Defense & Aerospace Report

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 another record week on Wall Street as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says an interest rate cut might be needed as the jobs market slows in the wake of the Trump administration’s economic policies; President Trump continues his battle against the Fed demanding that governor Lisa Cook resign, driving the dollar down and gold up; Canada’s drops 25 percent reciprocal tariffs on US goods to curry favor with Washington that continues to impose high trades taxes on its northern neighbor; the EU signs a tariff deal with Washington as former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi argues the capitulation marks the end of the EU’s vision of itself as a global power; Switzerland’s decision to reconsider its acquisition of F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft in the wake of 39 percent US tariffs; the Congressional Budget Office’s conclusion that higher trade taxes could cut the national debt by $4 trillion over the coming decade; the administration’s 10 percent ownership stake in Intel and a cut of profits from Nvidia’s AI chip sales to China; the Pentagon’s decision to revamp how it creates requirements and oversees programs to accelerate the fielding of needed joint force capabilities even as some worry this might vest the ability to create requirements with industry; Britain’s air defense missile order from MBDA; striking Boeing St Louis machinists remain decision to resume negotiations on Monday.

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Washington Roundtable, Dr. Patrick Cronin of the Hudson Institute think tank, former Pentagon Europe chief Jim Townsend of the Center for a New American Security, former Pentagon comptroller Dr. Dov Zakheim of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Cavas Ships co-host Chris Servello join Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss the implications of the Trump administration’s increasingly muscular intimidation moves including the FBI raid on former National Security Adviser Dr. John Bolton’s home and the National Guard deployment to Washington; the civil-military implications of the moves; the Pentagon’s forced retirement of US Air Force chief Gen. Dave Allvin; what’s next for Russia’s war on Ukraine after President Trump’s meetings with Vladimir Putin as well as Volodymyr Zelenskyy and allied leaders; outlook for peace and security guarantees for Ukraine; how China is viewing Trump’s Ukraine negotiations and rhetoric; Beijing’s increasingly aggressive intimidation efforts against Manila; in the wake of US tariffs and sanctions New Delhi moves to warm relations with Beijing; despite mounting international mounting pressure, Israel moves to occupy Gaza City as it seeks to relocate Gazans to South Sudan as a massive new settlement is authorized to split West Bank in two to prevent the future creation of a Palestinian state.

As the US Air Force gets ready for a new Chief of Staff, the Mitchell Institute is about to publish what they’re calling the Mother of All Reports, laying out ways ahead for the service’s readiness, operations, force mix, and more. It’s author, retired colonel JV Venable, explains it all. And, yes, airpower headlines. All powered by GE!

On today’s Technology Podcast, sponsored by Elbit America, Justin Sherman, the founder of Global Cyber Strategies advisory firm and a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Cyber Statecraft Initiative, joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss his new report for the Center for Naval Analyses — “Hacking and Firewalls Under Siege: Russia’s Cyber Industry During the War on Ukraine (https://www.cna.org/reports/2025/08/Hacking-and-Firewalls-Under-Seige.pdf)” — the nature of the cyber war between Russia and Ukraine; the role of Russian state, corporate and general public actors in advancing Moscow’s tactical and strategic aims from offensive cyber actions to hacking and information operations; the government’s role in controlling these actors; how many have been sanctioned; the impact of Kaspersky’s role in support of the Russian government and how that’s impacting the company’s global business; analysis of Russia’s “Secret Blizzard” operation against foreign embassies by exploiting a Microsoft vulnerability; cyber lessons from Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia; and  happens to efforts to counter Russian in cyberspace when Washington normalizes relations with Moscow.

On this month’s innovation conversation to highlight key topics in the countdown to the Apex technology and innovation conference January 27-28, 2026, in Washington, sponsored by Clarion Defence, Bryan Clark, the director of the Center for Defense Concepts & Technology at the Hudson Institute, joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss agenda for the second edition of Apex conference seeks to find solutions to the eight hard operational problems the United States and its allies face by bringing together senior military, government, industry and thought leaders. To learn more about the Apex conference, sponsorship and attendance opportunities please visit apexdefense.org

On today’s Look Ahead program, sponsored by HII, joining Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian are Dr Eugene Rumer of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to discuss what’s next after President Trump aligned with Russia’s Vladimir Putin after their summit in Alaska and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders arrive in Washington to discuss ending the war; and Byron Callan of the independent Washington research firm Capital Alpha Partners discusses summit takeaways on defense sentiment; up and downside budget and policy risks for contractors; analysis of the Pentagon’s program acquisition costs and budget details released last week; trade and tariffs; and a look 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 a flat week on Wall Street as inflation continues to rise as higher baseline tariffs are passed along to consumers; the Trump administration gives China another 90 days to strike a deal; President Trump hosted Vladimir Putin in Alaska, siding with the Russian leader’s call for peace talks rather than a swift ceasefire to allow Russia’s forces to claw back territory from Ukrainian territory as the president again calls on Kyiv give up territory for peace; furious with Trump’s tariffs, sanctions and courting of Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi revived calls for domestic manufacturing of everything from computer chips to aerospace and defense goods; Washington’s 39 percent trade tax on Switzerland impact the country’s aerospace sector and jeopardizes Geneva’s decision to buy F-35 Lightning II fighters; Poland’s decision to upgrade its fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters; Boeing workers at the company’s St Louis operation remain on strike; a strike grounds Air Canada flights; worries that Spirit Airlines and other low cost carriers are doomed; Spike Aerospace move to refine its S-512 supersonic business jet; and Airbus’ A320 is poised to surpass Boeing’s 737 as the world’s most produced passenger jetliner.

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 another up week on Wall Street even as President Trump escalated his trade war leveraging America’s economic power to force nations that haven’t yet agreed to baseline tariffs to do so, including on Switzerland impacting the gold market; after Washington slapped heavy tariffs on India to sanction New Delhi for buying Russian oil — as part of a drive to pressure Moscow to end the Ukraine war — India’s defense minister cancelled his visit to Washington as news reports suggested US arms purchases may be in jeopardy; the claim by India’s air chief, Air Chief Marshall AP Singh, that the country’s Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missiles downed five Pakistani fighters and a large aircraft that was downed at a range of 300 kilometers; how long it will take to resolve the strike by Boeing’s St Louis machinists a week after rejecting the company’s contract offer; Spain’s decision for more Eurofighters rather than the short takeoff and vertical landing variant of the F-35 Lighting II to replace aging Harrier jump jets for its carriers; the partnership by L3Harris and Joby Aviation to develop autonomous hybrid vertical takeoff and landing aircraft for military applications; and what to expect from the meeting between Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Alaska next week as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejects the American president’s suggestion Kyiv cede territory for peace.

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Washington Roundtable, Dr. Patrick Cronin of the Hudson Institute think tank, former Pentagon 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 geopolitical implications of President Trump’s tariff war escalation on trading partners; use of US economic might to force Russia to make a peace deal ending the Ukraine war; prospect of talks between Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin and what to expect if the two leaders meet; Washington’s heavy sanctions on New Delhi with a heavy sanctions for violating US and EU sanctions on Russian oil as furious Indian leaders consider ending US weapons purchases; Ukraine’s long-range attacks on Russia’s refineries as existing sanctions continue to weaken the Russian economy; Australia’s decision to pick Japan’s Mogami-class frigate as its next major surface warship in a $6.5 billion deal that would be the biggest Japanese export contract since World War II; Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders agree to a US-brokered deal that gives Baku the transit corridor through southern tip of Armenia it has long sought but with 99-year US economic development zone in Armenia’s Zangezur region; developments in Lebanon and Iran; and analysis of Israel’s plan to occupy all of Gaza starting with Gaza City to defeat Hamas before handing it to Arab forces and Germany’s decision to block export of German arms to Israel that could be used in Gaza.

Time to kick back and review where US airpower stands, especially the US Air Force. And it’s air show season, so the perfect guest for both is Doug Birkey, Executive Director of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, also a Collings Foundation insider and just back from Oshkosh. Plus headlines in airpower. All powered by GE!