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 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 President Trump’s proposal to boost defense spending by 50 percent to $1.5 trillion as he demands Pentagon contractors struggling to deliver on weapon programs stop share buybacks and dividends; how the administration’s operation to to apprehend Nicholas Maduro, demand to benefit from Venezuela’s oil and mineral riches and “right” to take Greenland from Denmark will impact US power worldwide; whether NATO matters enough to deter Washington from moving on Greenland as the administration withdraws the United States from 68 UN and international bodies; outlook for Ukraine war Kyiv suggests Moscow has fired a nuclear-capable missile to shape peace talks as a Russian ship reportedly carrying nuclear reactors to North Korea’s submarines sinks off the Spanish coast; whether growing demonstrations over the past weeks will end theocratic leadership in Tehran; tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE over Yemen; and Israel steps up efforts to seized land from Palestinians in the West Bank.

Lieutenant General (ret.) Dave Deptula, Dean of the Mitchell Institute, joins us with the latest on Venezuela, airpower in the National Security Strategy, and a season of change in the U.S. Air Force. And Bank of America’s Dr. Rocket Ron Epstein on the new executive orders limiting defense corporate buybacks and dividends. Plus this week’s 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  Jan 27-28, 2026, in Washington, sponsored by Clarion Defence, Bryon Kroger, a former US Air Force intelligence officer and targeteer who is the founder and CEO of the innovative software firm Rise8, joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss why the Pentagon’s software development approach is broken at a time when software will be increasingly critical to capabilities and how to reengineer the system to deliver better capabilities at scale and speed. To learn more about the Apex conference, sponsorship and attendance opportunities please visit apexdefense.org

On today’s Strategy Series program, sponsored by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Sam Bendett of the Center for Naval Analyses and Dr. Eugene Rumer, the director of the Russia and Eurasia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, join Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss the latest on the Ukraine war as the conflict prepares to enter its fifth year; the frontline as both sides are increasingly exhausted by the conflict; update on peace talks and prospects for ending the war; the increasing use autonomous systems driven by artificial intelligence; whether lessons from the war are being lost as innovation cycles accelerate; Vladimir Putin’s drive to bolster Russia’s economy in 2026 as Volodymyr Zelenskyy taps his intelligence chief Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov to replace Andrei Yermak as his chief of staff; whether the war still matters to Washington; and how Vladimir Putin will interpret the Trump administration’s decision to apprehend Nicolas Maduro and claim rights to Venezuela’s energy resources as well as rhetoric that America has a right to seize Greenland from Denmark.

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 discuss the latest headlines and looks 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 to discuss the a strong 2025 on Wall Street and what it means for the coming year; the implications of the Trump administration’s ouster of Venezuelan strongman Nicholas Maduro; stalled talks to end the Ukraine war as the conflict rages on; commercial aircraft production as Boeing delivered 493 jets and Airbus delivered 793; a look ahead to the big defense and airspace stories of 2026; and what to expect at Bank of America’s annual defense and aerospace conference this year in New York.

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 the week — and the year — on markets as AI, aerospace and defense spending drive investors; the $901 billion National Defense Authorization Act; European governments’ two-year, $105 billion interest-free loan to help Ukraine keep fighting Russian aggression as Vladimir Putin makes clear he’s not interested in compromise and amps up his muscular rhetoric; the future of the SCAF program as French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz meet to decide the future of the program to develop new manned and unmanned combat aircraft; the US Navy’s decision to ask HII to build by 2028 a naval variant of the company’s successful National Security Cutter developed for the Coast Guard to demonstrate the new ship, then competitively contract yards to mass produce it; Boeing asks the Federal Aviation Administration for an emissions waiver to continue building existing 777 freighters after 2028 given a compliant version of the plane won’t be ready until after the deadline; the US government’s admission of responsibility in the deadly crash between a US Air jetliner and a US Army helicopter that killed 67 in January over the Potomac River off Reagan Washington National Airport; and a review of the big stories of 2025.

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 DoD Europe chief Jim Townsend of the Center for a New American Security, and Pentagon comptroller Dr. Dov Zakh of the Center for Strategic and International Studies join Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss passage of the $901 billion National Defense Authorization Act For the 65th year in a row, congress passed and the president signed the $901 billion National Defense Authorization Act as lawmakers work appropriations to keep the government running after current funding runs out late next month; President Trump’s decision to use a $2.4 billion in military housing funding for a $1,776 one-time “warrior dividend” bonus for troops to thank them for their service on the nation’s 250th birthday; European nations agree to extend a $105 billion, two-year loan to Ukraine after failing to unlock frozen Russian assets to support Kyiv as Russia ramps up its rhetoric; a week after Washington lifted some sanctions on Belarus as part of a deal to release political prisoners, Minsk said it would host Russian long-range hypersonic missiles; frustrated with the progress on trade talks, Washington suspends a $41 billion tech deal with Britain signed this summer; the White House approves more than $11 billion in arms sales to Taiwan as it also okays the sale of NVIDIA H200 chips to China; Japan deploys radar units to Kitadaitōjima island to monitor Chinese military activity; former Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai was found guilty of violating both China’s new national security law and a colonial-era sedition measure; Beijing backs UAE’s claim over three Gulf islands drawing Tehran’s ire; two gunmen shaped by ISIS ideology attacked a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi beach, killing 15 and wounding another 40; Israel conducted strikes against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in South Lebanon; and our year in review.

A busy year in airpower ends, but there’s more to come. We look back and forward with John Tirpak, eminence emeritus of Air and Space Forces magazine, and Stephen Trimble, defense editor of Aviation Week and Space Technology. Plus this week’s headlines in airpower!

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On today’s program, sponsored by Elbit America, Dr. Jim Lewis of the Center for European Policy Analysis and 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 Cyberspace Solarium Commission senior advisor join Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to review the year in cyber and technology.