How defense could get $150B in addition to the budget. The Weekly Break Out Ep. 15

Autonomy was everywhere at the 2026 AUSA expo in Washington. In this episode of The Break Out, Breaking Defense Editor-in-Chief Aaron Mehta and Land Warfare Reporter Carley Welch discuss how drones, low-cost interceptors, lasers and electronic warfare swarmed the show floor as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth brought the service secretaries together to reinforce the Pentagon's push toward autonomous systems. Welch also talks with the Army's Chief Technology Officer Alex Miller about another shift underway inside the service: opening acquisition programs to broader and more sustained competition. Miller explains why the Army wants to avoid locking itself into one solution too early, and how a new acquisition pathway is intended to give emerging defense companies a clearer route from promising technology to programs at scale. Underwritten by Leonardo DRS.

In this week's episode of The Break Out, Editor-in-chief Aaron Mehta and Navy reporter Diana Stancy explain what we know — and don't — about Boeing's win for the Navy's F/A-XX fighter, from its expected role alongside F-35s and F/A-18s to concerns about how Boeing will execute two sixth-generation fighter programs. Then Breaking Defense Europe Editor Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo reports from Lviv, Ukraine, where the country is looking to scale its homegrown defense technology industry as ordinary citizens navigate the realities of everyday life in wartime. Underwritten by Leonardo DRS.

In this week's episode of The Break Out, Army reporter Carley Welch discusses what she saw at Falcon Peak in Yuma, Ariz., where the US military and industry partners spent weeks testing equipment designed to spot and counter drone incursions along the southern border. Then Air Warfare Reporter Michael Marrow explains what's happening at the China Aerospace Studies Institute, where civilian positions are being eliminated even as the Air Force says the organization itself will continue operating with military personnel. Underwritten by Leonardo DRS.

In this week's episode of The Break Out, networks reporter Mark Pomerleau explains a new US Air Force effort to develop a defensive cyber "campaign plan" to ward off threats posed by artificial intelligence. Then Breaking Defense Editor-in-Chief Aaron Mehta and Deputy Editor Lee Ferran consider nuclear and defense industry implications stemming from a recently signed trilateral defense pact linking Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Underwritten by Leonardo DRS.

In this week's episode of The Break Out, Army reporter Carly Welch explores the highlights from recent laser-powered counter-drone experiments by the US Army, particularly around the US-Mexico border. Then Carly and Breaking Defense Editor-in-Chief Aaron Mehta review a fair bit of tumult — including the surprise, but not unexpected, news that the service's top civilian is leaving — among the Army's civilian leadership ahead of midterm elections in November. Underwritten by Leonardo DRS.