Dr. Brendan Mulvaney directs the China Aerospace Studies Institute at National Defense University, which had their big biennial conference last week, and he joins us to discuss the latest in Chinese airpower. Plus the week’s other airpower headlines. Powered by GE Aerospace!
On this Land Warfare episode, sponsored by American Rheinmetall, Dr. Gian Gentile, a retired US Army colonel who is now a senior historian at the Rand Corporation think tank’s Arroyo Center, joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss the latest on the Ukraine war including on the role of unmanned ground vehicles, lessons from the conflict, how armies learn lessons and whether the US Army is inculcating those lessons in its $252 billion 2027 spending request, how the need for more powerful electromagnetic and air defense capabilities as well as drones for surveillance will shape future vehicles, his new Korea Regional Review article “Ukraine War Ground Combat and its Implications for a Possible Future War Along the Korean DMZ,” the threat posed by Russia as Moscow continues to fight in Ukraine and increasingly provoke NATO’s Baltic nations, priorities for Europe as nations rebuild their ground combat capabilities, and the role of land forces in the IndoPacific.
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 outlook for the latest round of talks between Washington and Tehran as US forces strike Iranian bases accused of threatening American warships and aircraft; the prospect of a US credibility gap and what it means; Washington’s plans for Cuba and why they’re immaterial; GOP senators rebel against President Trump’s compensation fund for allies and White House ballroom plans, jeopardizing reconciliation funding for the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon; themes from last week’s congressional hearings; and a look at the week ahead in Washington and beyond.
On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Business Roundtable, sponsored by Bell, Dr. “Rocket” Ron Epstein of Bank of America Securities, Sash Tusa of Agency Partners, and Richard Aboulafia of the AeroDynamic advisory consultancy join host Vago Muradian to discuss a roaring Wall Street despite rising inflation and worries about higher interest rates; energy prices drop as Washington and Tehran again are on the verge of a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as nations led by Britain and France prepare to participation in an international mission to help reopen the critical waterway; the prospect of ongoing operations prompts the US Air Force to cancel the RAF Benevolent Fund’s annual Royal International Air Tattoo, the weekend before the Farnborough International Airshow in July; after President Trump’s visit to Beijing, China said it would order 200 Boeing jetliners and GE Aerospace engines; GOP senators rebel over Trump’s $1.8 billion fund to compensate allies and $1 billion White House ballroom, blocking a reconciliation package to bolster Pentagon spending; after cutting 5,000 US troops from Germany and canceling the rotational deployment of 4,000 soldiers to Poland, Trump says 5,000 American troops will be permanently based in Poland to reward right-wing President Karol Nawrocki as Washington reconsiders capabilities it will make available to NATO; Sweden picks Naval Group’s Amiral Rona’ch-class FDI frigate over Babcock’s Type 31 for four-ship, $4 billion contract; mounting pressure for British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to resign; Airbus production delays as a French court holds the company and Air France accountable for a 2009 crash that killed 228; and a Seattle jury found Boeing not guilty of wrongdoing in a suit brought by Poland’s LOT airlines after the company’s 737 Max jetliners were grounded in the wake of two deadly crashes that killed 346.
Welcome to the CavasShips Podcast with Christopher P. Cavas and Chris Servello…a weekly podcast looking at naval and maritime events and issues of the day – in the US, across the seas and around the world. This week…How do you maintain, modernize and grow a Navy while meeting high demands – and at the same time take care of your sailors? Retired Admiral Bill Moran joins us to discuss his experience in doing just that.
Please send us feedback by DM’ing @CavasShips or @CSSProvision or you can email chriscavas@gmail.com or cservello@defaeroreport.com.
On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Washington Roundtable, sponsored by L3Harris, Dr. Patrick Cronin of the Hudson Institute think tank, Michael Herson of American Defense International, former DoD Europe chief Jim Townsend of the Center for a New American Security, and former Pentagon Comptroller Dr. Dov Zakheim of the Center for Strategic and International Studies join Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss outlook for reconciliation as Senate GOP lawmakers rebelled against President Trump’s $1.8 billion fund to compensate allies prosecuted for their actions and $1 billion to pay for a new White House ballroom after the president backed Ken Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn in Texas and Sen. Bill Cassidy lost his Louisiana primary in Louisiana; prospect of a deal between Washington and Tehran as Iran continues efforts to formalize its control over the Strait of Hormuz; Vladimir Putin’s escalating provocations against the Baltics as Washington reconsiders its obligations to NATO and shifts troops in Europe; reverberations of Trump’s summit with Xi Jinping as the Chinese leader hosted Putin; Washington’s move to shift more operational control to South Korea as South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Taikichi hold a landmark meeting; Seoul and New Delhi strike a security agreement as Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Rome to ink another security deal; and Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he would evict Palestinian Bedouins from a West Bank village in retaliation for an ICC warrant seeking his arrest.
The US Air Force has ambitious plans, which even the proposed budget increases for fiscal 27 might not cover. Former Air Force acquisition chief Andrew Hunter joins us with the analysis, including looks ahead at how CCAs, a new heavy bomber, and a future airlifter might not be what we think. Plus the week’s headlines in airpower. Powered by GE Aerospace!
Dr. Sampriti Bhattacharyya, the founder and CEO of Navier — an innovative company that’s developed scalable, hybrid-electric hydrofoil technologies to for faster and more efficient commercial or military vessels — joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss the technology and how it can revolutionize military and commercial maritime operations; the importance of hybrid-electric propulsion especially to stealthy applications; learning lessons from past programs to craft better future solutions; access to capital in a competitive innovation market; doing business with the Pentagon as it seeks to change what it buys and how; and how best to create an innovative national technological ecosystem.
On today’s Strategy Series program, sponsored by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Nigel Inkster, a former director of operations and intelligence at Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service who is now a senior adviser for Cyber Security and China at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to review President Trump’s summit meeting with Xi Jinping last week and what to expect from the Chinese leader’s meeting with Vladimir Putin this week in Beijing; the implications of Trump executing his “grand bargain” that trades Taiwan for stability in the Indo-Pacific; whether Washington’s mixed messages and depleted arsenal increases the prospect of conflict; the lessons Beijing has taken from US actions in Venezuela and Iran; how Beijing is capitalizing on the Washington’s focused efforts to shatter the rules-based order created in the wake of World War II to prevent another global conflict; the dissolution of that rules-based order and whether Beijing has the will use its vast resources to enact a new order that supplants the United States; and the impact of AI on cybersecurity.
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 drop in European defense stock prices on investor perceptions that the Ukraine war is ending, mitigating the need for European military modernization, despite the ongoing war and the continuing threat posed by Russia; US defense budget outlook as Senate and House conduct hearings as lawmakers plot a third reconciliation package to bolster spending; bipartisan skepticism about the cost of the Iran war and future impact on operations and maintenance in the wake of the conflict; a look at the Defense Autonomous Working Group fund; President Trump shifts on Taiwan in the wake of summit with Xi Jinping in Beijing during which the Chinese leader made clear his focus on absorbing the island democracy and the US leader sees an opportunity to realize his “grand bargain” between the world’s leading economies and military powers; and a look at the week ahead in Washington and beyond.