on the nation's highest court. follow this historic process and watch the confirmation starting monday, march 1st live on c-span, c-span.org or by downloading the free c-span now mobile video app. browse the latest collection of c-span products, apparel, books, home decor and accessories. there's something for every c-span fan and every purchase helps support the operations. shop now or anytime at c-span shop.org. military leaders testified on u.s. national security and military challenges in the indo pacific region before the house armed services committee.

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>> go ahead and call the meeting to order. the committee meets on the national security challenges and u.s. military activitiesy in the indo pacific region. three witnesses today, the honorable assistant secretary of defense for indo pacific affairs, admiral commander for the indo pacific command and general paul the commander for the united nations command forces u.s. forces korea. i realize that yesterday's hearing i didn't read the hybrid statement, which is very tempting by the way, even though i didn't read it i will read it this morning. we have a hybrid hearing and to some members are appearing remotely as well as some others here. members joining remotely must be visible for the identity, establishing maintaining a quorum, dispensing and voting. those members must continue to

use the software platforms while in attendance mostly experience technical issues and are unable to participate on camera. .... if members depart for short while absent very significant departure should exit the platform entirely. retired members may use a software platform feature to mitigate with staff with

technical or support issues. the committee staff member we unrecognized members microphone with any backyard noise that may disrupt the proceedings. i want to take our witnesses for being here, with a forward to the testimony, questions and answers by the indo pacific region is an important region to the national security of the u.s. in the peace and stability of the world. obviously we have learned the entire world is a challenge with russia's unprovoked and devastating invasion of ukraine, we've been reminded we cannot focus on one part ofn the world. but the indo pacific region is clearly one of i the most repord parts of the world and important as we go through all the hearings and all the different regions is not just a great power competition with russia dealing with china. russia and china are actively engaged in many parts of the world and the competition is really to build broad support amongst partners. that is a global endeavor to basically show that partnering with the u.s. in the west is a

better option for all countries that partnering with russia and china. they give us an outstanding opportunity. however, you want to put it china is without question the country most capable of competing with u.s. in terms of the economic strength and in terms of their growing military strength in the global reach. now we all want to world where china and the u.s. peacefully coexist and that's what we're working towards, over the course of the last decade at least it's become clear that president xi jinping and china intend competitive and that. they're trying to push us out in advance of an authoritarian way of looking at the world that has very little respect and the block force of what they want. we need to compete against that and convince the world to go in a different direction and to do that we need a robust presence

in the indo pacific region. the military experience is a huge part of that we have a huge defense relationship and certainly with japan and south korea but with a number of other countries asgt well we must maintain and strengthen those relationships and we must attempt to be a balancing force to keep the peace in asia. nowhere with the importance in taiwan and the belligerent language china has put out recently is very, very dangerous. we could easily see china taiwan situation the same way we see a russia ukraine situation. we need to constantly remind china that is not the way global powers have to behave. whatever they have a taiwan they should be resolved peacefully not to the use of military force. a big part in making sure that happens is having adequate deterrence. to build partnerships and have a presence in the region much c china no that is not acceptable

or doable process, that requires us to have a robust presence. i'm interested this morning into big things. how are relationships and partnerships growing in the region. that's incredibly important, india andd particular the larget democracy in the world for a country that had a history in o the past closer to russia and anyways than us but now moving in our direction and enhance our relationship and strengthen and makes it a better and more thpeaceful place read second ths committee has been briefed repeatedly over the last sixte r sevenn years about everything that china has done in the military modernization to counter as and put our systems in our forces at risk and essence push us out of the region and we've known about k that for some time and were working on how to adjust and change our structure to better deal with what china has done. we need to put me on those

bones. what is it doing and what we need to be doing what are the most important things. to me it comes down to two words at a starting point. that is information and survival. china is very focused on improving their command and information system and equally focused on making vulnerable's on taking ours down. and being able to basically blind us and shut us down by shutting down our communication systems and or information systems. how are we improving that. and survivability platform like you get into the regionon and survive with china's missile technology and cyber technology shut down and the banking o system. and this comes down a lot to innovation and a new technology it is readily acknowledged at the pentagon is not as good as

that as they should be. we've got to be able to find these technologies, make the best use out of them, figure out how to make a more affordable, faster, quicker and better. something really focused on. with that i will yield to the ranking tse member rogers. >> thank you mr. chairman i would be more mystified didn't knowledge the interest of one of her former colleagues. good to see you again. >> thank you mr. chairman i think the witnesses fordo being here in this time to prepare for this. the conflict between the chinese communist party in america democracy will be one of the greatest test this nation is ever faced. thefa modernized military with taiwan. we also need operational concepts that are executable. over the past year members of this committee have asked questions about the operational requirement. to date we have a few answers and serious questions.

a few answers on accelerating infrastructure and delivering these technologies to make matters worse, the secretary to close the massive red heel fueled up a within a year. he has serious problems the secretary closed without laying out the resources to replace the capacity. that is extremely shortsighted. the response from the department has been the same and the answer is one put away in a unacceptable read what i would like to hear is exactly how you will employ operational concepts, build new systems andt logistic support at new operating locations drop indo pacific. most important i want to know how you intend to do that in the next five years. we all know china is not going to give us ten or 20 years. we simply cannot procrastinate. any further. the issues like red heel presents an opportunity to modernize beyond world war ii.

i'm deeply worried about the decision and procrastination at the pentagon. i'm also worried about the work done at the timeframe that we had to act. this committee has tried to provide the department the capability that needs to deter china and prevailing complex arise. we can't move with purpose, this department cannot define the requirement. we tried to nail those down to the pdi, congress created the deterrent to highlight the central capabilities. but the pentagon last year had an unclear plan. i hope the dod can rectify that and budget commission on top of all of this in the camera in the career and any other year north korea's repeated missile on the front page news. i'm gonna have to try to deal with the job.

over there. the south koreans and central allies and debating the defense cooperation with them makes us all safer. we want to know what you need to secure the korean peninsula in the coming decade. this is a bold investment in our defense and i hope tomi hear toy that the department is ready to do the same, that i yield back. >> thank you, doctor p chairman smith, ranking member rogers, distinguished members of the committee thank you for the opportunity to appear beforeor u today and it's a privilege to be here. as you know the indo pacific is a priority theater for the department of defense and we remain committed to upholding a free and open regional order. at the same time the region faces mounting security challenges critically from the people's republic of china,cu te prc which is adoptive on our

approach to advancing its authoritarian interest. north korea's weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs also constitute a serious threat to the united states and our allies and partners. mr. chairman secretary austin described the prc at the thne hedepartment to talk basic challenge, this would be reflected in the forthcoming natural defense strategy andse fy23 budget as we continue to update her concepts, capabilities, and force posture to defend the homeland, the aggression and prevailing conflict. we are prioritizing capabilityc relevant to the china challenge to joint force that is lethal unable to strike adversary forces in systems that range, resilient and able to gain information advantage and maintain command and control their adversaryin disruptions, survivable and agile in the face of adversary attacks seek to reduce combat and mobilization speed and enable to provide the logistics and sustainment for operations and highly contestedh environment. alongside these capabilities we are building a credible force posture in theg indo pacific

working toward a distributed lethal and resilient posture as essential to addressing the full suite of challenges we face in the region. were doubling down on one of the greatest advantages, the network of allies and partners i see the defense is growing at a rapid pace. with the us-japan alliance the cornerstone of regional peace we are deepening our defense cooperation with the japan self-defense optimizing our alliance forcefefe posture and integrating the lines to a broader regional security network of like-minded nations. we are also continuing to strengthen the rok alliance the linchpin of stability on a korean indo pacific region on deterrence and alliance readiness. the u.s. australia alliance inserting forward a considerable momentum, last year we announced several new initiatives to deepen force posture cooperation and land, air, we announce the

historic trilateral security partnership with the united kingdom and australia. we recognize the importance of our alliance with the philippines and thailand as well as we are proud of the work that we have done to revive the visiting forces agreement with the philippines in the steps we're taking to strengthen our security cooperation with our thai allies. likewise we are seeing historic progress in our major defense i partnership with india as we continue to integrate and operationalize ouriz day-to-day cooperation and logistics and enhance information to grow our bilateral cooperation in urging domain such as space and cyberspace. we've been working throughout southeast asia districting capabilities and improve with partners including singapore, vietnam, indonesia, malaysia. we are also bringing our partners together with colleagues across a u.s. government to elevate as a regional grouping while we remain committed to the

centrality. consistent truck commitment with our one china policy the taiwan relations actna the three joint communication and the six assurance we are focused on maintaining peace and stability in the taiwan. the prc is the department facing challenge, taiwan is a pacing scenario and we aim to deter and deny prc aggression through a combination of taiwan defenses and his partnership with the united states and growing support of like-minded democracies. mr. chairman i would like to close by thinking all of you for your strong bipartisan support for the indo pacific it is my firm belief that this partisanship is one of the most powerful assets in rising to the china challenge and should be nurtured and treated as such. thank you for your time and attention and i look forward to your question. >> thank you. >> chairman rogers and distinction number the committee on thank youou for allowing me d

i truly appreciated in a closed session yesterday, thank you for that. i would like to thank all of you to your dedicated support to the indo pacific command, our service members and their families. the people's republic of china is the most consequential strategic competitor that the united states is faced near executing a dedicated campaign that utilizes all forms of national power in an attempt to uproot the rules-based international order to the benefit of themselves and at the expense of all of us. russia also presents some serious risks. as evident from the unprovoked and unjustified attack on ukraine. russia has no regard for an international law all in the commitment for the principal to uphold global peace. similarly the democratic people's public of korea the dpr

came as violent extremist organizations to peace and stability to the indo pacific region. to address these secretary austin has articulated clear priorities defend the homeland the tour adversaries and strengthen alliesen and partner. these priorities are advanced or integrated deterrence which is the department's approach to preventing conflict through the synchronization of all elements off national power coordinated with the joint force across all domains together with our allies and partners. indo pay mission is to prevent conflict do the execution to the terms and should deterrence fail we must be prepared to fightts d

win. this approach requires the action operate differently by realigning our posture advancing our war fighting capabilities in order to provide the president and secretary with options across the entire spectrum, crisis or conflict. effective deterrence requires significant investment to defend the homeland, protect and operate a contested space will provide all domain battlepa spae awareness within integrated fires network that synchronizes the joint force. these initiatives are incorporated into the theater campaign plan there facilitated and supported him by robust

extreme imitation program as well as exercises on constant collaboration with allies and partners to promote peace in the region. we must take concerted efforts to increase ouron resilience and strengthen our capabilities through sustained investments utilizing predictable budget, a strong industrial base and reliable supply chain. i'm optimistic we will see a strategy based fy23 budget that takes the appropriate initial steps to address adversarial challenges and increase our war fighting advantages. the resources we commit now and the future will preserve a free and indo pacific and strengthen our posture and provide us the ability to fight and win if deterrence fails. thanks to the committee alec forward to your questions.

>> thank you general. chairman smith, ranking member rogers thank you for the opportunity to appear today. i appreciate your leadership and dedication to our forcing families to work with our korean allies and the united nations in order to maintain a stable and secure environment on the korean ikpeninsula. i also like to thank president biden, secretary austin and general milley for the continued leadership and support along with admiral the commander who support us and our fellow component commanders, and her agency colleagues it's easy to stand on the frontier with this tremendous support finally i want to take a korean hosted the professional military. please update you on the great work done by a dedicated personnel from the public of korea their professional executing the admissions of the united nations command combine forces in united states forces korea.

the united states republic of korea alliance was in the battle while the democratic people's republic of korea poses multiple threats to the region in the international security and this is the linchpin of regional stability and prevented a resumption of the hostility that shredded piece of the korean peninsula 72 years ago. he remainedd ironclad or with te republic of korea military and trained and ready to respond to a provocation or crisis involved upon. three commands united nations commandni combine forces of unid states forces korea must remain vigilant prepared and ready. under wing commander the three commands are empowered to maintain a stabilized security environment for the republic of korea, regional allies and our partners we have international legitimacy to the united i natis command his mission is to enforce the 1953 agreement in the state contribution execute assigned functions directed by

the united states national authority to the joint chief of staff to preserve peace and security on the korean peninsula were probably teamwork from the u.s. korean alliance on law enforcement command of the war fighting headquarters represented the bilateral military partnership 201978 a unique entity that takes policy direction emissions from the combined military committee and governed by and subject to binational decision-making and consensus. we maintain a strong u.s. commitment to korea is the joint force committed to defending the public of korea is discipline, trained and ready to fight to responding crisis and when in conflict. resource in the strengthening of our force best possible care for them. i'm grateful for your support and leadership in the no fail task. i know you're aware south korea powerful economic military and s technical standings.

no doubt you're aware of their social impact all of this is part of the hard work, discipline and dedication of the current korean people all done on the security umbrella of the u.s. korea alliance republic of korea is an incredible ally and a privilege to move into the future with bullet land of the morning calm the multinational combined joint force in one of the most significant, dynamic regions of the world. those who serve are committed, well supported into the tear aggression, protect u.s. interest in if needed to feed any adversary. as long as the threat persist the u.s. korean alliance remain vigilant, determined and steadfast to the korean peninsula and across the region as a commander of thef service members i appreciate the committee's continued support to fully prepare to fight and win in the most dangerous piece of ground the last 100 meters of land.

under one flag we go together, fight tonight. thank you for the opportunity to provide an opening statement i look forward to your questions. >> one programming note before wegr get going are they going to be boats, my intention to continue the hearing to the boats it would be impossible if we had to taked that delay is about a half hour or 45 minutes i will just rotate the people i, and out and will figure out how to do that. we talked about alliance, i know south korea just completed their election as were sitting here and were in the middle of how that's going but how do you seee south korea not just in terms of north korea sitting into the larger partnership that we talkedd about the call that we developed with japan, australia and other partners how does south korea view the competition with china and the region and how can we best use them as a

partner in ally. then i would be curious to get the latest take on what north korea is thinking with the missile tasks and how you evaluate that at the moment. >> thank you, chairman. i think the challenge with the republic of korea the first thing they will tell you hisar academic partner since china. there security partner is united states that can be concerning because as we go forward the concern friday or the north koreans and relative to your secondnd question are they drivg a wedge between us the united k states and the republic of korea? as a way of winning without fighting with the perfect example 2017 with up economic pressure on the republic of korea we seem to come out of that we have up and running.

i look at the republic of korea and the united nations and the australian alliance or japanese alliance to get the koreans off the peninsula to do additional training as training becomes restrictedli but also to expose them to other military when it comes to dprk he is focused internally on protecting his regime and act with the nuclear testing and the missiles and is really about protecting his position in the world. >> thank you, when it comes to the big question is how we present giga what they done in the last decade i know it's not one thing but to sum up how we need to change or military

capability is in terms of where we should spend our money and what programs are the highest t priority what is the capability for capabilities we need to develop what china has done. >> taking g mr. sherman all go first if it's okay withdr the doctor. we must look through prc issue as not just today. it is a a short-term problem, medium-term problem in a long-term problem. i can tell you what were doing today as it applies to adjusting her posture and places we operate from in the amount and position of forces were reported is important that power in a place that matters with the right capabilities today is a deterrent factor combine that with exercising operations with allies and partners presents a good deterrent today. on the capabilities i on the mid

and longer-term i appreciate the department support for some of the asks. i highlighted a couple of them in my statement. the ability to operate in a contested space survivable as you highlighted in your statementty. the ability to have persistent awareness of all thingss going on. >> we kinda know that part, the question is what doess that mean to do that we need to build this and not build that we need to develop this technology what is going to survive what we need to put our money and so that happens. >> integrated and resilient sustainable isr capabilities. a network that links it altogether and displays it raw forces on a consistent way and the ability toth close those wih the correct weaponsh and fires.

>> another thing in addition to the capability that he mentioned we work with operational concepts and were distributed force posture and building our allies and partners into our deterrent frameworks we don't have a few big rich targets we have redundancy spread out survivable systems so no matter what china does we can continue to communicate and operate the characteristics of the force that i described my opening statement drive the capabilities investment in resilience and sustainability survivability and being agile andxa responsive in your opening statement. >> thank you, mr. chairman, i never got the answer to therm chairman's question who won the election or do we know the results? >> when i came in here it's too

close to call. >> it sounds familiar. >> we had that problem around here for a while. you talked about stepped-up testing and north korea how does a mentoring north korea missile capability affect her posture? >> ballistic missile defense is a top priority making sure, the admiral brought up, isr typically receives one dramatist reverbs and making sure we can see into what he's doing and can we get after a kill web to interdict and prevent from striking south korea striking in the u.s. interest in the region.

>> you have adequate advice on your opinion? >> i do the i challenges placemt and access given the military agreement between the republic of korea and the dpr care. >> when you look at your posture and responsibility what is the one thing we can help most with in addressing the capability issues. >> one of the things i'm always mindful of a huge number of rockets and how you would defend against the onslaught. >> there's two threats to that thees conventional threat and long-range artillery from the north and the missile capability that he's been developing. it's the patriot and making sure

we have the redundancy and resiliency in the number of arrows. to me it's more than just trading arrows for arrows gotta make sure we can get after the entire kill web to get into systems can in a much better description in a securee environment. >> we need to know because we want to give you what you need. get it to us in whatever fashion that you need to. doctor we need to convince our allies and partners for the long haul. we on this committee genuinely meanan that. how can we build the credibility in the region? in your view? >> thank you, sir. i think there are a few elements we can do to ensure the region believes that we will be there for the long haul. primarily many of those that

occur outside of theho military domain and the jurisdiction of the defense department and active diplomacy and active trade on investment in the region that is the most important thing we can do from a military perspective maintaining her posture and invest in our alliance and working with partners that are important to them latches issues important to us in the direct formula. >> admiral closing that he'll will impact your operations, can you tell me or this committee how you intend to address that closure. >> thank you, sir, absolutely. as we look and develop options for senior leader decisions with regard to red hill. we have three criteria we had to make sure we were getting bright, clean water for the peoplele of hawaii and service members and their families.

we had to meet the work plan in the war fighting requirements. third we always look at cost and ensure good stewards of the taxpayers money. we developed a plan that goes in alignment with how we talked about a more disturbing plan forward and land-based combined with thehe sea-based component o allow for a distributed survivable resilient network of fuels as well as meeting all the security and strategic fuel reserve requirements. as we looked at this i think will be in a better place and we meet all three requirements as i laid out. >> what timeframe be needed to make this transition. >> congressman i think we will go in coordination with all of the members that are working the epa, the way department of health and the department of

defense we will go as fast as safe allows you to make sure the facility is safe to transfer the fuel that we are going to send it. were certainly not waiting. as soon as we can get it done we will be ready to move and as soon as were able to contract the other facilities as well as the sea-based option. >> you are not closing red pill until you have the new capability in place? >> we will close red hill. the announcement was within the year end that allows us to be able to distribute the fuel with the contract requirements the sea-based requirements and the need to put in the correct spots. >> that's my point i want to make sure you will be able to fuel your whole plant when you close that place. >> will be able to do it and will be able to do it fairly quickly. >> that's all i have. >> mr. larson is reconnect for five minutes.

>> thank you, chair admiral early this year the army developed and tested a tactical cloud system that would be deployed in the indo pacific region. in this setting can you explain why that would be important to the indo pacific? >> thank you, congressman. the ability to make sure that our data is safe and secure in a cyber environment is critical. that is one portion. additionally it willon help support one of our primary initiatives which is the ability in a cyber safe environment to share information with all of our partners to be able to coordinate events operation exercises through a single communication mechanism. it kind of comes down to the ability to defend our information in their data. >> i want to build out from that from doctor ratner. this gets to the importance of

the tierney but closing that through secure communications among friends andcl allies. building that in using that t hb model that the post world war ii to build out our friends and alliance in the pacific. how will we assess what countries earn their way into this communication network and this one and any well of the others to set up in the region. >> thank you, congressman and admiral i might want to say another word on the communication networks that is looking to build in the region. others say we are in careful analysis in consultation with our partners on the information security both assessing them, helping them improve and clean up the networks and moving in ways that are deliberate in ensure were not building the network so fast that it's going to be compromised. this is something that we take quite seriously, prc penetration

of networks throughout the region is quite severe. it is something that weom need o manage. >> we are concerned about everyone's networks, our own and all of her alliesll and partner. this mission partner environment allows us to work together with them to develop the maximum-security that we have access to in alignment with our partners. there is two wins in the subjective. >> let me take one more step on this conversation doctor alludes to it what china and the prc is doing in the last several years since we talked about this earlier last year perhaps on a call. to reorganize the poa to include their strategic support forces which are the networking space including cyber in a variety of other things. on this point not to tell us what is in the budget, 22 years

i realized that would be a waste of time to ask before the budget got here could you generally say the budget and investment reflects the need to be responsive to the development of the ssf and how it's used in the strategic forces as well is getting out of them and doing the investment regardless of the sfs existed. >> without getting into details about the budget i assure you the department is focused on issues we had antu opportunity o do a tabletop exercise with this committee and we focus on these areas including space and cyber you will see the integrated deterrence which the admiral mentioned part of the rationale we need to be w integrating acrs domains including space and cyber will be thick about this

competition. >> a little time left. if you can share given prudence unprovoked invasion of ukraine have you seen a change of russian force posture in the east. >> thank you, absolutely in preparation they pushed out 20 ships and submarines that we could count and defensive positions they postured other forces to be able to defend their eastern flank. we absolutely have seen a change and we continue to monitor those like we do every day. >> i thank you all ask a question a ticket for the record but it has to do with india's ambivalent role and relative to u.s. security interest with regards to ukraine and i will develop something specific for the record.

>> thank you mr. turner is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you mr. chairman admiral in youryo written commes you referenced the united kingdom enjoy exercises that were held with the u.s. and others and you also mentioned f-35 i would've read the provision and i have two questions can you tell us about partner nations outside that are assisting in the role of the f-35 you state the uk has demonstrated that man's capacity with power in the region the carrier strike task group which included uk and u.s. marine corps f-35 bees i'm assuming we both had those in the f-35 aid to korea, can you tell us your

work with other partner nations in the role the f-35. >> thank you, congressman. the importance of f-35 cannot be overstated. prc has developed systems of systems to keep the united states out of the pacific. the f-35 from the air domain is cortical to operate in the contested space the fifth generation airplane with the highest technology available. >> i'm referencing. >> when you talk about china appear threat you're looking to their equipment as an additional need. >> absolutely they just began reduction of their first fifth generation airplane which ups the ante in the technology and capability of the f-35 that's why so critical. as it applies to being able to

operate in the contested space in the technology that comes with airplane allowed to happen. >> in the joint exercise to reference uk netherlands? >> we talk about the deterrence that's an example of one operation that we have done. the uk has built and deployed one of their strike groups. we did operation with seven nations, four ships the japanese provided one of their large deck agents. queen elizabeth was there and ronald reagan and carl hinton that was combined with all of her domain capabilities in the form of bombers, ground forces, cyber capability and space capability and work together with seven nations in the netherlands, australians, canadians. again i think friends and

partners outside of the region also understand the importance of the region and we see them operate more frequently the french come to the region and you read about the germans deploying to the pacific. ngi hope to get more of that and with those partners we operate with them all the time. >> the next question is with exercises in the republic of korea. general, you mention trying to get people out of the area because of restrictions with respect to exercises as part of the 2021 we required as part of the pacific deterrence an actual plan to be providing us by your command and in a enlisted exercises one of the primary focus and goals it unfortunately includes information that your funding was cut for exercises in 2022. unaware that there is over

concerns about the issues the publication of exercises what is one of your primary goals and we know our partners in the region need exercises to be effective. what are we doing to ensure that were able to conduct exercises in the region and were investing appropriately and ensuring the public of korea has the ability to exercise without the over concern of being provocative. i will that all three of you into that one. >> we do over 120 exercises every year craig covid has impacted some of those and we scaled them down we postpone some because the covid piece bottom line we have not reduced the exercise. when i met with the chief of defense most recently in july what we agreed to was to expand

those. >> you concerns about exercises in the region? >> congressman. >> the gentleman's time has expired if you can finish in ten seconds. >> i share his view i door have concerns about the radiance of her forces on the korean peninsula and i know that something we are working on. >> the chair recognizes mr. courtney for five minutes. >> thank you and thinking to the witnesses for being here. doctor covering foreign policy and military policy for quite a few years made thehe observation in terms of hard power the alliance with australia and britain is the most important strategic move in decades. again congratulations to the administration for making that come together. the response in australia as you and i discussed his positive 60% approval in public opinion polls, the government announced a few days ago that are moving

forward for an easter navy base of australia to complement sterling. it's all in and that's a commitment that is there. another harder work for the transition it's are big job to figure out the industrial base challenge whichch is huge in the meantime there's another piece of this helping the australian navy make the transformation and it seems to me that having joint training at the nuclear power school in south carolina for the australian sailors and officers we have to do it and why do we start the visible tangible way to shower allies that this is real is not just a press release

i don't know your thoughts on that. >> congressman is an important step forward. i want to remember the submarine pieces is one portion. in ourin capacities with australians and the brits in the form of space and cyber in the form of developing posture and coperating from there i'll be n australia the week from the next what's next general in general to start on that cyber improvement. on the submarine piece, as you know they are studying the best way to go forward, big decisions and they want to go about it methodically i spoke to the admiral last night were on the same page as soon as they're ready to start admiral is ready to support with regard to the start of schooling and then options to bridge how do we operate together australians on the u.s. british submarines we

will work to the safety that is a concern from the admiral but were doing everything possible to move this as fast as possible. >> that is good to hear certainly this committee will do everything to enable the success of that in terms of akhtar issues and issues of clearing any legal obstacles. admiral, you talked about the pivot away from red hill and the component and it spotlights the importance of sealift in a few hours we will vote which adds ten u.s. flagships to the fleet and bring any to 90. these are not new construction they are used ships that will be u.s. flagged with a stipend enabled to do that. it still seems like a big

enterprisese to have the disbursement which makes sense can you talk about the sealift sometimes overlooked in the grand strategy discussions. >> it's critical to the approach in the position to be more distributed in many different locations both at shore andbo at sea. i think the committee for the support for the tsp i great partner her inner command identified in a previous study thereth was risk to the number d access to u.s. flagged tankers this is a great step to start in that direction and i believe it or contribute to the result in the way forward is really important across all not just fuel. >> can you comment what sealift means in the north korean

peninsula. >> when does not become an operational maneuver and at what point is he responsible that i have to secure and bring it in there is tremendous capacity on the peninsula right now and for the korean people. we will rely on japan to bring supplies in and forces and we will rely on the airlift to build for any crisis in conflict. >> thank you mr. lambert is recognized for five minutes. >> secretary in the last ndaa i offered language in the committee supported asking for a report on asymmetrical defensive capabilities on the part of taiwan ground-based antiship cruise missiles ground-based cruise missiles and antiship mines i believe that was caught up in a larger report request

that the secretary is supposed to produce for this committee and is not coming along satisfactory the importance of the report is to make sure industry partners are producing these sufficiently in their getting into the hands of theey taiwanese partners and friends. will that report be forthcoming soon? >> i'll have to check on the timing of the report for this committee six weeks eco-i did and in-depth classified briefing on taiwan and we discussed each of these capabilities in-depth the department is focused on ensuring to get these in the hands of the taiwan's as quickly as possible and i'd be happy to provide your office with any additional information. >> there is a lot of concern about hypersonic weapons and how

china, russia and north korea are doing what they can what are your concerns about the progress and what we need to do better on our part the real concern is the speed that they are showing up we had security challenges that are working towards capabilities that are challenging we are getting after it through the number one unfunded request articulated a defensiveef guam system to get after this issue now is complex and record meeting with the department that we need to be able to defend our people the homeland the secretaries number one priority in the forces where we place them to operate. >> you mentioned guam and you

said in your posture statement guam strategic important is difficult to overstate, can you elaborate on that. >> absolutely the area and the indo pacific is expansive half the globe and a lot of it water. to be able to posture forces the matter with the rate capabilities we focused on guam as a strategic hub as you would expect. governor is a wonderful partner in a patriot as you know about $11 billion worth of construction as we work through posturing or forces that will end up. on guam. we have to protect it. >> lastly can you enlighten us with the departments progress this is for secretary.

the department of missile-defense funding guam. >> the department is in the final stages of the missile-defense review which will lay out a strategy and priorities forthcoming alongside the defense strategy in the coming weeks. >> think you. >> that's all i have mr. chairman all yield back to you. >> mr. keating's reckoning for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman a question two days ago they were sent to parliament the reason the india of spain in the un recently with russian aggression was economic and d defense oriented. can you enlighten any of us as

to what areas of defense she could've been alluding to in what is your opinion on the inability of the un in favor of condemning russia and had i could be defense oriented. >> thank you, congressman i start on that. there was a reference to this issue as well rate i would start by saying from the u.s. perspective in india is an essential partner everything about our strategy in terms of how rebuilding coalition partners as well as dealing with potential adversaries. we recognize that india has a completed history and relationship with russia and the majority off their weapons they buy from the russians. the good news is there in a multiyear process of diversifying the arms purchases

away from russia, that's going to take some time but there committed to doing that including increasing the indigenous nation of their own defense industry and that's something we should support. in terms of the overall relationship in terms of their relationship with russia the trendlines are moving in the right direction. >> china has mentioned its investment in advancing their oown technology. i'm interested in unmanned underwater technology that they might have. can you talk to us about what they're doing and what we should be doing to expand into this technology. >> thank you, congressman as we have watched this is the largest military buildup that we seen since world war ii coming out of the prc that includes all domains. it also includes all types of

technology. congressman and i had a conversation yesterday about some of those. we should not be surprised to see them advancing theiril unmanned capabilities and all domains. we continue to watch and have additional conversations at a classified level. >> is it an area that we are stepping up the game on. >> we absolutely are as you know we've been leading the path for unmanned. i think i saw the cnl talking about a fleet that includes manned and unmanned as you know we operate predators and other types of demands. it's an opportunity that we have to continue to explore and expand. >> thank you for having this important hearing, i yield back. >> thank you mr. wickman's reckoning for five minutes. >> they keep our witnesses for joining us. i want to go to you and go back

a year when admiral davidson was here as your predecessor. he talked aboututer the erosionn the strategic deterrence in that region and how incrediblyre important that is to make sure we keep the chinese at bay. i know you spoke about the battle forces that exist with the pla navyxi approximately 350 ships and submarines and more than 130 are major service combatants pretty also spoke about having a fleet of 420 battleships by 2025. i'll add the dod says by 2030 the pla navy has about 460 ships. that is very different in the course that we are on with the number of ships that we have is not the number of ships that we are building but is also the operational availability for the ships that we have in the

maintenance availability is extended or the time at sea has eextended so were wearing ourselves out faster double pumping them on deployment. from your perspective if we are unable to accelerate the new vessels and maintaining the we have to have a high level of operationalop availability, what do you think will be the primary risks going forward in the next five years and indo. >> take you congressman. you highlight one of the challenges and something that were watching closely as expansion and growth of both capability and capacity of the security challenges in the region as it compares to ours. let me start by saying we still have the world's greatest navy. we need to maintain and keep that advantage and there's a variety of ways that you can get to. the cnl talked about the

unmanned capacity and how does that plug-in with regard to the ace in the two the global force management system we are operating through a supply base model, that accounts for the sustainability in the nearsit long-term aspects. we operated ints the construct d we have to continue to watch the capability and capacity differences. >> to take that a step further not just the u.s. capability and capacity and presence in the asia-pacific but also to leverage much more in-depth relationships with friends and allies in the region. that is a big place in lots of things to do. . . . complex in order to place that risk on the chinese. given your perspective about what we need to be doing i would love dear dr. ratner thoughts about how we work with allies to

a greater extent like japan, like vietnam, like australia. we know august and we talked about agreement but how do we do that? had we get to the point where we are not just having that relationship on paper but that has to be manifested in how we operationalize that agreement. how do we frame together at the highest levels soev that if something ds happen it's not how do we communicate w those sort of things.gs >> so you don't search trust or come together and operate about what we are trying to do over 120 exercises a year and all of the chiefs got together in our discussion the intent was we need to increase complexity to be interoperable and enter dependable. some examples we just finished with. my partner and i met every day

for tenve days in coordination with our forces. really important very high-end. as we sit here today the army myand marine corps are both on e ground in the philippines and in thailand. those relationships are solid. i think over 27 nations coming together and we've increased the complexity. the direction i've given the i team is we are going to end sure we can quickly come together the instantly interoperable and work together at any pointor in time. >> we have a very wide spectrum of partners some of which we operate at a very high level and others which have served -- >> i apologize the time has

expired. m i wanted to talk to you about something you've raised. we've seen in the theater right now what it means when they come in responsee to ukraine and of the important moments to engage with the partnerss mean in the indo pacific especially when it comes to the counterweight. you were talkingt about india. with the relationship with russia moving in a better direction i just want to ask do

you accept that it's the ireliable partner that we need and are there any concerns about india moving forward in terms of their action in the future? >> the relationship is one with incredible momentum. we are going to hold our highest most senior level engagement in early april with secretary alston and the counterparts and that meeting will discuss a number of activities not only unprecedented but the kind of things that will be unimaginable ten years ago or five years ago, so obviously there are challenges with of the relationship but they are manageable and we are moving forward very rapidly and deepening the partnerships. >> to have that dialogue and do

exercises but what i would like to getik a sense of is what are the means to have this tested so in the event of a conflict what would we won't to see come to fruition and how do we test those strains? >> its very context depending and in the case of india we have seen a case the last several years when they were facing aggression on the line of actual control in the united states provided capability and intelligence in the context that was a defining moment so that is about them being ready to support our efforts and these

are the conversations we are having in a military level with a number of our closest partners. >> i want to double check on this in the case any members get attacked. >> neither is a mutualuk defense treaty but we do have mutual defense treaties bilaterally in the indo pacific. >> when we talk about the situations that occurred and that we talk about most about chinese aggression on taiwan i want to ask what your confidence level is in the indo pacific and

now. >> that varies from partner to partner but i'm confident some of our closest partners would be with us in a contingency. >> so in terms of the overall trajectory how would you get a sense of the baseline and what we are trying to get it to to w? >> strengthening the partnerships has been a centerpiece of the administration and the indo pacific and we've made a considerable strides in the progress and the trump administration and again when i look around the region partner after partner ic relationships that are stronger than they've ever been in the upward trajectory. thank you, mr. scott is

recognized. >> i want to start with you illegal fishing from china is not limited. it goes all the way around to africa, and suggested it would lead to political unrest. is that about money or because they need the fish to feed their people? >> in then industrial interest s well as protein for their citizens. i want to point out to you and i hope the administration is paying attention to this. over the fourth of that goes into the indo pacific region and

i think that we need to be doing some type of an analysis on what the political and economic disruptions look like when that food is no longer hitting the supply. they would normally be planting their crops right now and it's unlikely based on what russia has done that that food supply comes to the terminology. at the end of world war ii,i, soviet union claimed they owned the islands. my understanding is that dispute

has been going on for 77 years and isn't one that is talkedd about much. the first partt to the secretary as i believe the u.s. doesn't take a policy or position on who owns what. there are multiple disputes as you've highlighted and they are also worried about the islands to the e south and there are hundreds of disputes throughout the south china sea and in

accordancesp with the national w i don't know if the secretary has anything else. >> let me move to>> another are. china is responsible for the majority if not an extremely significant portion of the fentanyl that's coming into the world. what is the biden administration doing to stop the chinese and the fentanyl that is coming into the world that seems to be unrestricted by the chinese government? >> i will be sure to get an answer on that question. japan is one of our allies that spends about 1.3% of its gdp on

defense. are we seeing countries like japan based on the recent aggression from russia in china, are we seeing them move to the spending the way we see germany and others recognize the current threats? >> congressman, we will see. there are current discussions on that ongoing. these are obviously sensitive issues for themes given the constitutional issues and otherwise, but clearly they are seized of the threat and challenge. >> as we increase the spending from this shared interest and values we need to make sure we are coordinating so that we get the most for the dollars that are spent and with that i will yield back the remainder of my time. >> can you briefly describe the

united states role in 1962. i will have to get back to you onon the precise history on tha. >> supporting india in that conflict and then there was the border conflict in june of 2020 when china violated the line of control. could you describe the united states role at that point? as i mentioned the united states did provide the capabilities. >> did russia do anything to protect when china was violating the line of control to your

knowledge? >> not to my knowledge. they've abstained three times from the security council and is unwilling to condemn putin's unprovoked aggression in ukraine. do you have a view on this and has it been raised? i know we've been engaging in indian leadership about this issue and as i mentioned in response to a question we are

aware there is a long history and complicated economic security partnership with the russiansee. i would defer to them to speak on their own exact decision-making. >> 60% of weapons from russia but let me ask you this, do you think the united states or russia are likely to come to the defense ofik the chinese is beyd the line of control. >> is that the point that has been made to india? >> we are in deep strategic conversations about the future of the partnerships with india. they would have an opportunity to speak with the counterparts about these critical issues. >> what is the plan for india to

off the 60% reliance and how fast can that happen if they wanted to switch to getting weapons from the united states or european allies? this is a sovereign decision for the indians but what we are encouraging them to do is purchase more american capabilities and third parties, european and others and improve their own defensive sectors, so those trends together are already underway and if t you lk -- >> how quickly could it happen if they want to switch as fast as possible, what would you say

reducing the russian dependence could they get that number down 10% or what is a reasonable target? >> i would be happy to get you a more precise answer to the question. i think it depends a lot on the nature of the capability from munitions all the way up to much higher capabilities. >> i appreciate that and i will conclude by saying it's obvious the united states would stand against chinese aggression on the line of control and we need to press india to not be as dependent and be willing to condemn putin's aggression in ukraine just like chinese aggression beyond thehe line of control. i yelled back, mr. chairman. >> thank you. mr. chairman. let's shift attention to between

chinese and taiwan as we know the world k is watching ukraine and russia conflict as we speak, and last october, president biden made headlines when asked whether the united states would comeld to the defense and china attacked and the president said we have a commitment to do that. is this the department's position on the perspective of the taiwane and china conflict? >> congressman, the position is that the united states policies have not changed in terms of the act. the three communicated in the foundation of the policy. a lot of people seem to have mixed feelings about what the united states should be doing in ukraine. what's our commitment there and contrast the commitment to what it would look like as we know

china has been unpredictable and expedited and most of what we predicted about the capabilities and their advancement of the military forces, so with that in mind. if we see an unfortunate escalation in the region what do we expect at this point? >> we could talk all day of thet the similarities of ukraine and taiwan and there are some. i will say when i look at the conflict in ukraine, the lessons that i draw, number one, or the importance of taiwan developing its own capabilities and if that's something in its own defenses and deterrence we are working with them on. the power of the unity of the

west into the international community coming together around this kind of aggression is an important signal to theig potential dressers in the pacific and some of the economic measures the united states and others have been willing to take to raise costs and in this instance it is an important lesson. >> on that same line, what can we do to learn from if there are romistakes what can we learn frm thatke and how can we better prepare deterrence to china from attacking taiwan in terms of what the need for defense and what can we do better? >> thanks, congressman. so similarly what the secretary articulated, there is a wake-up.

there are some poster initiatives we need to be move forwardee and robust so the credible capability forward is the best way forward to today. >> do we need to enhance the defense capabilities now? >> absolutely and in accordance with of the taiwan relations act that is something we are doing at every opportunity. >> what do you need and what should we be focused on in terms of research and development for the capabilities?

most recently, congressman, that is on the defensive side. in order to detour both the defense of component and offense of component, so some of the long-rangeic capabilities to ensure we have both of the capabilities to detour. my first question what would it look like. to preparedi the country for wht it will look like.

it is a motion to adjourn and continue through the vote. we know, do you agree with the basing strategy. it would take the entire joint force. i credit both theot commandant s well as the chief of staff for the army to adjust the regimen concept to be expeditionary and provide support. >> do youou think the navy has adequately resourced it? >> the department of the navy there are some capabilities we wouldd like. >> the marine corps feels you don't have enough shipping to go to this and the reason is

because when the navy does theie planning for this, they fused a readiness factor of 80% availability theac marine corps looks at historic operational availability63 and it's been abt 43% literally half the planning number that you used. so i'm not sure how we square the wheel here. >> thanks, congressman. back too the ciano. it's a self deployable. the c-130 as they work through -- >> i a understand because we dot have enough shipping. >> important point i agree.

>> i would be happy to get back to you in the context of the budget capabilities. >> 20 years ago china had the largest land army in the world. we barely paid any mind because we were not concerned about the effectiveness and took solace in the fact china was spending so much money to maintain it. in the last decade and a half they radically transformed their military end rather than making investments they cut it and are making investments in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, drones that were manufactured in china. they clearly beat us in a lot of these areas. do you believe that the navy is transforming itself quickly enough to meet this rapidly

transforming threat? >> thanks, congressman. as i articulated before, we absolutely need to move faster. to the navy has been focused on the prc as a primary challenger but there are some things that certainly could move faster. >> there haven't been enough but have acknowledged you do need to move more quickly. if the chinese attack us within ai enabled system and we need to flood within american manned alternative, who do you expect, as a highly theoretical question but i'm curious of your view. >> my view is the united states. >> inou a recent simulation, one of the air forces top pilots was beat 5-nothing.

that is not a good statistic. >> yes, sir i've heard of that but i'm not familiar with the details of the scenario or as you are implying it. >> we need to be familiar with the details because this is the flight of the future and if the chinese beat us because they are more willing to invest in these autonomous capabilities and approve they are more effective we are going to be on the losing side of that equation. i am curious your view on the situation. >> i would note the department in the budget made its largest ever investment in research and and testing evaluation on the capabilities just last month -- >> what percentage of the budget? >> i don't know the percentage off the top of my head.

>> it would be interesting to compare it to the percentage china is investing and to understand if we are transforming quickly enough. >> the representative from mississippi. >> my first question, and we are in march already, could you tell me the true impacts that these continuance have had on your ability to maintain readiness and what equipment do you have or don't have specifically in this current fiscal year what has it caused you? >> i articulated the need for predictable sustained budgets as china being a problem it's even more e critical there is a ton f loss of body and power as it applies to the crs.

when i t talk about the environment and ability to link the ranges those are three top priorities that we are unable to start on based on that impact. i'm going to keep stomping my foot until people around here listen and understand the disastrous consequences especially in all of our agencies but especially in the department of defense. i want to talk a little bit about the fleet management and especially when we are talking about the emergent fleet and ability to supplyer in the regin having flown and gone to that region it is a long haul which makes the logistical chain really tough. what things do we need in the

emergent fleet to get fuel supplies, equipment, all those things to make sure we have a steady flow of equipment to maintain, whether that be in korea o or taiwan or japan or ay of our allies in the region? >> the distributed nature of the posture working with our allies and partners to set up places that provide for exercise and interoperability we need to make sure we can sustain it, refuel it and keep it deliverable. the programs talked about before was a good first step looking at the refueling piece and we need to look at that for all of the logistics capabilities.c

we have to pay attention on the left side of the war otherwise we will find out what they are finding. people who win logistics when the war. my next question and either of you all do we have the right shifts to do in indo pacific plan, do we have the right shifts to execute this? >> absolutely we have the right ships, but i am concerned about the growing capacity of the competitors in thehe region so e have to continue to look at that. >> my g final thing we don't age

on a lot but we do agree on this we are a much better ally and i hope the administration and everyone working will work as hard as we can to convince them we are the best ally and we will be their friend in a time of need so whatever we can do to hurry that along. what other allies in the region, are we not exercising that we could make m better whether it s vietnam or the philippines what other countries in the region can we get some bang for? >> we have a specific focus on the treaty of alliances and we are doing a lot with those teams and relationships that are critically important as well as

the author multinationals in the region so much the trilateral relationship with the u.s., japan and korea is extremely important as we've identified, so continuing to strengthen those and looking for others. >> the time is expired. testified russia doesn't want to direct conflict with of the thed states were in your opinion do you think russia would have attacked russia and ukraine? >> does the president have the

authority on the ground or to establish a no-fly zone without coming to congress with authorization? >> i would defer that to general walters. in your military opinion is it easier to stop an invasion in progress rather than to come back later and try to expel the occupying force? thee environment, i will tell yu my opinion it would be very difficult to remove a force. do you think china wants a direct conflict with the united states? >> everything that has beenst articulated by china is that they would prefer where they are working towards a peaceful resolution. they've also said they haven't

ruled out the use of force and while i don't have the ability to inject their calculus it's to be ready should they choose the latter how long do you think congress would take to authorize the use and do you think they could do it in the time necessaryt to react? >> i never would offer a question to the chairman but on how fast congress would react --

do you think they believe they dewill defend with u.s. forces f they were to use force against taiwan? >> i would take that for a classified conversation. >> does the president have the authority to intervene with u.s. forces as it has happened today without seeking the authorizationti of congress? >> i'm going to defer that is a policy question. perhaps we can follow on that because i wanted to get to the last part of this. this has been a debate elevated recently said the united states changed its ambiguity to a policy of strategic clarity and guaranteed it would come to the defense to maintain the status quo, would this be a deterrent o china? >> i think as this conversation

continues if i were to look at the alternative between strategic ambiguity and clarity some believe it would be a deterrent and some believe it would be an accelerant. it's worth while there's pros and cons to both. if china thinks the united states will come to the defense in taiwan and you describe the ambiguity can you explain why it would be viewed as an act to be cleared to say they will come to the defense to maintain the status quo.

based on the one china policy and the articulation of the importance in the academic world any movements toward the independents would be viewed very strongly. to reiterate -- >> mr. gallagher is recognized for five minutes. >> if the president came to you and said the top national security concern is preventing an invasion of taiwan and i think it's going to happen in the next five years but i have trouble understanding how and whether the bureaucracy is executing my top priority so i need your help developing some

metrics. >> i think that's really complex and we try to do it all the time, the assessment of where you said is really complex and there's a ton of variables. first i would articulated or we postured in the right places with the right credible force to respond quickly and then to dominate in all those domains. it doesn't need to be complex. what are the most important things the president t needs toe tracking to gain the progress?

to get to where they need to go and understand the target that you are going after so that's why i go back to the comparison of how do i execute compared to the challenge of each domain would give me aa decent sense. as ico look at your ao are how would that contribute to the ability. to move further forward.

it's one of our asymmetric advantages. l getting access where we don't currently have them and in terms of that issue what is it at the top of the priority list starting with the allies that are critically important.

the philippines critically strategically terrain we need to expand in thete philippines. we are expanding in australia as the secretary talked about and thailand is also important we have logistical support from our allies. singapore we have the shifts in logistics height so to continue to sustain those is the focus what do you want them to buy and what a security program similar to ukraine beyond the foreign military sales help you accomplish your mission of

defending taiwan from a pla invasion. >> i left out korea because i didn't want to step on toes but a critical treaty ally. whatever mechanisms can be delivered to produce those and deliver them more quickly would be helpful. >> the time is expired i would like to thank you for calling me two days ago and permanently shutting down the storage facilityra in hawaii. do i have your commitment to

work with the delegation to ensure that it's within the timeline set forth by secretary austin? >> yes, congressman. >> thank you for that commitment. on the negotiations. inmp light of the region's competing geopolitical

realities. how important is it that these agreements are expeditiously completed. thanks, congressman. i do want to highlight the lead for that in the state department is supported by the b department of interior it has a representative. we are responsible for the defense of those nations so we need to work through these and they become renegotiation to be done at 23. the dod is supporting that but it would be critical to get

those agreementsos worked throuh as soon as possible. >> the deepwater seaport for the u.s. military. >> is a matter of fact the marine corps extended one of the runways based on our own capabilities.

i would defer to the state department andon other agencies but we are looking a to build economic linkages and use exchanges and other areas. necessary to build capacity and expertise in the region. i would be happy to get back to geyou specifically on the resoue question but as a matter of policy and strategy it is to

maintain those types of a relationships. >> thank you and i will yield back the balance of my time. >> mr. wilson isis recognized. >> thank you for your service and dedication. i'mm very concerned. the largest democracy and america's the oldest democracy. my father served during world war ii so i developed a great abundance for the people of india so it's become shocking such a great country.

we've had a chance to talk this morning. with the security partnership they've been systematically diversifying away from that and engaging with them on that question looking for that approach and their own indigenous capabilities and the moving in thee right direction. >> it seems so natural the relationship not in any way

associated imprudence for. by the great country of india additionally i appreciate the questions from congressman gallagher. out of that i have such an appreciation my concern is for chinese lives. we've got to build up the defenses and not in the interest of the ccp and the different levels of equipment which is

being purchased would also look into the lease. it was successful for the people that some of them have forgotten and for the russia and pollutant putinaggression should we look o expedite to providing the military equipment to taiwan? >> we are in the process of evaluating all tools. the only person left who is been on the delegation to the democratic people's republic of

north korea to pyongyang and the comparison. the comparison between the socialist a totalitarianism buti saw the village. i share the concern of congressman turner and others about the artillery capability how can this be addressed? >> congressman part of it as it is itwill be addressed in closer support and if the fight kicks off how we would strike against

it but it's developing other capabilities that give a 360 threats to the peninsula that is a concern. >> end of the great territories so pleasery every way. >> recognized for four or five minutes. >> thank you mr. chairman and to the witnesses for joiningha us today. in the written remarks you touched on the capabilities by increasing concerns and i think it is very crucial training do you think they have the authority to collaborate and where can we deepen or expand

with allied partners in the indo pacific? >> may be i will defer to talk a little bit about some of the work we are doing with partners in w the region. >> we do the special operations command is extremely valuable and many countries working to improve training capability and support the special operations forces. at t this point, i don't believi need additional authorities. >> do we have the capability for example? >> we do for the training exercises. >> these initiatives are the

maintaining of the posture in the indo pacific region must be one of those priorities. what do you see as the biggest intelligence cap and what steps should we take to the associated states? >> i look forwardhr to meeting with you and hosting you in person. obviously as i talked about before, theen persistent battle space awareness is enabled by all domain isr and while we've watched over the past 20 years, we never have enough, so many capabilities whether they be current, above that delivers that battle space awareness.

the presence in the region the infrastructure and logistical capabilities mentioned the security cooperation. how do you mention contributing to this initiative and what role do you think they can play? >> thank you, congressman. our contribution for the defense of the peninsula is the ability to train with allies and partners who talked about our ability to get the forces integrated as a combined element working with our allies and partners in the region.

mr. waltz is recognized for five minutes. >> i would like to submit for the recordd a letter noting it's concern about the lack of progress and negotiations with the island sand public and renewal of the compactness and free association and there hasn't been a negotiator named yet. this is obviously a joint effort with commerce and interior and the department. a letter to the white house, to theik president. we've had a lot of discussion

about allies and i think we are moving in the right direction. the threat in terms of what china is prepared to do and overlaid with our pathway to get there to detour it are off in terms of the timeline, but at the end of the conflict general, to understand the votes are being counted but is the government prepared to allow the u.s. forces to operate in the defense of taiwan? in your opinion? >> i think it would depend on if there was a threat to the korean peninsula. >> so minus the threat to taiwan, which would probably necessitate the attack on japan

are we going to be able to use those forces? plus the associated assets from the south korean territory? we still require to secure the peninsula so it would be a discussion with the admiral and the secretary of defense on the obligations on theen peninsula d what's needed for the taiwan fight. sounds like a non-answer, general. >> are we incorporating the use of the forces potentially obviously with the acquiescence of the south korean government and counting on that when we

talk about the forces forward. >> i wish we could have talked about that yesterday however we do need to take a public posture with the new government on what we are prepared to do and in and associated question will they lean on them to ramp up tensions and tie the forces down? currently they are due to be delivered 2025 i believe.

is that sufficient? by the time they are delivered and we have the operational capability we are looking at 26 or 27 to have the full capability is that a sufficient and what is the department going to do to accelerate that the timeline? >> i think as soon we can get them there it's better and i can assure you we are turning over every rock for these capabilities and the personnel across the department and in discussions with partners on how we might be able to do that. how t can the committee help you d that? >> i will get back to you on that. >> they need harpoons as you said. that would have made a big difference. we didn't do what we could to

get those to them and we are seeing the ramifications. i would hate to be having this conversation. sorry that we have been coming in and out with votes. i was in taiwan over thanksgiving. you sponsored some classified briefings and tabletop exercises that i participated in and it just keeps becoming clearer and clearer that while we have the military options it is our job to counter china when and if we have a conflict that we are not using the other powers mainly economic power, cultural power, a whole bunch of other things and i don't want the pentagon to feel they are the lead foot in the debate and engagement with china so tell me when are we

going to have a strategy you can fit under, help us understand how we are going to leverage because we are watching things play out right now. it's not just about you all so what is the plan and the strategy? it's important that they are seeing the kind of economic measures the united states isnt taking and the degree to which the diplomatic and military actions are being done in concert with such a large group of countries from around the world so i fully agree that there are -- >> so we will see the strategies laid out? we had a whole strategy around

the soviet union and containment was our whole of government strategy into the defense department was part of it but it wasn't the only part. i'm looking for that strategy. i represent olderen workers that have been laid off the better part of the last year because of a microchip they can't get so when will we see the global strategy to understand about what the plan is with china? >> the national security strategy will be working on something the defense department can control and the national defense strategy as well in the classified version of how we are getting after this particular challenge. there are other efforts underway and we can speak about that in a differents setting. >> the public needs to understand this issue and wondering when is the next going

to drop and are we prepared. to that end, we know the cyber attacks on thehe infrastructure, those kind of short of traditional conventional war steps are things we have to assume they are thinking about. to show the american people we are protecting them when we are on the front lines. >> thanks, congresswoman. so, that responsibility as it applies to the dod is in the cyber, commanders and we coordinate all the time so from this infrastructure he's taking steps and hence teams every day watching the defense of the

global information grid to ensure militarily and as you articulated the civilian aspect is going to be the homeland security. we are the defense department and armed services committee. i would love to see a briefing on this with the department sitting next to you all. something that shows the american people we have the best in the world and we are going to kick some butt abroad, we are also coordinated when it comes to protecting back home, just a quick comment about with that i will yelled back. >> thank you. >> i apologize i had to cast a vote so i missed a little bit of the testimonies of her today but i did want to ask immediately

we've established the threat of a chinese invasion in taiwan has more than before. i think there's a mounting threat of aggression. more than ever before. i wouldn't say more than ever before. more than inhe recent years. would you say that it's safer in 2022 then say just pulling something out of the hat in the summer of 2019? >> i think they are seeing exactly what we are seeing which is this increased aggression. i don't know how to measure whether they are safer or not. i think there is a growing concern based on what they watched them execute over the last number of years.

>> but there's this increased aggression thathe is growing and more of a threat than it was before. jake sullivan from the hudson institute said, quote, when it comes to the issue of taiwan 30 months into the administration is more likely to be dragged into a war than 30 months ago. the trump policy toward china is fundamentally not productive. today coincidentally we are 14 months into the biden administration of which mr. sullivan is acting as the national security advisor. are we less likely to be draggd into a war with china? iac the increasing desire to build up and continue to grow the military capabilities in a public statement he said he wanted the forces modernized by

2027. he didn't articulate what he would do with them were when, but from where i sit, my responsibility is to ensure that we are ready should that incur. >> so what has changed between the summer of 2019 and where we sit today what is the difference in the foreign policy today that has led to the increased aggression in the posture to taiwan, what is different and why now? the assertiveness to the united states. >> what's changed, why now and why? not then? >> i would be happy to share that. the capabilities are growing and you don't have an explanation

for the american people about why? >> it's not about what everyone else has done. ofy've taken the line control. they've discounted their agreement as it applied to hong kong and they've locked up in a million muslims, so the actions, not u.s. actions or any other nations are those that give concern and what you were getting to. >> you've conceded that the threat is more real today than it has been in the recent years.

they conducted a record number ofte tests, the ninth missile tt this year and in addition to recent satellite images have shown they seem to be building upn nuclear testing. it's more internal for him i think it's fairly complicated when you think of the administrationsnk transition ase talked about with china he's also referredbu to him to be autonomous. while this threat is to the south and the u.s. -- >> the time is expired and recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman.

i appreciate that. we thank you for being here and appreciate your patience as well as your testimony and information you are providing us. i had a conversation with the representative of taiwan and we were talking about ukraine and how inspired we are by the ukrainian people and how they are all in on this obviously and then that pivoted to the people of taiwan. that's something that i think will play an important part those that are under those service with regards to what

they can doto to be more involvd in the service or in their will to respond to the prc attack. >> thanks, congressman. i know for a fact this is an initiative that is being developedd and implemented to ensure that there is a robust whether you want to call it national guard reserve or capability outside of the uniform service to defend the nation's so it's very important and they are working diligently to develop the system. >> y are redeveloped in helping that? >> as a part of the activities contributed to the support of the defense and that includes both weapons we talk about but also through services and training. >> you talked about in the

questions and answers to the chairman you said we need a more integrated and sustainable isr. how can we create this exchange with our allies? >> this persistent understanding in real time of the battle space is critical with contributions from all domains with the ability to share with our allies andti partners through what i articulated in this environment my number two funding priority is you should have seen in my list when you combine those together those deliver a strong capability as it applies to both deterrence and then should they fail to fight and win.

>> moving on to the threat in the philippines and indonesia after the withdrawal from afghanistan did we see an uptick in the rhetoric or capabilities by any groups in that area? and subsequent to that can you give an assessment of the groups at this point? >> arrows you articulated, specifically in the southern philippines where we have helped our partner nation to ensure they didn't have a problem those efforts continue but i have not seen an uptick since the recent decision to depart. that said we are concerned about the foreigner fighter flow. the commander has been tasked to ensure we maintain vigilance.

the increase in the violent extremist organizations and we continue to work with the indonesians and support them as they also watch this issue. >> thank you mr. chairman, i yield back. >> as the chair recognizes mr. johnson for his five minutes. >> thank you madam chair and all for being here. just 27 were ready after 120 hours. the rate is declining further and previously the department indicated it plans to rely and supplement the logistics needs so do you think the international shipping companis now will risk access to the

chinese market to support the conflict? >> if i could throw in here with support to the program completely effective with the ability to go ahead and prove to us whether or not the system can respond i think we highlighted some challenges we have to fix. at the logistics that we need, so i don't know if i want to go hypothetically. i would say we are doing the right thing to ensure they are ready and available when we need

them. >> would you have anything to add to that? >> we have received a number of questions in the classified position and the contest at the logistics focus for the department and one that you will be seeing reflected in the nationalat defense strategy each of us we all regularly see now the condemnation by theeg government certainly now but the perspective to the indo pacific nation iss more limited so do yu have insight for us on how the invasion of ukraine affected the perspectives on the american led international order and the resolve to confront aggression and i'm deeply interested in the nation of india, thailand and the developing partners.

they learned from watching the european issue what i would say is i think i'm seeing the right lessons that we would like to learn. number one the investment the international condemnation and the unwillingness to accept it and the drastic economic impacts of the people those are the right lessons switch to the indo pacific region and i think i will leave it there.

>> i can tell you that they asked for her not to the combat items and are providing 10 million in humanitarian assistance and this economic impact so there's 12.5 billion in energy resources from russia to the republic of korea so it is having an impact. i am just curious and i guess we all are interested in what investments we can have against the vulnerabilities to prevent us from offering support and the

industrial base and also enhance our readiness. >> time is running out before the chair man cuts me off. we are engaged in multiple discussions with allies and partners specifically on the type of capabilities that we think they needed to best detour and deny the aggression. >> i will d yield back. i appreciate the chance to ask a couple questions. one has to do with the russian relationships and understanding that there have been multiple statements made between the two states, multiple exercises and cooperations of thein various forms but the large and short of it is we don't see a formal alliance so to speak at this point in time. what would it look like if we were seeing the alliance and

what sort of signals were indications would we be seeing that could or should alarm us? i was hoping you might be able to comment on that. >> it's been described as a marriage of convenience. there's issues on both sides as whether or not they trust each other but we need to look what is happening and if that's changed at all. that would be very concerning if those two authoritarian nations delivered or developed or went into something that looked like a treaty alliance. we are on day number 14 of this and we are watching it to try to understand what does that translate into. >> and are there formal treaties or something else? >> inme the short term as the admiral said we are watching very closely at a minimum we've

seen the support for the russian aggression in ukraine and diplomatic support to trade to o support or route around the sanctions and the rest of the community that would be extremely concerning. anything you want to add? >> i don't separate korea, the dpr k, there will be some kind of impact and hostilities onia e peninsula that we are paying

attention to. >> how is that going and what are the gaps that exist if you mightdm be able to elaborate on that. >> so, the theme we have watched over the last 20 years is there's never enough. we have multiple areas we keep track on. what i would say is we shift the focus of the indo pacific some of the resources have come to the indo pacific but we still are not meeting the total requirement. thee secretary hasn't pulled any assets from the indo pacific based on what is needed in ukraine so again the departments focus in the theater is a

complex world. >> and in your area is there any gap in the isr that you would like to talk about? >> most is given the comprehensive agreement with the north and south and the ability to collect over the dpr k. we rely on the other end is to develop the picture. >> i question regards the philippines and amidst a lot of uncertainty that you mentioned yesterday how are you viewing that and what can we do to firm up the relationship in the face of uncertainty? >> the secretary went to the philippines not long ago and we were having issues and he got that problem corrected so the trend is in the right direction

and we are doing more with them and can continue to develop that posture. we needle to continue to expand those initiatives. >> thank you to everybody. this late in the hearing pretty much most of the questions have beenen asked saying it hasn't bn said until i i say it i would le to dig down a little deeper on the piece the representative just indicated are you taking advantage of the capabilities.

that is just one example because we've got a lot of challenges and you cannot have too much visibility. we are certainly experimenting with anything that could provide additional capability. i will give you an example of a sale a drone so through the experimentation program we have capabilities that haven't been applied militarily figuring out how they develop a war fighting

outcome those that are promising we will work to accelerate. but it's all domains we are trying to do that and take those opportunities to deliver and advantage. >> through the research labs trying to get a little extra edge when something that already exist will be good enough, so with that i am going to yield back the remainder of my time.

>> you are recognized for five minutes. >> can you talk about the role at a calm it seems there's a variety of information critical to the ability to compete in the region and how can congress help? >> ctthrough this lens it's an area that we have to gete bettr at through the process we've developed all of our operations are now integrated with the

information's stage whether we want to or we don't want to say something so we agree with regards to the importance and additionally on the special operations side there are certain components i would articulate the capabilities to pull those in. i'm conscious of the fact -- can you discuss the most pressing needs on the peninsula that we simply cannot ignore?

.. >> congressman, the vast

majority of that work we are working with the indians both that we can communicate better in a classified setting and information related to speed on —- space, cyberand intelligence analysis they can help defend their own networks to can you highlight quick. >> yes, as part of the office agreement everyone wants to talk about submarines but it's about improving our advanced capabilities. cyberin space are clearly two of those. working directly with australia and then i will be going there with the generals

as long as one —- as well as with the chief of defense to frame and move our capabilities forward. do ever we can safely and securely with our high-end allies and partners. >> and the continue to develop the capabilities across cyberand new period demands. can you generally explain how these compared to our own? >> again, thank you. president xi has accelerated that timeline for his forces and he is asked for modernization by 2027. that is concerning. again, we saw the greatest

military on the planet and we need to those capabilities to not only stay on par but exceed and generate over match and all of those areas. >> thank you i yield back. >> thank you, mr. chair and thank you for being here today. historically there has been historic ties economically with russia andnd new delhi has been an expensive market for oil and gas sales and it delivered the as/400 a different system. december 2021, the two plus two meeting indian made it clear the future of the relationship was dependent on russians investing with them made in f india projects.

in ds clearly wanted to maintain its relationship with russia. however, now that russia has invaded ukraine, do you see a scenario where india will have to takef a side in that conflict and distance itself from moscow to be aligned with the quad nations or to stay neutral? i'm just curious on your thoughts. >> if you other members have asked similar questions. we recognize india has a long and complicated economic security relationship with russia. the majority of their weapons purchases come from russia but also submissive on —- systematically have been diversifying in a way that we view as a positive trajectory. i would also note at the

december summit, there were very few announcements on new purchases. that was quite notable and just last week the prime minister joined the leaders of the quad summit including president biden for a leaders call to talk about some of the shared priorities. i agree it is complicated. but the trendline is moving in the right direction. >> so you are confident in your opinion that you see scaling back the dependency and the relationship? >> the sovereign decision that has been diversifying and arms purchases and development from the united states as well so the trendlines are in the right direction and the importance of this i relationship cannot be overstated. we are to keep our eyes on

that important fact. >> yes ma'am. we are seeing the right actions and thect capabilities they desire and leaning toward the united states. military to military we operate together much more frequently. they have asked for capabilities that they haven't the four based on what they believe is a common security challenge in the form of the prc. has this plays out, india gets to make its own decisions but i would articulate the same. from mine is going in the right direction. >> you are recognized for five minutes. >> the good news i believe i may be the last one. so first of all i appreciate the comments to focus on

cyberas a member of the subcommittee is something we are looking at a make sure you are engaging with cyber, regular basis not because more and more important and weapon system acquisition and modernization is focused from china now the operational threats especially important. i do understand they are in irthe process of reviewing their requirements for a number of programs. can youou tell me about the engagement and input into the process quick. >> thank you congresswoman. as it applies to the continued assessment to execute our mission, there we feeling is

identified as critical. not only across all combatant commanders to include a strategic commander with all the things with that are under the realm. identify the requirements prick we have to continue to have the capacity to execute all of the war plans. i do have input and it is a criticalpa focus area. >> i i yield back. >> at this point we have nobody else here. thank you for your testimony. it will be a huge year fy 23 as we have seen. the world has clearly changed and national security will be even more complicated than it was before. with that forward to working with all of you to have the tools that you need to defend

her interest thank you for your testimony. we are adjourned. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

c-span2. >> greg, who i'll introduce. i'm