Defense & Aerospace Report

In a week when airpower news came from every angle, Becca Wasser was on top of it all. She leads defense research at Bloomberg Economics, and we cover operations, force posture, industry, and UAS with her. 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, Bryan Clark, the director of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at the Hudson Institute joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss a report he co-authored with David Byrd as a roadmap to help Australia better defend itself, “Pickets, Pouncers, and Protectors: How the Australian Defence Force Can Use Uncrewed Systems for Twenty-First-Century Deterrence,” and a policy memo with Dan Patt, “Adapting to Win: Using the Navy Rapid Capabilities Office to Pioneer a New Approach to Military Acquisition;” and a look at the Apex conference agenda and speakers. To learn more about the Apex conference, sponsorship and attendance opportunities please visit apexdefense.org

The cohosts of the Cavas Ships Podcast — Chris Cavas and Chris Servello — join Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss the capabilities Navy needs given the threats the United States faces, whether the proposed “Golden Fleet” and new Defiant-class battleship will add needed capability or drain resources from more important programs, whether the service has learned lessons from past failed programs to ensure that future efforts are successful, improving the Navy’s maintained capabilities to get more out of the fleet it has, and what they’re expect to hear at the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium in Arlington, Va. The Defense & Aerospace Report is an SNA media partner and our coverage at the symposium is sponsored by Lockheed Martin.

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 the geopolitical implications of the Trump administration’s muscular foreign policy from its Venezuela operation to threats of military force against Iran and Greenland; whether a 50 percent increase in US defense spending to $1.5 trillion is feasible; how the president’s executive order on dividends, share buybacks and executive compensation can be enforced; Lockheed Martin’s tentative seven-year deal with the Pentagon to invest in capabilities to dramatically increase Patriot air defense missile production; and a look at the week ahead, including the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium. We are an SNA media partner and our coverage of the conference and tradeshow are brought to you in part by Lockheed Martin.

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 Wall Street’s strong start to 2026 although President Trump’s executive order on dividends, share buybacks and executive compensation hit defense stocks before they rebounded on the president’s announcement that US defense spending would increase 50 percent to $1.5 trillion; Lockheed Martin’s tentative agreement with the Pentagon to invest billions to dramatically ramp Patriot missile production as Trump criticizes RTX for not reportedly making a similar deal; Britain and France commit to supporting Ukraine with troops to enforce a ceasefire as Russia fires a conventional version of its nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile into Western Ukraine; implications of US rhetoric to use force to take Greenland from Denmark in the wake of the US operation in Venezuela despite Secretary of State Marco Rubio telling US lawmakers that America wants to buy the world’s largest island from Copenhagen; Washington approved the sake of P-8 anti-submarine aircraft to Denmark as France makes good on its pledge to replace aging American radar planes with new Swedish ones, Austria turns to Italy for new trainers, and Israel expands its F-15 fleet with new EX jets from Boeing; Alaska Airlines orders 110 Boeing 737 Max jetliners including Max 10 jets — the largest model of the popular aircraft — that were just cleared by the Federal Aviation Administration to move into the second phase of certification; US operations in Venezuela and seizing the country’s sanctioned shadow tanker fleet illustrates the continuing utility of manned military rotorcraft; and takeaways from Bank of America’s annual defense and aerospace conference.

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.