On today’s program, sponsored by HII, Byron Callan of the independent Washington research firm Capital Alpha Partners discusses first quarter 2024 earnings; leading firms buy back more than $4 billion in stock as leading defense officials chide firms for the practice; the US Air Force’s decision to select General Atomics and Anduril to compete for Increment 1 of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program and award Sierra Nevada a contract valued at $13 billion award to develop the successor to the E-4B “Nightwatch” Advanced Airborne Command Post; and a look at the week ahead with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Business Roundtable, sponsored by Bell, Dr. Rocket Ron Epstein of Bank of America Securities, Sash Tusa of the independent equity research firm Agency Partners, and Richard Aboulafia of the AeroDynamic advisory consultancy, join host Vago Muradian discuss a big drop on Wall Street; Airbus, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and more, earnings reports; the US Air Force picks Anduril and General Atomics as finalists for its Collaborative Combat Aircraft autonomous combat aircraft; British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak moves to increase defense spending; French President Emmanuel Macron’s case for greater European security and economic independence; and Boeing buys back a St. Louis factory from GKN.

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Washington Roundtable, Dr. Patrick Cronin of the Hudson Institute think tank, Michael Herson of American Defense International, former Pentagon Europe chief Jim Townsend of the Center for a New American Security, and former Pentagon Comptroller Dr. Dov Zakheim join host Vago Muradian to discuss House Speaker Mike Johnson’s future after Senate passage and President Biden’s signature of the Ukraine-Israel-Indo-Pacific supplemental, whether the amount is enough to help Kyiv win, Washington’s decision to transfer longer-range ATACMS missiles that have proven devastating against Russian targets, President Macron’s case for Europe to reduce reliance on America and China, the extent of Russian and Chinese infiltration of the European Parliament and German politics, Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits Beijing to urge cooperation as Chinese officials make clear Washington has to choose cooperation on its terms or confrontation, campus protests and their implications, the latest on Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza.

The United States Air Force has embarked on a wide-ranging reoptimization, encompassing operations, organization, culture, and more. One of the service’s more influential Chiefs, General John Jumper, joins us to analyze the process and goals of remaking a military service while it is engaged around the world. Plus special analysis of the Air Force’s CCA downselect and other top news in airpower. Powered by GE!

On this month’s Land Warfare program, sponsored by American Rheinmetall, Sam Bendett of the Center for Naval Analyses discusses importance of the $61 billion Ukraine supplemental role of longer range ATACMS weapons and their ability to strike deep behind Russian lines, whether Moscow will step up operations before US help arrives, and how Kyiv is developing the means to strike take counter strike into Russian territory; and Col. Gian Gentile, USA Ret., PhD, the senior historian at the RAND Corporation’s Arroyo Center, discusses the broader lessons of the Ukraine war and which are applicable to a China conflict, takeaways from Israel’s war in Gaza, a response to the latest claims that the tank is dead, the US Army’s strategy in the Indo-Pacific, the Ukraine war lessons, and the need to be honest about what technology can and can’t deliver in new weapon systems.

On today’s Strategy Series program, sponsored by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, former Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist who is now the president and CEO of the National Defense Industrial Association, discusses the trade group’s new “Vital Signs” report that serves as both a report card of US defense industrial health as well as a policy roadmap, inflation and supply chain challenges driven by high defense and commercial demand, the Pentagon’s first ever National Defense Industrial Strategy, whether the $95 billion supplemental for Ukraine, Israel-Gaza and the Indo-Pacific is enough to support allies and refill America’s depleted weapons stocks, and PPBE reform and the unique role of comptrollers in driving innovation.

On today’s program, sponsored by HII, Byron Callan of the independent Washington research firm Capital Alpha Partners discusses implications of the $95 billion US funding package for Ukraine, Israel and Gaza, and bolstering capabilities and allies in the Indo-Pacific; whether arsenals will be critical in bolstering production to support Ukraine as well as refill depleted US weapons stocks; the long-running debate about the cost and benefit tradeoffs between attacker and defender; whether Iran goes nuclear at the descent exchange with Israel and what a nuclear Tehran will mean; the Navy leadership’s interest in drawing lessons for foreign commercial shipbuilders and whether the service has the right approach to benefit from them; costs of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification 2.0 effort to improve industrial base; what to expect as defense and aerospace contractors report first 2024 quarter earnings; initial takeaways from the Society for Military History conference; and a look at the week ahead with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Business Roundtable, sponsored by Bell, Dr. Rocket Ron Epstein of Bank of America Securities, Sash Tusa of the independent equity research firm Agency Partners, and Richard Aboulafia of the AeroDynamic advisory consultancy, join host Vago Muradian to discuss another down week on Wall Street on a tech tumbles and worries about a wider Mideast war; eight months late, Congress passes a $95 billion supplemental for Ukraine, Israel and Gaza, and improve US and allied capabilities in the Indo-Pacific; more US tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum as Washington again warns Beijing about helping Moscow’s Ukraine war; whether added US and European investment is enough to help Ukraine win; role of arsenals in increasing defense production; Boeing workers testify before a Senate committee on production quality problems; American Airlines pilots sound alarm over their carrier’s safety and maintenance; Lockheed Martin beats Northrop Grumman’s-RTX team to win Missile Defense Agency’s $17 billion Next Generation Interceptor program; and Britain considers new program to replace amphibious warships.

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Washington Roundtable, Dr. Patrick Cronin of the Hudson Institute think tank, Michael Herson of American Defense International, former Pentagon Europe chief Jim Townsend of the Center for a New American Security, and former Pentagon Comptroller Dr. Dov Zakheim join host Vago Muradian to discuss House Speaker Mike Johnson’s drive to risk his job to work with Democrats to pass long-overdue aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan; days after the first ever direct Iranian attack on Israel that was blunted by the Jewish state’s allies Jerusalem attacked an airbase in Iran; as Russia gains ground in Ukraine Moscow gets bolder in sowing antisemitism in US, attacking a Texas water authority as two of its spies are arrested in Germany accused of planning an attack on an American base where Ukrainians are being trained; high-level defense dialogue between Washington and Beijing as US and Philippine forces conduct exercises; Australia increases defense spending; and why Kim Il Sung’s day in the sun is setting in North Korea.

The big news in the air this week was of course Iran’s attack on Israel with more than 300 drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles, which was defeated by a coalition of nations using a variety of systems. At the same time, you can see the bottom of the barrel in Ukrainian defense weapons. Dr. Tom Karako, director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, joins us to cover it all. Plus a rollicking set of airpower headlines. Powered by GE!

On this week’s Technology Report, 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, discusses Russia’s recent boasting about its intelligence gathering and probing attacks on US water infrastructure, why water infrastructure is being targeted and how Washington should respond, Microsoft’s vulnerabilities and ways to improve government-industry cooperation, how one man saved the internet and lessons to safeguard it in the future, securing the cyber supply chain, Iran’s cyber role, countering disinformation as House Inteligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner’s calls out GOP for parroting Russian propaganda, and takeaways from the multinational operational that defended Israel from massive Iranian missile and drone attack.