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.

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 the a strong 2025 on Wall Street and what it means for the coming year; the implications of the Trump administration’s ouster of Venezuelan strongman Nicholas Maduro; stalled talks to end the Ukraine war as the conflict rages on; commercial aircraft production as Boeing delivered 493 jets and Airbus delivered 793; a look ahead to the big defense and airspace stories of 2026; and what to expect at Bank of America’s annual defense and aerospace conference this year in New York.

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 the week — and the year — on markets as AI, aerospace and defense spending drive investors; the $901 billion National Defense Authorization Act; European governments’ two-year, $105 billion interest-free loan to help Ukraine keep fighting Russian aggression as Vladimir Putin makes clear he’s not interested in compromise and amps up his muscular rhetoric; the future of the SCAF program as French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz meet to decide the future of the program to develop new manned and unmanned combat aircraft; the US Navy’s decision to ask HII to build by 2028 a naval variant of the company’s successful National Security Cutter developed for the Coast Guard to demonstrate the new ship, then competitively contract yards to mass produce it; Boeing asks the Federal Aviation Administration for an emissions waiver to continue building existing 777 freighters after 2028 given a compliant version of the plane won’t be ready until after the deadline; the US government’s admission of responsibility in the deadly crash between a US Air jetliner and a US Army helicopter that killed 67 in January over the Potomac River off Reagan Washington National Airport; and a review of the big stories of 2025.

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 Pentagon comptroller Dr. Dov Zakh of the Center for Strategic and International Studies join Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss passage of the $901 billion National Defense Authorization Act For the 65th year in a row, congress passed and the president signed the $901 billion National Defense Authorization Act as lawmakers work appropriations to keep the government running after current funding runs out late next month; President Trump’s decision to use a $2.4 billion in military housing funding for a $1,776 one-time “warrior dividend” bonus for troops to thank them for their service on the nation’s 250th birthday; European nations agree to extend a $105 billion, two-year loan to Ukraine after failing to unlock frozen Russian assets to support Kyiv as Russia ramps up its rhetoric; a week after Washington lifted some sanctions on Belarus as part of a deal to release political prisoners, Minsk said it would host Russian long-range hypersonic missiles; frustrated with the progress on trade talks, Washington suspends a $41 billion tech deal with Britain signed this summer; the White House approves more than $11 billion in arms sales to Taiwan as it also okays the sale of NVIDIA H200 chips to China; Japan deploys radar units to Kitadaitōjima island to monitor Chinese military activity; former Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai was found guilty of violating both China’s new national security law and a colonial-era sedition measure; Beijing backs UAE’s claim over three Gulf islands drawing Tehran’s ire; two gunmen shaped by ISIS ideology attacked a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi beach, killing 15 and wounding another 40; Israel conducted strikes against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in South Lebanon; and our year in review.

A busy year in airpower ends, but there’s more to come. We look back and forward with John Tirpak, eminence emeritus of Air and Space Forces magazine, and Stephen Trimble, defense editor of Aviation Week and Space Technology. Plus this week’s headlines in airpower! Powered, as all good things are, by GE.

On today’s program, sponsored by Elbit America, Dr. Jim Lewis of the Center for European Policy Analysis and Mark Montgomery, a retired US Navy rear admiral who is now the senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and Cyberspace Solarium Commission senior advisor join Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to review the year in cyber and technology.

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 prospects to end the fighting in Ukraine as Western powers including the United States suggest security guarantees in exchange for Kyiv renouncing NATO membership as Russia rejects foreign troops on Ukrainian soil and continues to demand Ukraine hand over all of Donbass; the dynamics on the battlefield as Volodymy Zelensky visits Kupiansk that Russian forces say they occupied and how Ukrainian forces continue to defend Pokrovsk; whether the Vladimir Putin’s regime is as vulnerable as Western analysts suggest; Kyiv’s use of unmanned craft to strike Russia’s “shadow fleet” at sea and a Kilo-class conventionally powered submarine in Novorossiysk; stories in 2025 that didn’t get the attention they deserved; and the storylines to track in the coming year as the Ukraine war entered its fourth year.

On today’s Look Ahead program, sponsored by HII, Byron Callan of the independent Washington research firm Capital Alpha Partners and Cavas Ships podcast co-host Chris Servello join Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss the House’s $900 billion version of the National Defense Authorization Act; what’s next for US Navy shipbuilding now that the service has cancelled the Constellation-class frigate; the big events of 2025 that will shape 2026; and a look at the weeks 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 week on Wall Street; the House’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act; implications of US efforts to push Ukraine to ceasefire that now appears to include Kyiv giving up on NATO membership in exchange for Western security guarantees; outlook for the SCAF next-generation air program as French, German and Spanish defense ministers meet in advance of meeting next week between President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Friedrich Merz; the GCAP consortium’s invitation that Canada join Britain, Italy and Japan in developing a family of next generation air systems; Boeing closes its $8.3 billion acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems as the company’s Air Force One program is delayed another year to mid 2028 and the Federal Aviation Administration reviews the proposed angle of attack alert system for 737 Max 10 jets; SpaceX prepares its IPO the company could be working $800 billion; and JP Morgan Chase hires Berkshire Hathaway’s Todd Combs and recruits veteran advisers including Jeff Bezos, Michael Dell, Ford CEO Jim Farley, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and retired Gen. Dave Petreaus to oversee bank’s $1.5 trillion Security and Resilience Initiative investment fund.

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 Pentagon comptroller Dr. Dov Zakheim of the Center for Strategic and International Studies join Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss passage of the House’s version of the $900 billion National Defense Authorization Act that includes $8 billion more than the administration requested as the Senate decides against extending Obamacare subsidies raising the prospect of another government shutdown in January after the current continuing resolution that ended the last record shutdown expires; Ukraine’s partnership with European allies to blunt US demands that Kyiv meet Moscow’s demands by handling over the whole Donbas to Russia as President Trump steps up his attacks on Europe as “weak” and “decaying” in the wake of his National Security Strategy that made clear Washington sees European allies as a bigger threat than Russia; Germany’s drive to become Europe’s largest army and France’s army chief says the nation must prepare itself to sacrifice its children to defend itself as NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned that Europe is Russia’s next target within five years and nations should prepare for war on a scale not seen since World War II as Britain’s attack subs suffer from low availability; China and Russia work together in air and naval maneuvers aimed at pressuring Japan and the United States as Washington approves the export of NVIDIA’s H200 chips to China; the Lowy Institute’s latest Power Index that finds China, North Korea and Russia have risen in the ranks as America has declined; and the 40th Australia-US Ministerial that says “full speed ahead” on the AUKUS partnership.

This week, it’s China, China, China. How has the pacing threat changed in 2025, and what’s ahead in 2026? We hear from Dr. Brendan Mulvaney, Director of the China Aerospace Studies Institute at National Defense University, about systems, strategy, and more. Plus a bumper crop of #airpower headlines. Powered by GE!