Jeff Bialos, a former deputy undersecretary of defense for industrial policy who now heads the defense practice at the Eversheds Sutherland law firm, Dr. Jerry McGinn who also served in the Pentagon’s Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy office and now leads the Center for the Industrial Base at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Bryan Clark who leads the Center for Defense concepts and Innovation at the Hudson Institute think tank joint Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s that the administration is considering stakes in US defense and aerospace contractors; the Pentagon’s new acquisition approach to more rapidly develop capabilities to address joint force operational problems; and the abrupt resignation of Doug Beck as the head of the Defense Innovation Unit as the Defense Department reorders its innovation ecosystem.

On today’s Look Ahead program, sponsored by HII, Byron Callan of the independent Washington research firm Capital Alpha Partners joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss the defense industrial impact of stalled peace talks between Ukraine and Russia; the outlook for European defense despite capitulation on tariffs and former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s pessimism about Europe as a global power; civil-military relations as armed National Guardsmen are deployed to US cities; scaling drone production; and a look at the week ahead.

On today’s Look Ahead program, sponsored by HII, joining Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian are Dr Eugene Rumer of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to discuss what’s next after President Trump aligned with Russia’s Vladimir Putin after their summit in Alaska and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders arrive in Washington to discuss ending the war; and Byron Callan of the independent Washington research firm Capital Alpha Partners discusses summit takeaways on defense sentiment; up and downside budget and policy risks for contractors; analysis of the Pentagon’s program acquisition costs and budget details released last week; trade and tariffs; and a look at the week ahead.

Mark Montgomery, a retired US Navy rear admiral who is now the senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the executive director of the Cyber Solarium 2.0 project, joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss how to improve defense cooperation with Taiwan to prepare for the kind of embargo and blockade scenarios Beijing has been practicing; whether the Trump administration will continue its support for Taipei given Washington last week blocked Taiwanese President Lai Ching Te from transiting the United States to visit Paraguay; how to address gaps and seams in the US-Japan alliance; worries across Asia in the wake of the Trump administration’s rhetoric toward Europe; what to expect from the upcoming National Security Strategy and Force Posture Review; the impact of personnel cuts on US cybersecurity; and look at recent congressional budget moves and their impact on naval power.

On today’s program, sponsored by HII, Byron Callan of the independent Washington research firm Capital Alpha Partners discusses the latest headlines and looks at the week ahead with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.

On today’s Look Ahead program, sponsored by HII, Byron Callan of the independent Washington research firm Capital Alpha Partners joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss Washington’s trade deals with Japan and the European Union that would see an increase of baseline tariffs increase to 15 percent; President Trump’s assertion that European nations would buy “hundreds of billions of dollars in US defense products;” analysis of US and European second quarter 2025 earnings; takeaways from House Armed Services Committee’s acquisition reform hearing; some thoughts on drones, counter drone and affordable strike as well as AI; upcoming analytical projects; and a look at the week ahead.

On today’s program, sponsored by HII, Byron Callan of the independent Washington research firm Capital Alpha Partners discusses the latest headlines and looks at the week ahead with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.

Sam Bendett of the Center for Naval Analyses joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss the latest on the Ukraine war as President Trump agrees to sell weapons to NATO nations to better support Kyiv and warns Moscow that severe sanctions will be imposed by the United States in 50 days unless a peace deal is struck; the evolving nature of the drone war between Ukrainian and Russian forces that include using fishing nets to block small air vehicles; how Ukraine is using UAVs to intercept other UAVs; and analysis of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s new “drone dominance” strategy.

On today’s Look Ahead program, sponsored by HII, Byron Callan of the independent Washington research firm Capital Alpha Partners joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss President Trump’s abrupt threat of against higher tariffs on the EU, Mexico, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Brazil and others unless they accept his trade terms by Aug. 1 and its impact on the Defnese and aerospace ecosystem; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s “drone dominance” guidance and whether it will accelerate the fielding of novel unmanned capabilities; what the unfounded priorities lists submitted by the US military services to Congress say about the administration’s budget; what to expect this week from appropriations hearings; second quarter outlays; what it will take to quadruple production of PAC-3 air and missile defense weapons; and a look at the week ahead.