Defense & Aerospace Report

On today’s Strategy Series program, sponsored by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Dr. Jim Lewis of the Center for European Policy Analysis and Justin Sherman of the Global Cyber Strategies advisory firm and the Center for Strategic and International Studies join Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss the Trump administration’s adoption of AI for national security and how the technology was used during the recent Iran war; whether learning the right lessons from the Iran war can help the US military improve capabilities to better deter China; the call by leading AI firms to delay development of new models to improve security; and potential national security implications on abrupt and growing public backlash to data centers.

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 today’s program, sponsored by GE Aerospace, Gen. Ken “Cruiser” Wilsbach, the 24th chief of staff of the US Air Force, joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss his priorities, lessons from the Ukraine and Iran wars that are shaping air power; Chinese, Russian, Iranian and North Korean capabilities that are shaping how the Air Force plans, operates, trains and equips; whether the service has sufficient margin to deter China and if necessary defeat it given concerns about weapon stocks; what kind of long-range strike and anti-air weapons the force will need to “outstick” adversaries; integration of short, medium and long-range unmanned systems; what happens if lawmakers don’t approve the service’s spending request; and whether airmen need the kind of nuclear training they received during the Cold War as the force presses ahead with modernizing its nuclear forces.

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 down week on Wall Street on energy worries as US and Iranian forces trade fire and Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis rebels exert control over the Bab al-Mandab strike Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities; the US-Canada trade war as Ottawa seeks to attract $1 trillion in investment, positioning the country as a trade safe haven against President Trump’s volatility as it also seeks associate EU membership; Washington’s drive to resume trade ties with Russia even as Moscow continues to provoke Europe as the second Bulgarian arms depot catches fire and explodes since August and Reuters reported a US, UK and Norwegian operation in April interrupted — in real time — a Russian test of a new undersea system to disrupt seabed infrastructure near Norway’s Svalbard archipelago; France’s turn toward United Arab Emirates as a military partner on new weapons including the F5 version of Dassault’s Rafale fighter as Finance Minister Roland Lescure warned geopolitical risks including higher energy prices in the wake of the Iran war and bond market turmoil will drive up France’s debt servicing costs by 25 percent to 65 billion euros a year, squeezing everything from social to defense spending; Boeing and its engineers’ union send a tentative four-year agreement that would raise wages to 17,000 members for a vote as the current contract expires on Oct. 6; GE Aerospace’s proposed $11.5 billion acquisition of Consolidated Precision Products that would bolster the giant’s in-house capabilities as primes and suppliers work to bolster supply chains to meet surging commercial and defense demand; and reflections as America and the world commemorate the 25th anniversary of the terror attacks on New York and Washington that killed nearly 3,000.

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 where defense legislation stands as both the House and Senate adjourn and November elections loom; President Trump’s promise that voters receive $5,000 payments if GOP retains House and Senate; US and Iran continue to exchange fire as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis take the strategic ports from which to better control the Bab al Mandeb, striking a Saudi Aramco refinery in Jizan sending oil prices soaring; Ha’aretz report that the UAE warned Israel about the Hamas attack as Israeli forces destroyed Hezbollah’s underground facilities in South Lebanon; decision by a dozen nations to sanction trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank; Washington’s continuing efforts to broker Ukraine peace deal while seeking to normalize relations with Moscow even as Russia continues to wage hybrid operations against NATO including an April test of a system to attack European undersea infrastructure that was thwarted by UK, Norwegian and US forces; Canada and Germany step up to help Ukraine with air defense weapons; analysis of AfD’s victory in Saxony-Anhalt elections; the new bridge between Russia and North Korea; the Philippine defense minister’s viral video pushing back on China’s South China Sea provocations; big decisions for the US-South Korea alliance; what to expect from the BRICS summit this weekend in New Dehli; and lessons as America commemorates the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks that killed some 3,000 that changed global security as well as American politics.

General Chuck Horner was the air component commander for one of airpower’s defining campaigns, Operation Desert Storm. He’s the subject of a new biography by noted airpower writer Dr. John Andreas Olsen, who joins us to review General Horner’s career. Plus a preview of the Air and Space Forces Association Air, Space, Cyber conference with Air and Space Forces magazine editor Tobias Naegele. And we have the week’s top airpower headlines. Powered by GE Aerospace!

On today’s Strategy Series program, sponsored by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Dr. Darrell Bricker, the CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs who advises on the agenda of the annual Halifax International Security Forum, joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss the US-Canada trade war; impact of the Trump administration’s policies and rhetoric as well as launching the Iran war on US standing worldwide; Israel’s standing as the Gaza war continues and efforts to displace Palestinians from the West Bank accelerates; US political dynamics as November elections loom; and Trump’s popularity.

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 trade war between Canada and the United States, including President Trump’s call to boycott Bombardier jet aircraft; impact of rising interest rates on defense; US defense budget outlook; continuing conflict between Iran and the United States that’s driving energy prices up with diesel hitting a record high; the administration’s drive to end the Ukraine war and garner Moscow’s support to pressure Iran as the president demands European nations pay for arms Washington donated to Ukraine; impact of Trump's statement me might shift US policy to supporting Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands to punish Britain for not more directly supporting the Iran war; the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ report “From Shahed to Geran: How Russia Continues to Reinvent the One-Way Attack Drone” and the Royal United Services Institute report “The Next China Shock Will Hit Defence;” SpaceX’s foray into industrial gas turbine blades; response to Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg’s Aug. 18 memo on profits; 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 Wall Street’s down week on unexpectedly high jobs numbers that renewed fears the Federal Reserve will hike borrowing rates; US budget as the House joins the Senate in passing a continuing resolution to keep government open until December; US and Iranian forces trade strikes driving up energy prices as diesel hits a record high; the Trump administration courts Russia to end the Ukraine war and get Moscow’s help to pressure Iran even as Germany calls out Moscow for the unsuccessful explosive drone attack at Leipzig airport and suspected role in sabotage across Europe including the recent fire at Rohde & Schwarz’s headquarters; Trump’s demand that European nations pay for US munitions provided to Kyiv; Germany’s Isar Space’s successful Spectrum rocket launch that was the first from Western Europe to reach space; US Navy’s expected FA-XX award this coming week as the service issued a request for proposal for an new autonomous carrier-capable jet with external carriage of as many as four 2,500 pound weapons and delayed the deadline for its Undergraduate Jet Training System proposal to Oct. 30, delaying contract award from next March to June 30, 2027; after saying it would invest $100 billion on a new Louisiana spaceport, SpaceX also said it would invest in capabilities to make blades for industrial gas turbines; and Airbus decision to resume A330neo jet deliveries suspended after a stray tool was found in the tail of one of the jets.

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 House passage of a continuing resolution to keep government open until December as the National Defense Authorization Act stalls and the reconciliation outlook remains unclear; Army Secretary Dan Driscoll resigned as the administration named Adam Telle as acting secretary and nominated Hung Cao as Navy secretary; US and Iranian forces trade fire as President Trump is reported to want to resume high-intensity combat operations after the election; Israel steps up attacks on Palestinians as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu maneuvers to remain in office; Germany says Russia was behind an unsuccessful explosive drone attack on Leipzig last month as Washington invited Russia’s finance minister to attend the G20 meeting in Asheville to the consternation of allies that complained that the Trump administration’s tariffs and Iran war have undermined their economies; the president’s assertion that Canada is a bigger adversary than China or Russia, and that Washington might back Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands, which London maintains is sovereign territory; Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles’ first visit to the United States this year; Xi Jinping’s ramped up diplomatic offensive ahead of his summit with Trump later this month as his warships sail ever closer to Japan.