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.