A new Aerospace Industries Association study underlines international interdependence amidst today’s trade wars.

“Right now space is a supporting element to a geographic [component command] … but that paradigm is going to flip over time, where the supported command — the primacy, where the actions will happen first — is going to be space,” says Lt. Gen. Joseph Guastella, head of Air Force Central Command.

“Some of the things the president is doing very forcefully to support American industry are good for American aerospace and defense. Other things could aggregate up second and third order effects in ways that create  problems,” said Eric Fanning, head of the Aerospace Industries Association.

As the DoD prepares to make cyber security a key pillar for what it buys — and from whom — a defense and aerospace trade group unveils a new standard that will allow companies, and the government, to see how secure contractors really are.

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon is looking to get a tighter grip on how it pays large defense contractors, and has drawn up plans to cut up front costs while rewarding companies that hit their milestones on time.   The defense industry, however, isn’t happy about it. Every major defense industry trade association voiced opposition to the… Keep reading →

These single points of failure already limit military modernization and potentially could disrupt operations in a crisis. That’s especially true if production needed to ramp up urgently for a major war, a subject the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford, has publicly angsted about.

A slate of poorly understood new tariff and sanctions rules are complicating the Trump Administration’s own efforts to boost arms exports, even as sales of American-made weaponry blow past previous highs.

Trump tariffs on steel and aluminum have sparked promises of quick and strong responses from America’s allies, are creating concern in the defense industrial base, and have free-trade Republicans worried.

The Trump Administration is putting the final touches on a plan to speed up arms sales to allies, and play catchup to China and Israel in selling armed drones.

WASHINGTON: The pushback to President Donald Trump’s global steel and aluminum tariffs — announced Thursday —  has been swift and blunt. Republicans, Democrats, top defense officials, Trump advisors and trade groups have all made public their misgivings, saying the taxes could actually prove harmful to national security, and end up costing the Pentagon money. But… Keep reading →