Remember the point Darth Vader made to Adm. Motti during the war council scene in “Star Wars IV?” Don’t choke.

Small and midsize enterprises, with revenue measured in tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, are expected to dominate the M&A and deal-making circuit this year.

U.S. national security relies on forward presence in many ways big and small. Technology and defense ambassadorial outposts like DIUx are simply the latest edge of the spear.

Aerospace and Defense is confronting human-replacing advances such as digitization, 3-D printing, automation, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and connectivity, all of which are likely to reduce jobs in the industry.

When it comes to pursuing a new middle-of-the-market aircraft, the biggest questions for now are why, not how.

Washington will always be home to protests, even if most don’t amount to anything.

Many analysts see budget revelations as proof recent R&D efforts will be protected in future Pentagon spending plans.

Despite a negative shift in stock market sentiment this month, most analysts remain cautiously optimistic about A&D’s prospects for profitmaking.