On today’s Strategy Series program, sponsored by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Steve Grundman, a former Pentagon industrial base chief now with the Atlantic Council and the Grundman Advisory consultancy, joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss the Pentagon’s acquisition reform efforts, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s upcoming list of contractors deemed to be performing poorly; the Trump administration’s investment stakes in key suppliers; new strategic minerals stockpile; agreements with Lockheed Martin and RTX to bolster missile production; President Trump’s call to drop the long-standing US requirement that nations that buy American weapons check with Washington before transferring them to a third party; and outlook for global defense and aerospace supply chains as nations scramble to bolster their domestic weapons development and production capabilities.
