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 to discuss Wall Street’s worst week since 2022 over tariff and inflation worries; President Trump doubled tariffs on China to 20 percent as he paused 25 percent tariffs on cars from Canada and Mexico; alarmed by Trump’s pro-Russian rhetoric and suspension of aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, European nations agree to surge defense spending to more than $900 billion over the coming four years; the fundamental shift in mindset as NATO members conclude that alliance may be dead as America commits superpower suicide; the Pentagon continues its budget drill to redirect 8 percent of savings annually over the coming five years as senior leaders and executives make their case for programs especially manned aircraft like the F-35 Lightning II fighter and the Next Generation Air Dominance Aircraft; the US Navy drops Lockheed Martin from the FA-XX program, tapping Boeing and Northrop Grumman to move to next phase of the effort to develop the service’s next-generation combat aircraft; Delta Airlines partners with JetZero to develop a new jetliner; and the second SpaceX Starship rocket in a row exploded enroute to orbit.
