Defense & Aerospace Report

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Washington Roundtable, sponsored in part by Hanwha Defense USA, Dr. Patrick Cronin of the Hudson Institute think tank, Michael Herson of American Defense International, former Pentagon Europe chief Jim Townsend of the Center for a New American Security, and former Pentagon Comptroller Dr. Dov Zakheim join Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss congressional madness as lawmakers return to Washington, Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville delays promotion of new US Army Pacific commander, the national security implications of the fiery presidential debate between vice president Kamala Harris and former President Trump, President Biden to allow Ukraine to use US weapons against Russian territory as Vladimir Putin again threatens the alliance, Asia’s focus on US-China shadowboxing amid the US election as Kim Jung Un reveals his top secret uranium enrichment plant and calls for accelerating nuclear weapons production, and the controversy over Israel’s killing of an American peace protestor and more UN humanitarian workers.

The US Air Force is conducting simultaneous, ambitious programs to build aircraft, missiles, and other systems, all while reoptimizing for great power competition. The head of Air Force Materiel Command, General Duke Richardson, gets into the details, including Sentinel news. And the week’s headlines in airpower. Powered by GE!

On this month’s innovation conversation to highlight key topics in the countdown to the Apex technology and innovation conference next January in Washington, sponsored by Clarion Defence, Greg Allen, the director of the Wadhwani Center for AI and Advanced Technology at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Doug Berenson, a partner in the Aerospace, Defense and Government Services Practice at the Oliver Wyman consultancy, to discuss their commentary — “Why Is the U.S. Defense Industrial Base So Isolated from the U.S. Economy?” — the historic benefits of having a unitary national industrial base; how the defense industry became increasingly isolated from commercial industry and its implications on innovation, competition as well as scaling production;  how the US government can attract more commercial firms to the fold; importance of presidential leadership and the government making clear the big military problems it needs to solve to spur industry to find solutions; the challenges faced by the current innovation ecosystem; and the need to tap allied industrial capacity. To learn more about the Ap

ex conference, sponsorship and attendance opportunities please visit apexdefense.org

On today’s Strategy Series program, sponsored by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Amb. Mohammed Siad Doualeh, Djibouti’s ambassador to the United States as well as the country’s representative to the United Nations, discusses key issues that need to be addressed by world leaders when the United Nations General Assembly convenes in New York, whether the worst famine in four decades can be averted because of ongoing conflict in Sudan, how to address Houthi attacks in the Red Sea that have precipitated a drop in commercial traffic through the key waterway and threaten ecological disaster as ships are damaged and sunk, a survey of regional crises and progress made over the past year, how regional conflict and instability is driving global migration, combatting mpox now that the World Health Organization has declared the virus a public health emergency of international concern in the wake of an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, countering Russian and Chinese dis- and misinformation, and advice on how the two US presidential candidates and campaigns should think of Africa through Election Day and beyond with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.

On today’s program, sponsored by HII, Sam Bendett of the Center for Naval Analyses discusses mounting Russian pressure on Ukrainian forces in Pokrovsk and Chasiv Yar, the strategic importance of the two to Russian planes to gain ground in Donbas, Ukraine’s ability to stymie Moscow’s plans, Kyiv’s latest call to use Western arms against Russia, and the stability of Vladimir Putin’s regime as Ukrainian forces seize more ground in Kursk; and Byron Callan of the independent Washington research firm Capital Alpha Partners discusses “the surprises” from the Russo-Ukrainian war, how the US is countering Chinese economic coersion, Boeing’s importance for broader US industrial health and competitiveness, an analysis of the economic and tax policies of the two presidential candidates, and a look at the week ahead with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Business Roundtable, sponsored by Bell, Dr. Rocket Ron Epstein of Bank of America Securities, Sash Tusa of the independent equity research firm Agency Partners, and Richard Aboulafia of the AeroDynamic advisory consultancy join host Vago Muradian discuss a down week on Wall Street ending in a hard sell off; Airbus and Embraer release their order and delivery figures; Pentagon acquisition and sustainment undersecretary Dr. Bill LaPlante’s decision to rescind a key approval for the the Milestone B approval of the US Air Force’s Sentinel Next Generation Strategic Deterrent program led by Northrop Grumman; the European Air Safety Agency has ordered inspections of Rolls Royce engines on Airbus 350-1000 jets after a fire on a Cathay Pacific airliner; Boeing’s unionized workers will vote Sept. 12 on whether to strike; the Air Force will buy from Boeing more of Leonardo’s MH-139 Grey Wolf helicopters; NASA prepares to return the Boeing’s StarLiner spacecraft to earth; with the Pentagon’s decision to extend the lifespan of the F-35 Lightning II fighter program from 2077 to 2088, the total program cost is up to $2 trillion even as unit prices for the jets are coming down; Philippine’s interest in 40 new combat aircraft.

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Washington Roundtable, Dr. Patrick Cronin of the Hudson Institute think tank, Michael Herson of American Defense International, and former Pentagon Comptroller Dr. Dov Zakheim join Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss what to expect from Congress when they return to DC for 13 days before recessing for the election; update on presidential, Senate and House races with only nine weeks left to Election Day; whether Ukraine’s Kursk offensive will prove a costly miscalculation as Russia advances on Donbas; Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepares to shuffle his cabinet as Kyiv continues to lobby Washington and its allies to allow use of Western weapons against Russia; the US government alleges Russian and Chinese interference in American politics; takeaways from National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan’s Beijing visit as a Chinese ship again collides with a Filipino one; and Bibi Netanyahu brushes aside mass protests demanding as well as what’s said to be the final US-Egypt-Qatar proposal to end of the Gaza war.

DoD’s Replicator initiative has been something of an enigma from the start. Veteran analyst Dr. Ted Harshberger joins us to explain where Replicator is now, what comes next, and how (or if) it fits with NGAD. Plus a 1985 munition proposal you never heard of. And, of course, we have headlines in airpower, all thanks to GE!

Eric Fanning, the president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association, joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss the defense budget outlook as Congress returns to Washington briefly before recessing until after the election, other defense and aerospace legislative priorities for the association, how the presidential candidates would impact the US defense and aerospace industrial base, priority investment areas to grow US capabilities, the impact of the Biden administration’s first ever industrial policy and PPBE reforms, and more.

On today’s program, sponsored by HII, Byron Callan of the independent Washington research firm Capital Alpha Partners discusses the latest headlines and looks at the week ahead with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.