On this episode of the DefAero Report Daily Podcast, sponsored by Bell, Dr. Steve Fetter, an award-winning nuclear physicist who is the dean of the Graduate School at the University of Maryland, discusses the national security implications of the National Ignition Facility’s Dec. 5 experiment at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory that for a millisecond produced more energy than it consumed, how the test that involved firing 192 lasers at hydrogen atoms was primarily intended to improve America’s thermonuclear arsenal, why the groundbreaking test would make for an impractical source of sustainable energy, whether the nation that invested the atom bomb still has the skills to make them, and lessons from the Manhattan Project with Defense & aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.

On this episode of the DefAero Report Daily Podcast, sponsored by Bell, Sam Bendett of the Center for Naval Analyses and Byron Callan of the independent Washington research firm Capital Alpha Partners with a year-end review of Russia’s war on Ukraine, how the conflict has changed Washington and its allies, old lessons relearned, technologies that have changed the battlefield, the impact of sanctions on Russia’s economy, how Moscow is benefitting from its partnerships with Iran, North Korea, China, India as well as other nations, developments in China, Japan and Iran, and a look at key business developments in 2022 including L3Harris’ proposal to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.

On this episode of the DefAero Report Daily Podcast, sponsored by Bell, Dr. Jerry McGinn and Eric Lofgren of the Baroni Center for Government Contracting at George Mason University discuss new ways to help innovative small companies survive DoD’s acquisition process to grow into sustainable enterprises, whether change is happening fast enough, the Pentagon’s new strategic capital initiative and NDAA items to watch; and Dr. Caitlin Lee, the director of the Center for Unmanned and Autonomy Studies at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies discusses the new report she co-authored with Mitchell’s Mark Gunzinger — “The Next Frontier: UAVs for Great Power Conflict, Part I: Penetrating Strike” — discusses takeaways from the report, the role of the unmanned modular collaborative combat aircraft the US Air Force is developing to improve its long-range strike, reconnaissance and electronic warfare capabilities, the network needed to target and strike with precision at range, the blend of new and old assets that can help realize this capability, and what’s next in the series with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.

On this episode of the DefAero Report Daily Podcast, sponsored by Bell, Sam Bendett of the Center for Naval Analyses discusses the latest in Russia’s war on Ukraine and Kyiv’s momentum including long-range attacks on Russian airfields, Wagner Group’s upcoming hackathon, move by Alma-Antey to copy Chinese racing drones for military use, and update on Turkish role in improving Azerbaijan’s military and speculation regarding another offensive against Armenia while Moscow and Tehran are distracted; and Byron Callan of the independent Washington research firm Capital Alpha Partners discusses House NDAA, prospects in Senate, implications of delayed appropriations and live on prolonged continuing resolutions, rising contractor costs, and a look at the week ahead with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.

On this episode of the DefAero Report Daily Podcast, sponsored by Bell, Dr. James Chow. The director of the Rand Corporation’s Project Air Force, discusses last week’s West Coast Aerospace Forum — a collaborative effort among Rand, the Aerospace Corporation, MITRE, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies — lessons from Russia’s war on Ukraine, deterring China from miscalculating in the Pacific, prioritizing long-range strike as well as command and control and industrial base investment, whether the B-21 Raider medium bomber by Northrop Grumman is the right plane for the Pacific theater, and the dire state of America’s nuclear weapons enterprise with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. 

On this episode of the DefAero Report Daily Podcast, sponsored by Bell, Dr. “Rocket” Ron Epstein of Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Richard Aboulafia of the AeroDynamic Advisory consultancy discuss the US Army’s decision to tap Bell’s V-280 Valor tiltrotor as the winner of its Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft competition; and Pentagon comptroller Mike McCord discusses the outlook for defense spending, the prospect of a year-long continuing resolution, the likelihood of another Budget Control Act as part of a deal to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, internal DoD lessons learned during the course of US support for Ukraine, replenishing depleted American weapon stocks, views on how to reform the Planning, Programming, Budget & Execution process, and improving Pentagon auditability with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.

On this episode of the DefAero Report Daily Podcast, sponsored by Bell, Byron Callan of…

On this episode of the DefAero Report Daily Podcast, sponsored by Bell, Dr. Ming-Yen Tsai, Taiwan’s deputy minister of foreign affairs, discusses lessons from Russia’s war on Ukraine that can better prepare the island nation against a conflict with China, what Taipei needs to improve capabilities, Taiwanese confidence in President Biden’s pledge to defend the Taiwan should China attack, and Dr. Wes Naylor, the former commander of the Naval Air Warfare Center Training and Simulation Division, and our producer Chris Servello discuss key takeaways from the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference in Orlando with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.

On this episode of the DefAero Report Daily Podcast, sponsored by Bell, Sam Bendett of the Center for Naval Analyses and the Center for a New American Security discusses Vladimir Putin’s new drive to advance Russian artificial intelligence capabilities for military and economic advantage, the latest on Moscow’s war on Ukraine including precision strikes that have crippled the the country’s infrastructure, the state of Russia’s long-range strike arsenal including cruise missiles and unmanned systems, and the stability of the Putin regime as concerns about the war and its economic impact hits average Russians; and Dr. Darrell Bricker, the chief executive of Ipsos Public Affairs, discusses the latest global survey of security trends and sentiments released at the recent Halifax International Security Forum with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.

On this episode of the DefAero Report Daily Podcast, sponsored by Bell, Joe Kochan, the executive director of the National Spectrum Consortium, and Dr. Christine Zhang, the chief research scientist at Peraton Labs, consortium board member and the chair of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ annual MILCOM conference, discuss the role of consortium, the importance of 5G and 6G technologies in future military networks like the Joint All Domain Command and Control System, what to expect at the upcoming MILCOM conference and more; and Byron Callan of the independent Washington research firm Capital Alpha Partners discusses the implications of anti-government demonstrations in China, update on Pentagon budget in a lame duck Congress, the outlook for continued US defense assistance to Ukraine, and a look at the week ahead with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.