On this week's Cyber Report, Benjamin Jensen, PhD, professor at American University and Marine Corps University as well as a member of the Cyber Security Solarium Commission, discusses the need for more research to better understand the dynamics of cyber deterrence and escalation among great powers and the report he coauthored with Brandon Valentino, PhD, “What Do We Know About Cyber Escalation? Observations From Simulations and Surveys,” with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. Northrop Grumman sponsors the Cyber Report and our cyber coverage.

Rep. Gil Cisneros, D-Calif., a member of the House Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, discusses the Trump Administration's 2021 Navy budget request and balancing defense investment and social spending with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted at the Amphibious Warship Industrial Coalition's annual congressional breakfast on Capitol Hill on Feb. 11, 2020.

Rear Adm. Sam Perez, USN Ret., the president and CEO of the Amphibious Warship Industrial Base Coalition, discusses the Trump Administration's 2021 Navy Budget Request, the US Marine Corps new vision of distributed amphibious operations and integrating USN-USMC operations and planning with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted at the AWIBC's annual congressional breakfast on Capitol Hill on Feb. 11, 2020.

On this week’s Cyber Report, Donna Dodson, the chief cybersecurity advisor at the National Institutes of Standards and Technology, discusses engineering cyber security interoperability across government and industry with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. Northrop Grumman sponsors the Cyber Report and our cyber coverage.

Cdr. John Thompson, USN, the USS Gerald R Ford's weapons officer or Gun Boss, discusses the new ship's weapons handling capabilities compared with earlier carriers he's served on during his three decade career. Col. James "Hondo" Geurts, USAF Ret., the assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition invited a small group of reporters to travel aboard Ford on Jan. 27, 2020, as the ship conducted Aircraft Compatibility Testing off the Virginia coast.

Capt. JJ "Yank" Cummings, USN, the commanding officer of USS Gerald R Ford, says his ship's systems are "spot on," including zero problems with propulsion and smooth functioning of its electromagnetic catapults and new arresting gear, improving capabilities and the importance of keeping Ford-class sailors on Ford-class ships during an interview with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. Col. James "Hondo" Geurts, USAF Ret., the assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition invited a small group of reporters to travel aboard Ford on Jan. 27, 2020, as the ship conducted Aircraft Compatibility Testing off the Virginia coast.

Capt. Don Walsh, PhD, USN Ret., who with Jacques Piccard on Jan. 23, 1960, became the first humans to make it to the deepest known point on earth -- 35,797 feet beneath the Pacific Ocean's at the Challenger Deep -- aboard the bathyscaphe Trieste discusses the importance of deep sea exploration with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the National Museum of the United States Navy at the Washington Navy Yard before a ceremony commemorating the 60th anniversary of the mission.

Rear Adm. Scott Robertson, USN, the commander of the Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center, discusses his command's evolving role to improve combat training and capabilities across the fleet with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the 2020 Surface Navy Association's national symposium. We are an SNA media partner and our coverage was sponsored by GE Marine and Leonardo DRS.

Mike Meaney, the vice president for maritime electronic and information warfare at Northrop Grumman, discusses the company's role in the US Navy's Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the 2020 Surface Navy Association's national symposium. We are an SNA media partner and our coverage was sponsored by LG Marine and Leonardo DRS.

The U. S. Navy’s decision to name an aircraft carrier after Pearl Harbor hero Doris Miller is laudable for the symbolism of honoring an African American worthy of having a ship named after him. At first blush, however, it is a misapplication of norms to apply the name of a relatively momentary hero to an aircraft carrier and not a destroyer, as has been the tradition for generations.

Vice Adm. Tom Moore, USN, the commander of the Naval Sea Systems Command discusses recent dialogue with industry leaders on how to improves ship readiness and maintenance with Defense & Aerospace Editor Vago Muradian at the Surface Navy Association National Conference. Go to our Friday Roundtable Podcast to hear the entire interview. (https://defaeroreport.com/2020/01/16/defense-aerospace-podcast-friday-roundtable-jan-17-2020/) Our sponsors for this year’s Surface Navy Association National Symposium are Leonardo DRS and GE Marine.

Paul Lemmo, the vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Integrated Warfare Systems and Sensors, discusses the company's combat systems portfolio, heritage and future with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the Surface Navy Association's 2020 national symposium. We are an SNA media partner and our coverage was sponsored by GE Marine and Leonardo DRS.

Eric Stewart, the president of the US-Poland Business Council, discusses the key strategic and industrial relationship between Washington and Warsaw with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.

Rear Adm. Gene Black, USN, the US Navy's director of surface warfare or N96, discusses the service's new Integrated Force Structure Assessment that plans to incorporate medium and large displacement unmanned vessels into its future fleet, the requirements for a new large surface combatant, new longer-range weapon for the fleet and better training for sailors with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the 2020 Surface Navy Association's national symposium where our coverage was sponsored by GE Marine and Leonardo DRS.

Larry Ryder, senior director of business development and customer affairs at Austal, discusses how to address the US Navy’s unmanned vessels needs, manned warships like the Independence-Class Littoral Combat ship and Expeditionary Fast Transport and gives an update of FFG(X) program with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the Surface Navy Association’s 2020 national symposium. We are an SNA media partner and our coverage was sponsored by GE Marine and Leonardo DRS.

Capt. Todd Leavitt, USN Ret., vice president for maritime systems at Northrop Grumman, discusses the company's manned and unmanned surface combatant strategy with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the Surface Navy Association's 2020 national symposium. We are an SNA media partner and our coverage was sponsored by GE Marine and Leonardo DRS. Northrop Grumman sponsors our weekly Cyber Report and cyber coverage.

On this week’s Cyber Report, Rear Adm. William Metts, USN Ret., the director for strategy and program integration at Northrop Grumman Cyber and Intelligence Mission Solutions, discusses cyber training and certification across all warfare domains with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. Northrop Grumman sponsors the Cyber Report and our cyber coverage.

Rear Adm. Rick Williams, USN Ret., a principal at L3Harris, discusses opportunities as the US Navy details its plans for large and medium displacement unmanned surface vessels as well as electronic warfare with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the 2020 Surface Navy Association's national symposium. We are an SNA media partner and our coverage was sponsored by GE Marine and Leonardo DRS.

On this week’s Cyber Report, Rear Adm. William Metts, USN Ret., the director for strategy and program integration at Northrop Grumman Cyber and Intelligence Mission Solutions, discusses setting cyber proficiency standards across DoD and the whole of government with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. Northrop Grumman sponsors the Cyber Report and our cyber coverage.

Rear Adm. Chuck Goddard, USN Ret., senior vice president at Fincantieri Marine Group, discusses the design features of the company's proposal for the US Navy's FFG(X) program, gives an update on the program and investment in the Marinette Marine shipyard in Marinette, Wisc., with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at Surface Navy Association's 2020 national symposium. We are an SNA media partner and our coverage was sponsored by GE Marine and Leonardo DRS.

Mike Coulter, the senior vice president for business development at Leonardo DRS, discusses the company's integrated shipboard power and unmanned capabilities as the US Navy seeks more electrical power on its warships for new weapons and a new generation of large and medium displacement unmanned vehicles with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the Surface Navy Association's 2020 national symposium. We are an SNA media partner and our coverage was sponsored by GE Marine and Leonardo DRS.

Stacie Pettyjohn, PhD, the director of the strategy and doctrine program at RAND Project Air Force, discusses contentious negotiations between Washington and Seoul and Tokyo on new basing agreements with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. Our coverage was sponsored by Boeing and Leonardo DRS. Pettyjohn and RAND Senior Political Scientist Becca Wasser co-authored with “Competing in the Grey Zone: Russian Tactics and Western Responses.”

Stacie Pettyjohn, PhD, the director of the strategy and doctrine program at RAND Project Air Force, discusses her the report she co-authored with RAND Senior Political Scientist Becca Wasser "Competing in the Grey Zone: Russian Tactics and Western Responses" with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. Our coverage was sponsored by Boeing and Leonardo DRS.

Alan Pellegrini, the CEO of Thales North America, discusses how the company is meeting the US Defense Department's new cyber security standards and artificial intelligence market growth with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the 2019 Reagan National Defense Forum where our coverage was sponsored by Boeing and Leonardo DRS. Northrop Grumman sponsors our weekly Cyber Report and our cyber coverage.

Mikhail Kasyanov, Russia's former prime minister who is now the leader of the People's Freedom Party, discusses the outlook for democracy in Russia in the wake of demonstrations across the nation with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the 2019 Halifax International Security Forum where our coverage was sponsored by Boeing and Leonardo DRS.

Josef Joffe, PhD, the editor of Die Zeit and a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, discusses the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, what’s been accomplished and what’s next for Europe with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the 2019 Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia, Canada. Our coverage is sponsored by Boeing and Leonardo DRS.

On this week’s Cyber Report, Rear Adm. William Metts, USN Ret., the director for strategy and program integration at Northrop Grumman Cyber and Intelligence Mission Solutions, discusses the difference between defensive and offensive cyber with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. Northrop Grumman sponsors the Cyber Report and our cyber coverage.

Uniforms are always a hot topic for sailors. The Navy's top officials have been getting an earful about what is and what's not in their seabags for the past few years as they make their rounds in the fleet. That's why the Navy's top uniformed personnel officer, Vice Adm. John B. Nowell, Jr. and his senior enlisted advisor, Fleet Master Chief (SS) Wes Koshoffer, now have fleet sailors chiming in directly to them on uniform issues, thanks to a bi-monthly uniform focus group.

As the Navy ramps up its great power game, it must learn Ford’s lessons to ensure major new programs like ballistic missile submarines, frigates, a surface warship and large- and medium-displacement unmanned vessels, a large unmanned tanker aircraft and more are successfully and quickly executed.

Self-satisfied blabbing about US cyber prowess at a time when too much of America’s government or civilian cyber infrastructure — whether cities large and small, facilities, businesses, communications systems and even cars — remain vulnerable to hacking or worse, attack is downright foolhardy and dangerous. Before bragging about how its breaking into the networks of other nations with a proven ability to be persistent cyber foes, it’s vital the administration do more to secure America’s infrastructure first.

On many levels, this year’s Paris Air Show was historic with the launch of two new, stealthy Western fighter programs that will dominate investment for Europe’s leading nations for the coming decade. At Le Bourget, France, Germany and Spain launched the New Generation Fighter, the manned element of the bigger Future Combat Air System program — SCAF in French — spearheaded by France’s Dassault Aviation and Airbus that is to include closely networked manned and unmanned combat aircraft. It constitutes many years of public and private work in Europe and France in particular on new stealthy manned and unmanned aircraft, including the Neuron demonstrator that was launched in 2006.

The Trump Administration's 2020 Budget Request Could Be, But OCO, F-15X, Carrier, Amphib, Space Force Raise Doubts

A student protest against China’s persecution of Uighurs at a Howard County high school highlights the potential cybersecurity implications of Americans using Chinese social media apps, according to Wilson Center analyst.

Lt. Col. Dakota Wood, USMC Ret., senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, discusses the guidance by Gen. David Berger, USMC, the new US Marine Corps commandant, to better prepare his force for rapidly emerging challenges, focusing on innovative concepts to deliver amphibious capability, importance of more numbers rather than fewer more “exquisite” platforms, the defense budget outlook and the need to make hard choices with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the think tank’s Washington headquarters after an address by Berger.

Bruce Klingner, senior research fellow for Northeast Asia at the Heritage Foundation, discusses Washington's role in resolving rising tensions between South Korea and Japan with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC.

Patrick Cronin, chair for Asia-Pacific Security at the Hudson Institute, discusses China’s 2019 Defense White Paper with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian in Washington, DC.