Defense & Aerospace Report

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 a bumpy week on Wall Street as bond yields rise along with diesel prices that are up 77 percent over the past year; President Trump hosts Xi Jinping in Washington for a state visit; Washington wants China to return an F-35 fighter cockpit canopy and weapons bay door that ended up in Hong Kong on its way to the United States from Australia for repair; the agreement Denmark, Greenland and the United States signed to allow more American bases on the world’s largest island; the Pentagon presses ahead with another framework agreement with Lockheed Martin, this time for the Air Force’s AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile that would succeed Raytheon’s Advanced Air-to-Air Missile; and Turkish Airlines’ order for 150 new 737 Max jetliners from Boeing.

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 Pentagon officials engaging defense authorizers and appropriators to make the case for their budget; rise in bond yields and gas prices in the wake of the Iran war;  Steve Witkof's meeting with Iran’s Abbas Arakchi; Houthi attacks on  Saudi Arabia and threats of strikes on US forces if Washington intervenes; highlights from the leader addresses at the UN General Assembly; Xi Jinping's state visit, US-Denmark Greenland agreement; Russian elections as Ukraine hammered Moscow’s refineries and much more.

One of the biggest headlines coming out of last week’s Air, Space, Cyber conference was a deal in which hypersonic airplane company Hermeus would build Pratt & Whitney F100 fighter engines. So we brought back Hermeus’s executive chairman, AJ Piplica, to explain how this happened and why it’s happening, along with what else is new at their company. Plus: Do you know where your F-35 canopy is? Powered by GE Aerospace!

On today’s Strategy Series program, sponsored by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Dr. Michael O’Hanlon, the Philip H. Knight Chair in defense and strategy as well as the director of foreign policy research at the Brookings Institution, joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss his latest book — “To Dare Mighty Things: U.S. Defense Strategy Since the Revolution” published in January by Yale University Press.

On today’s Land Warfare program, sponsored by American Rheinmetall, 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 and trends for future ground conflict.

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 Sept. 24 summit between President Trump and China’s Xi Jinping; changing defense sentiment; implications of the deal the president claims gives US more rights in Greenland than the 1951 agreement between Washington and Copenhagen; more takeaways from the Air & Space Forces Association’s annual Air Space Cyber conference and tradeshow, including more Iran war lessons; the Air Force’s plan for 500 Collaborative Combat Aircraft and 500 Massed Modular Aircraft; the service’s interest in new F16 Fighting Falcon jets by Lockheed Martin to fill out its aging force structure; RTX’s deal with hypersonic aircraft maker Hermeus to produce F100 engines; the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ new report, “The Defence of Europe in a New Era: An Assessment;” and a look at the week ahead and 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 an up week on Wall Street as the Iran war continues and Tehran-backed Houthi rebels move on Yemen’s oil-rich Marib province and strike Saudi energy facilities; President Trump declines a request from Riyadh for help, but approves the sale of F-35 Lighting II fighters despite concerns from US intelligence that the stealth jet’s technology could leak to China; implications of the EU’s offer of associate membership for Canada that Trump has said could be a “hostile act,” threatening to block trade with Europe; the Swedish government awarded Saab a $400 million contract to develop next-generation combat aircraft technologies; US Air Force leaders seek 500 Collaborative Combat Aircraft and another 500 Massed Modular Aircraft — envisioned as cheaper version of the MQ-9 Reaper — as well as new F-16 Fighting Falcon jets to fill out the service’s aging force structure; startup hypersonic aircraft maker Hermeus’ deal with Pratt & Whitney to build the jet maker’s F100 engines under license; Lockheed said that 22 days after signing a contract with General Motors for PAC-3 missile parts, the car maker started delivering the “mission critical” components; Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg’s statement that the ramp up 737 and 787 jet production would take longer than expected even as he expected certification of the Max 10 airliner to be secured soon; GE Aerospace’s confidence that mid-engine seal issues with its GE9X — the most powerful commercial aviation powerplant ever built — won’t delay Boeing’s 777X from entering service; and IndiGo’s Willie Walsh plan to build bigger fleet and turn New Delhi into an Asia gateway.

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 reconciliation being punted to the lame duck session as work on appropriations and the National Defense Authorization Act conference accelerate; new Russia sanctions head to the White House for President Trump’s signature as the Pentagon reportedly prepares to withdraw tens of thousands of US troops from NATO; US and Iranian forces trade fire as the Pentagon says war costs top $33 billion; with control of the Bab al Mandab, Tehran-backed Houthi rebels advance on oil-rich Marib province and strike Saudi oil facilities as Trump rebuffed Saudi calls for help, striking his own deal with the Houthis for safe passage of US and Israeli ships; China’s effort to avoid the Bab al Mandab and Suez Canal by sailing the first commercial ship via a northern route from China to Europe via the Russian Arctic Coast; Trump approves F-35 fighters for Saudi Arabia despite intelligence community concerns the stealth jet’s technology could leak to China; Gulf states question US reliability as American forces pull back from regional bases meant to deter Iranian attack; Washington’s approval of a $2.8 billion in arms package for Israel including 2,000-pound bombs blocked by the Biden administration as the White House again blocks a visa for Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to visit the UN; as Washington woos Russia to peace in Ukraine with lucrative deals, Moscow ramps up attacks on Europe, with one of its warships firing flares at a Danish helicopter, Dutch rail lines sabotaged and a second Bulgarian ammunition depot since August that caught fire and exploded; Finland becomes the 10th nation to joins France’s nuclear deterrence initiative; as the US-Canada trade war continues, Prime Minister Mark Carney sought a trillion dollars in investment and the European Union offered the country associate member status that Trump said could be “a hostile act” and threatened to block trade with Europe; speculation about Xi Jinping’s health; South Korean President Lee Jae Myung rules out combat forces for the Gulf; and former Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl dies at age 84.

Crib Sheet: If you missed the Air and Space Forces Association’s Air, Space, Cyber conference outside Washington DC (or even if you didn’t!), this is your show. By turns rollicking, feisty, and thoughtful, Laura Winter of the Downlink podcast; Tobias Naegele of Air and Space Forces magazine; and retired Lieutenant General Dave Deptula, Dean of The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies join us to review the conference, including space weapons, CCAs, budgets, and more. Plus we have the week’s top airpower headlines. Powered by GE Aerospace!