congress; thoughts on drone and counter-drone warfare; tradeoffs nations are making among drones, novel capabilities and legacy systems; what to expect at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space conference and tradeshow next week; and a look at the week ahead in Washington and beyond.

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 to discuss a record week on Wall Street as stocks soared and energy prices plunged after Iran said it would open the Strait of Hormuz, but prices increased sharply over the weekend announced the closure of the strait to protest Washington’s blockade despite a ceasefire agreement; President Trump’s threat to resume strikes unless a deal is reached; impact of jet fuel prices on air carriers cut flights; implications of a merger between United and American air lines and whether regulators would approve the creation of the world’s largest air carrier that would also control half of domestic air travel; takeaways from the National Space Symposium; look ahead to the administration’s 2027 defense budget submission to Congress on Wednesday; Peter Magyar’s election as Hungary’s next prime minister; former NATO Secretary General Lord George Robertson’s stark warning about the perilous state of Britain’s defenses; Italy’s decision to suspend defense cooperation with Israel; and the US Army’s decision to name Bell’s new MV-75 the Cheyenne II.

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Washington Roundtable, sponsored by L3Harris, Dr. Patrick Cronin of the Hudson Institute think tank,Michael Herson of American Defense International; former DoD Europe chief Jim Townsend of the Center for a New American Security, and former Pentagon Comptroller Dr. Dov Zakheim of the Center for Strategic and International Studies join Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss the prospect of a deal to end the US-Israel war on Iran that would curb its nuclear ambitions that was facilitated by a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon after talks in Washington; whether a resumption of hostilities in South Lebanon will trigger a response from Iran; impact of Iranian statement that the Strait of Hormuz will be open through the current ceasefire; efforts by lawmakers to curb Trump’s war powers as well as renew FISA; Britain and France’s maritime coalition meeting in Paris; Xi Jinping’s criticism that the world can’t afford to revert to the law of the jungle a month before meeting with the American president in Beijing; what to expect as the administration prepares to submit its full 2027 defense spending request to Congress next week as Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought refuses to tell lawmakers how much money the Pentagon will need to cover Iran war costs; implications of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s loss to Peter Magyar as the new leader pledges to fight corruption, warm relations with the EU including dropping Budapest’s opposition to a 90 billion euro loan package to Ukraine, sack Orban cronies and restore press freedoms; former NATO Secretary General Lord George Robertson’s warning that Britain is in peril after underfunding defense; prospect Russia will make a move against Europe this year; Australia’s new defense strategy that would increase military spending to 3 percent of GDP; North Korea’s vow to increase nuclear enrichment; and Trump’s feud with Pope Leo.

The US/Israeli action against Iran has gained attention for its use of advanced offensive weapons and platforms. But defenses have also been busy, and burning through munitions at a brisk rate. Dr. Tom Karako, Director of the Air and Missile Defense program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, joins us to dive deep on defenses. Plus the week’s airpower headlines. Powered by GE Aerospace!

Cavas Ships co-hosts Chris Cavas and Chris Servello join Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss what they expect to hear from US Navy leaders at the Sea-Air-Space conference and tradeshow next week. Cavas Ships will produce daily content and our coverage is sponsored by RTX.

On today’s Technology Report program, Dr. Jim Lewis of the Center for European Policy Analysis and Mark Montgomery of the Defense of Democracies and a Cyberspace Solarium Commission senior adviser join Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss Iran’s cyber operations against the United States; how personnel and budget cuts to the government cyber workforce and a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security make it harder to defend against attack; how Iranian capabilities compare to those of Russia and China, and why they don’t collaborate; how Anthropic’s Mythos and Palantir’s Maven are changing US military operations; the US government’s push to blacklist Anthropic and President Trump’s pro-Palantir tweet; what to expect from the administration’s upcoming cyber budget request; what it will take to implement the president’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz; and whether high operational tempo and depleting weapons stocks will undermine US deterrence in the Indo-Pacific.

On today’s Look Ahead program, sponsored by HII, Byron Callan of the independent Washington research firm Capital Alpha Partners and Cavas Ships Podcast co-host Chris Servello join Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss the planned US Navy blockade of the Strait of Hormuz; what’s next in the US-Israel war on Iran; how the focus of US capabilities in the Middle East will impact America’s ability to deter conflict in the Indo-Pacific; what’s next for the conflict; outlook for the Iran war supplemental the Trump administration will seek; expectations as companies prepare to report earnings; and a look at the week ahead in Washington and beyond.

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 to discuss another up week on Wall Street after President Trump announced a two-week ceasefire in the US-Israel war on Iran and how the president’s Sunday announcement after US-Iran talks failed that America would blockade the Strait of Hormuz will impact energy markets and commercial transport; the administration’s stance — right after the ceasefire — that it would reduce its supplemental request from 240 billion to $100 billion; Trump’s renewed criticism of NATO during a meeting with Secretary General Mark Rutte; France’s decision to withdraw the last 129 tons of gold from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as part of an 18-month strategy to reduce reliance on the dollar; Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni’s decision to replace Leonardo CEO Roberto Cingolani with the company’s former chief commercial officer, Lorenzo Mariani; Trump’s Palantir tweet; and NASA’s successful Artemis II mission to the moon.

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Washington Roundtable, sponsored by L3Harris, Dr. Patrick Cronin of the Hudson Institute think tank, Cavas Ships podcast cohost Chris Servello, and former DoD Europe chief Jim Townsend of the Center for a New American Security, and former Pentagon Comptroller Dr. Dov Zakheim of the Center for Strategic and International Studies join Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss the two-week Pakistan-brokered ceasefire to allow for negotiations to end the US-Israel war on Iran; what’s at stake as Vice President JD Vance leads a Us delegation to Islamabad for direct talks with Iran; US and European pressure on Israel over its Lebanon strategy; NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s Oval Office meeting as President Trump continued to criticize the alliance; Vladimir Putin’s proposed Ukraine ceasefire for the duration of the Orthodox Easter; Vance’s rush to Budapest to boost the election prospects of Hungarian President Viktor Orban who’s lagging in the polls before Sunday’s election; two key polls show major shifts in the Indo Pacific sentiment towards the United States and nuclear weapons; a month before Xi Jinping’s Beijing meeting with Trump, the Chinese premiere hosted Taiwan’s KMT opposition leader Cheng Li-wun as China declared an exclusion zone near Taiwan Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Pyongyang; wear and tear of the Iran mission on US forces; the administration’s communications strategy; and Britain monitors Russian activity near its critical seabed infrastructure.