Amb. Kurt Volker, the executive director of Arizona State University's McCain Institute for International Leadership, discusses the lasting legacy of the late Sen. John McCain with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the 2018 Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia, Canada. Our coverage was sponsored by L3 Technologies and Leonardo DRS.

Joe DePietro, vice president of Lockheed Martin Small Combatants and Ship Systems, discusses the variant of the company's Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship -- with Fincantieri Marinette Marine -- being proposed for the US Navy's FFG(X) frigate program with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the Surface Navy Association's 2019 conference and tradeshow in Northern Virginia. We are an SNA media partner and our coverage was sponsored by Huntington Ingalls Industries, GE Marine, L3 Technologies and Leonardo DRS.

Vice Adm. Rick Hunt, USN Ret., former commander of US Naval Surface Forces who is now chief strategy officer of Fincantieri Marinette Marine, discusses the US Navy's FFG(X) Frigate program and the solution the company has based its FREMM warship developed for the Italian Navy with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the Surface Navy Association's 2019 conference and tradeshow in Northern Virginia. We are an SNA media partner and our coverage is sponsored by Huntington Ingalls Industries, GE Marine, L3 Technologies and Leonardo DRS.

Erik Smith, the president and CEO of Saab Defense and Security USA, discusses the company's naval portfolio, radars, undersea systems and more with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the Surface Navy Association's 2019 conference and tradeshow in Northern Virginia. We are an SNA media partner and our coverage is sponsored by Huntington Ingalls Industries, GE Marine, L3 Technologies and Leonardo DRS.

Paul Lemmo, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin's Integrated Warfare Systems and Sensors, discusses the company's proposals for the US Navy's FFG(X) competition for a new frigate, the Littoral Combat Ship and the firm's naval portfolio with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the Surface Navy Association's 2019 conference and tradeshow in Norther Virginia. We are an SNA media partner and our coverage was sponsored by Huntington Ingalls Industries, GE Marine, L3 Technologies and Leonardo DRS.

Capt. Chris Barnes, USN, the deputy commander of the Naval Surface Mine Warfighting Development Command, discusses accomplishments, priorities and training with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the Surface Navy Association's 2019 conference and tradeshow in Northern Virginia. We are an SNA media partner and our coverage is sponsored by Huntington Ingalls Industries, GE Marine, L3 Technologies and Leonardo DRS.

Capt. Bill Toti, USN Ret., president of L3 Technologies Maritime Sensor Systems, discusses the company’s portfolio of systems for the US Navy with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the Surface Navy Association’s conference and tradeshow in Northern Virginia. We are an SNA media partner and our coverage is sponsored by Huntington Ingalls Industries, GE Marine, L3 Technologies and Leonardo DRS.

Vice Adm. Rick Hunt, USN Ret., a former commander of US Surface Forces who is he new president of the Surface Navy Association, discusses themes and issues covered during the organization’s 2019 conference and tradeshow in Northern Virginia with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. We are an official SNA media partner and our coverage was sponsored by Huntington Ingalls Industries, GE Marine, L3 Technologies and Leonardo DRS.

Tom Karako, a leading missile defense expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, discusses key elements of the the Trump administration's Missile Defense Review released Jan. 17, 2019, Chinese and Russian capabilities, hypersonic threats and defenses and more with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.

Maj. Gen. David “Stretch” Coffman, USMC, the US Navy's director of expeditionary warfare (N95), discusses new expeditionary warfighting concepts, the recent deployment of Littoral Combat Group 1 -- composed of USS Wayne E Meyer (DDG-108) and USS Somerset (LPD-25) -- to South America, new formations to replace the current Amphibious Ready Group and Marine Expeditionary Unit, unmanned ships, the performance of the F-35B Lightning II and more with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the Surface Navy Association's 2019 conference and tradeshow in Northern Virginia. We are an SNA media partner for the event and our coverage is sponsored by Huntington Ingalls Industries, GE Marine, L3 Technologies and Leonardo DRS.

Vice Adm. Tom Moore, USN, the commander of the Naval Sea Systems Command, discusses US Navy efforts to increase public and private ship repair capabilities, lessons learned from repairing USS John S. McCain and Fitzgerald, the new Ford-class aircraft carrier, getting the Littoral Combat Ship on regular deployments and more with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the Surface Navy Association annual conference and tradeshow in Northern Virginia. Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the Surface Navy Association’s annual conference and tradeshow in Northern Virginia. We are an SNA media partner for the event and our coverage is sponsored by Huntington Ingalls Industries, GE Marine, L3 Technologies and Leonardo DRS.

Rear Adm. Gerry Hueber, USN Ret., Raytheon Strategic and Naval Systems business executive, discusses the company's air and missile defense portfolio ranging from the Standard missile to the Phalanx Close-In Weapon System with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the Surface Navy Association's 2019 conference and tradeshow in Northern Virginia. We are an SNA media partner for the event and our coverage is sponsored by Huntington Ingalls Industries, GE Marine, L3 Technologies and Leonardo DRS.

Thomas Mahnken, PhD, the president and CEO of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, discusses game changing ideas to maintain America's military advantage in an era of great power competition with China and Russia with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the Reagan National Defense Forum at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif. Our coverage was sponsored by L3 Technologies and Leonardo DRS.

Rear Adm. Ron Boxall, USN, the US Navy's director of surface warfare (N96), discusses getting the Littoral Combat Ship on regular deployment cycles, the new FFG(X) frigate program, a new Large Surface Combatant, sophisticated new training aids for warfighting and ship driving with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the at the Surface Navy Association's annual conference and tradeshow in Northern Virginia. We are an SNA media partner for the event and our coverage is sponsored by Huntington Ingalls Industries, GE Marine, L3 Technologies and Leonardo DRS.

Tony Castilleja, systems engineer, and Josh Barrett, communications specialist, both with Boeing Space & Missile Systems, discuss the company’s new Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket, CST-100 Starliner spacecraft and new spacesuit with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted in Washington, DC, at “To the Future” space experience by Boeing and Axios that will run through the mid-February.

Dixon Osburn, the executive director of the Center for Justice and Accountability, discusses holding war criminals to account for their actions with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the 2018 Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia, Canada. Our coverage was sponsored by L3 Technologies and Leonardo DRS.

Pete Bunce, the president and CEO of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, and John Cudahy, the president of the International Council of Air Shows, discuss plans to stage a massive "2020 Arsenal of Democracy Fly-Over" Washington, DC, on May 7-8, 2020, with vintage US, Canadian and British warplanes to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. To organize and execute a fly over involving more than 100 World War II-era aircraft, GAMA and ICAS have partnered with a number of organizations, including the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the Commemorative Air Force, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association and the National Defense Industrial Association.

Vice Adm. Paul Bennett, Royal Navy, NATO Allied Command Transformation's chief of staff, discusses driving innovation, the command's 13th annual Chiefs of Transformation Conference, capability development and more with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. Our coverage of the conference was sponsored by L3 Technologies and Leonardo DRS.

Camille Grand, NATO assistant secretary general for defense investment, discusses accelerating alliance acquisition programs and more with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at NATO Allied Command Transformation's 13th annual Chiefs of Transformation Conference in Norfolk, Va. Our coverage was sponsored by L3 Technologies and Leonardo DRS.

Mauricio Meschoulam, PhD, professor at Universidad Iberoamericana Mexico and founder of the Mexico Research Center for Peace, discusses how to tackle Latin America's security challenges that are driving migration caravans to the United States with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. Our coverage was sponsored by L3 Technologies and Leonardo DRS.

Gen. Jonathan “Jon” Vance, Canadian Army, the chief of defense staff for Canada’s Armed Forces, discusses future capabilities, and modernization with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian on the sidelines of the 10th annual Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia, Canada. Our coverage was sponsored by L3 Technologies and Leonardo DRS.

Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., discusses the importance of the Halifax International Security Forum, Sen. John McCain’s legacy, NATO, President Trump’s rhetoric and policies, and much more at the 10th annual Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia, Canada. Our coverage at this 10th annual forum is sponsored by L3 Technologies and Leonardo DRS.

Sen. Christopher Coons, D-Del., discusses 2019 spending priorities, strength of the NATO alliance, the gap between President Trump’s rhetoric and policies, Sen. John McCain, and short- and long-term budget outlooks at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia, Canada. Our coverage at this 10th annual forum is sponsored by L3 Technologies and Leonardo DRS.

Harjit Singh Sajjan, Canada’s minister of national defense, discusses the Halifax International Security Forum, security strategy, the country’s fighter requirement, spending and more with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia, Canada. Our coverage at this 10th annual forum is sponsored by L3 Technologies and Leonardo DRS.

Now that President Trump has declared a national emergency to build his border wall, all eyes are on what will be cut to free the additional $7.5 billion he wants as a down payment for the project. Rather than the wall, that money would be better spend on buying new systems and capabilities the United States desperately needs as it faces rising global powers.

You can’t be a real airplane lover and take satisfaction in seeing the end of a flagship aviation program. That said, Airbus’ decision last week to halt production of the A380 by 2021 will bring an end to a polarizing program. It was neither sleek nor particularly attractive, but it was an astonishing aeronautical achievement that was ultimately too big to succeed.

Qualifications, however, will be secondary to personal loyalty when Trump makes a choice that will have major implications for national and international security for many years to come.

What We Can Learn From the First Manned Mission to the Moon

In its recent report, "Artificial Intelligence and National Security: The Importance of the AI Ecosystem," the Center for Strategic and International Studies writes that "AI has profound potential to affect the balance of power in both the global economy and in military competition. While AI has a long history, AI has begun to deliver results within the last decade, particularly with the recent rapid progress in machine learning and the increased availability of data and computing power. As impactful as the recent progress has been, AI remains highly problem-specific and context-dependent. It has proven extremely challenging to translate the progress in some fields to others, even those that are closely related. Enthusiasm in both the public and private sectors has obscured the importance of building the robust supporting capabilities for AI—an AI ecosystem—that are crucial to successful AI adoption." The report was sponsored in part by Thales USA.

In "Trump's 2019 Missile Defense Budget: Choosing Capacity over Capability," a February 28, 2018, installment of the Center for Strategic and International Studies' CSIS Briefs series, Tom Karako, PhD, director of CSIS' Missile Defense Project and a senior fellow in its International Security Program, and Wes Rumbaugh, an research assistant with the ISP, analyze the missile-defense side of the Trump administration's FY19 budget request, identify its priorities and shortfalls, lend historical context and deem the proposed budget "inadequate" to combat "the threat for both ballistic and nonballistic missile attack."

"The Malicious Use of Artificial Intelligence: Forecasting, Prevention, and Mitigation," a February 2018 joint report from the Center for a New American Security, the Future of Humanity Institute, the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, the University of Cambridge, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and OpenAI, looks at the potential for artificial intelligence to be weaponized in the digital, physical and political security domains, predicts the future AI threat landscape and offers preventative recommendations for policymakers to combat the risk of misused AI. "This report surveys the landscape of potential security threats from malicious uses of artificial intelligence technologies, and proposes ways to better forecast, prevent, and mitigate these threats," the report reads. "We analyze, but do not conclusively resolve, the question of what the long-term equilibrium between attackers and defenders will be. We focus instead on what sorts of attacks we are likely to see soon if adequate defenses are not developed.

In "Overview of the 2019 President's Budget Request for Defense," a Feb. 15, 2018, report from the Center for a New American Security, authors Susanna Blume, a CNAS Defense Strategies and Assessment Program fellow, and Lauren Fish, a research associate with the program, provide a bird's-eye look at what the White House's FY19 defense-budget request means for readiness, procurement, research, development, test and evaluation, the Missile Defense Agency, US Army, US Navy, US Marine Corps and US Air Force, and the US Defense Department, as a whole. "Even in these times of increasing budgets, DoD must still make tough decisions about what to prioritize and where to accept risk," they write.