On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Business Roundtable, sponsored by Bell, Dr. “Rocket” Ron Epstein of Bank of America Securities, and Richard Aboulafia of the AeroDynamic advisory consultancy join host Vago Muradian to discuss Wall Street’s rally to new highs even as US jobs growth continues to slow and Washington shuts down for what could be a protracted closure; German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius’ comments that Berlin will play a bigger state role in the nation’s defense industries; Poland’s planned record bond sales to address mounting debt; Russia’s continued provocations including closing Munich airport twice in 24 hours; the CA-1 Europa unmanned combat aircraft by Germany’s Helsing; what a transition to full-rate production mans for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lighting II fighter; Thailand order for Airbus A330 Multirole Tanker and Transport Aircraft and Indonesia’s purchase of T-50 aircraft from Korean Aerospace; the drop in Palantir stock after a Reuters report that the Army command and control system the company is developing with Anduril has security flaws; GE Aerospace’s share price drop after labor deal as investors wait for the terms that will end the nine-week strike by Boeing machinists in St Louis; the Federal Aviation Administration’s decision to return some certification duties to Boeing that were taken away from the company in 2019 after the crash of two Max jetliners as the company admits the 777x jetliner will be delayed until 2027; and Play Airlines becomes the second Low-cost Icelandic carrier to fold in six years.

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Business Roundtable, sponsored by Bell, Dr. “Rocket” Ron Epstein of Bank of America Securities, and Richard Aboulafia of the AeroDynamic advisory consultancy join host Vago Muradian to discuss Wall Street ended the week slightly down as a protracted US government shutdown looms; President Trump reversed course saying that with European help he now thinks Ukraine can win back its territory, suggesting America won’t block assistance to Kyiv as Moscow ramps up its attacks; France latest debt downgrade as the French, German, Spanish and Belgian effort to develop a new generation of combat aircraft hits its latest snag — as an increasingly frustrated Germany reconsiders its participation, Dassault’s CEO Eric Trappier again makes clear Berlin is welcome to leave the program, a stance that Hensoldt CEO Oliver Dörre said he found “bizarre,” but added that the sophisticated avionics his company and Spain’s Indra are developing for the SCAF program would find other buyers; Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s proposal to revamp the US H-1B visa process that allows skilled foreign talent to work in America would cost $100,000 — up from a few thousand — and whether it will achieve the aim of deterring skilled immigrants from coming to the United States and if so, where they talent will flow; Boeing and its unionized St Louis workers will meet next week to discuss ending the nearly two month strike; and news from the Air Force Association’s otherwise quiet Air Space and Cyber conference and tradeshow including Honeywell and Pratt & Whitney’s small jet engines for unmanned collaborative combat aircraft, the acceleration of Northrop Grumman’s B-21 Raider bomber program, and Air Force interest in a stealthy next generation tanker, if the service can find the money to develop and buy it in the wake of pressing ahead with the F-47 fighter program led by Boeing.