The Aerospace Advantage

Episode Summary: In Episode 123 of the Aerospace Advantage, The Air Battle for Taiwan: Lessons Learned from Ukraine’s Drone Operations, John Baum chats with drone experts Sam Bendett of the Center for Naval Analysis and Mitchell Institute’s own Dr. Caitlin Lee. The war in Ukraine has turned the world’s attention to the game-changing potential of networked, autonomous drone technologies. But to wha...

Episode Summary: In Episode 122 of the Aerospace Advantage, Air and Space in the FY24 Defense Budget, China and Russia Update, and Fighters on the Brink: The Rendezvous, Douglas Birkey chats with Lt Gen David Deptula, USAF (Ret.), Lt Gen Joseph Guastella, USAF (Ret.), Todd Harmer, Anthony Lazarski, and Tim Ryan about some of the latest developments in the national security realm. Our conversation...

Episode Summary: In Episode 121 of the Aerospace Advantage, China’s Diplomatic Ascent: Key Observations, John “Slick” Baum talks with China expert Daniel Rice about how the Asian superpower is gaining increased influence around the globe. Much of this ties to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI),  a large-scale infrastructure and investment project first put forward by Xi Jinping in 2013. Since...

Episode Summary: In Episode 120 of the Aerospace Advantage, Space Security Imperative: Issue Update, John “Slick” Baum talks to Tim Ryan, Henry Heren, and Charles Galbreath of the Mitchell Institute Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence (MI-SPACE) about the latest spacepower topics you’ve seen in the headlines. There’s a lot to track: adversary threats in orbit, spacepower lessons learned from...

Episode Summary: In Episode 119 of the Aerospace Advantage, Air Combat Survivability Imperative: Through a POW’s Experience, John “Slick” Baum, Maj Gen Larry “Stutz” Stutzriem, USAF (Ret.), and Heather “Lucky” Penney interview Lt Col Gene Smith, USAF (Ret.) about what it was like to get shot down in his F-105 over downtown Hanoi on October 25, 1967. This was just one of the 1,737 USAF aircraft los...

Episode Summary: In Episode 118 of the Aerospace Advantage, China Update, FY24 Defense Budget, and Russia’s Intentions: The Rendezvous, Douglas Birkey chats with Lt Gen David Deptula, USAF (Ret.), Lt Gen Joseph Guastella, USAF (Ret.), Todd Harmer, Anthony Lazarski, and Daniel Rice about some of the latest developments in the national security realm. Our conversation begins with a discussion regard...

Episode Summary: In episode 117 of the Aerospace Advantage, Effective Airpower: It Takes Informed Perspectives, John “Slick” Baum talks to Col Mathew Berry, commandant of the Air Force’s Air Command and Staff College (ACSC), and Col Sarah Bakhtiari, Dean of Education at ACSC about how they are working to train the next generation of airmen. For the past two decades, the United States national secu...

Episode Summary: In episode 116 of the Aerospace Advantage, That Others May Live: CSAR in Future Conflicts, John “Slick” Baum talks to Col Russ “Bones” Cook, 23rd Wing Commander of Air Force Rescue at Moody AFB; Lt Col Patrick “TISL” Parrish, National Defense Fellow at the Congressional Research Service and long-time A-10 pilot; and Michael “Mongo” Kingry, Air Force Fellow at the Mitchell Institut...

Episode Summary: In episode 115 of the Aerospace Advantage, Aerospace Chief Conversation: RCAF Commander Lt Gen Kenny, John “Slick” Baum and Lt Gen Dave Deptula, USAF (Ret.) chat with the Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). The RCAF is one of the U.S. Air Force’s and Space Force’s closest partners. We’ve repeatedly gone to war together—going all the way back to the dawn of air combat...

Episode Summary: In Episode 114 of the Aerospace Advantage, Debt Ceiling Debate, Airpower for Ukraine, and DOD’s New AI Policy: The Rendezvous, John Baum chats with Lt Gen David Deptula, USAF (Ret.), Todd Harmer, Anthony Lazarski, and Caitlin Lee about some of the latest developments in the national security realm. Our conversation begins with a discussion regarding the Congressional debt ceiling...

Episode Summary: In episode 113 of the Aerospace Advantage, Insider Perspective: Innovating and Building Next Gen CCA, John “Slick” Baum chats with Robert “Otis” Winkler from KRATOS Defense about what it’s like to design, develop, and field a next generation UAV, what the Air Force now calls Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA). Uninhabited aircraft have been a fixture in the U.S. airpower arsenal...

Episode Summary: In episode 112 of the Aerospace Advantage, Deploying the Swarm: Autonomous Drone Operations in Denied Environments, John Baum chats about the challenges of operating drone swarms during a great power conflict with Dr. Doug Meador, the Autonomous Collaborative Vehicles Portfolio manager within AFRL's Aerospace Systems Directorate; Lt Colonel Ryan “SCUDS” Slaughter, the lead for Aut...

Episode Summary: In Episode 111 of the Aerospace Advantage, Congressional Drama and Defense, New F-35 Contract, Space Update, and Ukraine: The Rendezvous, John Baum chats with Lt Gen David Deptula, USAF (Ret.), Todd Harmer, Anthony Lazarski, and Tim Ryan. The churn we all saw in the House of Representative as members struggled to elect the Speaker of the House has implications for defense—our conv...

Episode Summary: In Episode 110 of the Aerospace Advantage podcast, Russian Airpower in Ukraine: Lessons for the West, John “Slick” Baum chats with Dr. Justin Bronk of the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies along with Heather “Lucky” Penney and Lt Col Michael “Mongo” Kingry of our Mitchell Institute team about key takeaways from the Ukraine-Russia war. Media reports h...

Episode Summary: In Episode 109 of the Aerospace Advantage podcast, Strapping into the Cockpit: Mitchell Institute Heads into the Sky Part II, our team members recount some of their most memorable experiences flying and fighting. You normally hear us talking about policy and budget issues, but over the holiday season, we decided it was time to kick back and reflect upon the high adventures of past...

Episode Summary: In Episode 108 of the Aerospace Advantage podcast, Strapping into the Cockpit: Mitchell Institute Heads into the Sky, our team members recount some of their most memorable experiences flying and fighting. You normally hear us talking about policy and budget issues, but over the holiday season, we decided it was time to kick back and reflect upon the high adventures of past years....

Episode Summary: In Episode 107 of the Aerospace Advantage podcast, Building the Future of Airpower Today: F-35 Production, John “Slick” Baum visits Lockheed Martin’s F-35 production line in Fort Worth, TX, where he chats with Steve Howes, vice president for F-35 production operations, and J.R. McDonald, vice president for F-35 business development. There’s no question that the F-35 is the world’s...

Episode Summary: In Episode 106 of the Aerospace Advantage podcast, We’ve Seen the B-21: What Comes Next?, John “Slick” Baum chats with Lt Gen Dave Deptula, USAF (Ret.), Mark Gunzinger, and Doug Birkey of the Mitchell Institute team about their experiences at the B-21 rollout and what the future will hold for America’s newest bomber. Opening the hanger doors and rolling the aircraft out for public...

Episode Summary: In Episode 105 of the Aerospace Advantage podcast, Congressional Update, B-21 Rollout, & CCA Vectors: The Rendezvous, John “Slick” Baum chats with Lt Gen Dave Deptula, USAF (Ret.), Anthony Lazarski, Todd Harmer, and Caitlin Lee to discuss the air and space topics that you’ve seen in the national security headlines. This week, we consider how the Congressional election results will...

Episode Summary: In episode 104 of the Aerospace Advantage podcast, The Origins of B-21: Understanding the Imperative, John Baum chats with a key set of individuals who were incredibly involved with the decisions that eventually yielded the B-21 program. Gen Kevin Chilton, USAF (Ret.), was the commander of STRATCOM, Lt Gen David Deptula, USAF (Ret.), serving on the Air Staff, Maj Gen Charlie Lyon,...

Episode Summary: In episode 103 of the Aerospace Advantage podcast, Hardened Shelters and UCAVs: Understanding the Chinese Threat Facing Taiwan, John Baum chats with China expert Daniel Rice about a set of capabilities the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) may bring to bear in a possible future cross-strait conflict. Based on an independent analysis of unclassified aerial imagery, it look...

Episode Summary: In episode 102 of the Aerospace Advantage podcast, Want JADC2?: You’re Going to Need Capabilities In Orbit, John Baum chats with Tim Ryan and Doug Birkey of the Mitchell Institute team about the essential role that capabilities in space will play in realizing the Department of Defense’s vision for Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2). Technologies in orbit possess the uniq...

Episode Summary: In Episode 101 of the Aerospace Advantage podcast,  B-21 Update, China Assessment, Election Implications for Defense, & F-15s Sunsetting at Kadena: The Rendezvous, John “Slick” Baum chats with Lt Gen Dave Deptula, USAF (Ret.), Anthony Lazarski, Todd Harmer, and Daniel Rice to discuss the air and space topics that you’ve seen in the national security headlines. This week, we assess...

Episode Summary: In episode 100 of the Aerospace Advantage podcast, Collaborative Combat Aircraft: Understanding Next Steps, John Baum chats with Heather Penney of the Mitchell Institute about key factors the Air Force should consider as it works to transform its vision for these next generation UAVs into viable operational assets. The motivation for these new aircraft is clear: gaining capability...

Episode Summary: In episode 99 of the Aerospace Advantage podcast, Gaining the Maneuver Advantage in Space: An Imperative for Victory, John Baum chats with Maj Gen Larry Stutzriem, USAF (Ret.), and Chris Stone of the Mitchell Institute, along with Dr. Christina Back of General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems. They will explain why it is crucial to pursue next generation propulsion technologies to...