On this episode of the DefAero Report Daily Podcast, sponsored by Bell, Sam Bendett of the Center for Naval Analyses discusses Russia’s incremental advances on Bakhmut, the largest tank on tank engagement in Europe since the Battle of Kursk and why Russia was routed by Ukrainian forces, what Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s visit to the front, claims by Wagner Group’s Yevgeny Prigozhin that his force isn’t able to advance because it can’t get enough ammunition, Belarus ramps up drone production to help Moscow as it gets harder to buy DJI commercial quad copters in Russia; and our producer Chris Servello discusses the messaging challenges facing the Biden administration as it prepares to submit it’s defense budget request — expected at about $850 billion — to Congress March 13, the potential perils of a defense budget nearing a trillion dollars as American question the state of the nation’s infrastructure and debt, and a look at the week ahead with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.