▶ 0:00:00Um, yes, it's good that the Houthies for the moment have said that they're going to stop shooting at at US ships, but we still don't have commercial shipping traffic feeling free to go through the Red Sea. So, we still have have a lot of work to do to get after all of the instability in the region. I will agree with the chairman that Iran is the primary driving force in that without question. um you see their hand everywhere. Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Israel, Iraq.
▶ 0:00:28Um getting an ability to contain that is crucially important and I actually think it it is good that that President Trump is negotiating directly with Iran. Now, my Republican colleagues would pretty much lose their damn minds every time Biden even suggested that he might talk to Iran. Iran, sorry. So, that particular hypocrisy grates a little bit. uh but it is a good idea to try to have a conversation. I think it is also crucially important in the negotiations that we focus on their support for proxies.
▶ 0:00:58It is their support for proxies that is the most destabilizing force in the region. But we also need to work more closely with our Israeli partners. I have an enormous amount of sympathy for the threats that they face from Hamas, from Hezbollah, from Iran and others. But we need to find an alternative to Hamas. We need to work with Palestinians to give us some sort of future beyond Hamas. Partners in the region, as you well know, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and others are working with those Palestinian partners.
▶ 0:01:28Um, trying to generate that and being rebuffed constantly uh by the Israeli government. Um, this war won't stop until Hamas is gone. I agree with that. But Hamas won't be gone until there is some alternative for the Palestinian people. I think it is really important that we step up pressure to try to push those negotiations and show the Palestinian people that they do have a future. If they don't think they have a future, it's going to be very difficult to stop this conflict. In Africa, I am am very concerned about where that is going.
▶ 0:01:57The terrorist groups, as I said, seem to be taking hold in another number of countries. Russia has become more and more prominent in the region. Um they don't seem to be doing a particularly good job of keeping the peace. uh but they are still very present and have relationships with a number of countries. The path forward to the to that um is not clear to me. Um I I will close with a with a note of agreement with the chairman. These regions matter. Um they lead to greater instability.
▶ 0:02:24And when we talk about our primary concern being China, we must understand that the challenge with China is global. Um, any notion that we're going to pivot to Asia and therefore deal with China and just ignore the rest of the world, I think fundamentally misunderstands what is happening, as you gentlemen know, China is very active in Africa. They're very active in the Middle East. Russia is as well. Um, this is a global challenge. These two regions are crucially important.
▶ 0:02:50We need to be present, but we also need to work with partners in the region uh to try to create greater stability in what is a very challenging part of the world. Uh, with that, I look forward to the testimony and the questions and answers, and I yield back. Uh, I'd now like to introduce our witnesses. Uh, first we have Miss Katherine Thompson. She's performing the duties of assistant secretary of defense for international affairs.
▶ 0:03:13Uh, General Eric Carrilla is the commander of US United States Sentcom and General Michael Langley is the commander, United States Africa. Welcome to all of our witnesses. Uh, Miss Thompson, we'll start with you. You're recognized for five minutes. Thank you, Mr. Mr. Chairman, Chairman Rogers, Ranking Member Smith, distinguished members of the House Armed Services Committee, thank you for inviting me today to testify um on our defense posture and policy in US Central Command and US Africa Command, respectively.
▶ 0:03:40It is my honor to appear alongside General Kurilla and General Langley. The Department of Defense is reviewing our posture, activities, and resources across all combatant commands, including Sentcom and Ariccom. In line with President Trump's America first priorities to make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous. In line with President Trump's peace through strength framework and under Secretary Hegs leadership, DoD is putting core American interests first in the Sententcom and Aricom AOS to make America and our citizens more secure.
▶ 0:04:09America's core national security interests in the Sententcom AO are to one prevent and disrupt credible terrorist threats to the US homeland, two deny Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and three support Israel's ability to defend itself. State and non-state actors across the Middle East such as ISIS, Iran and its proxies continue to threaten the US homeland as well as our forces and posture across the region. At the direction of the president, the Department of Defense maintains the forces and capabilities to defend against these threats to our national security.
▶ 0:04:40President Trump has already demonstrated his unrelenting commitment to keep Americans safe by conducting operations targeting Houthi terrorists in Yemen, that successfully restored freedom of navigation and American deterrence. We will continue to work with our regional partners to enable US operations, coordinate on approaches to regional challenges, and expand interoperability to address our shared threats. For example, our Iraqi security force partners now shoulder the majority of operations against ISIS remnants, requiring only a modest US advisory role.
▶ 0:05:09In addition, the historic package of $142 billion in defense sales to Saudi Arabia, which Secretary Hegs signed last month in Riyad, will help lock in another generation of interoperability and burden sharing with critical regional partners. We will also continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel, a model ally for the region, as they defend against threats from every direction.
▶ 0:05:29Secretary Hegsth has backed up this commitment with action and has authorized the deployment of a terminal high altitude area defense uh or THAAD missile battery and its associated US military crew to Israel. In Africa, the most pressing security challenges include potential threats to the US homeland emanating from terrorist activity, as well as China's ambitions to expand its military power production capabilities via overseas basing, naval access, as well as an ambition to establish dominance over critical mineral resources on the continent that fund their defense supply chains.
▶ 0:06:00To address those security issues, DoD has two priorities in the Africam AO. One is to disrupt, degrade, and deny the activities of Africa based terrorist groups that have both the capability and intent to strike the US homeland or US personnel and facilities. To this end, US forces stand ready to engage and neutralize terrorists through direct action. At the same time, the department is working with African nations to grow their operational independence and empower them to counter shared threats.
▶ 0:06:27At the same time, DoD will work to prevent and counter efforts by China to position its own forces in the Africam AO in ways that threaten our ability to defend the US homeland and deter Chinese aggression in the Indoacific. We will also work closely with inter agency partners to to counter Chinese efforts to exclude the United States from critical markets on the continent.
▶ 0:06:45DoD's largest force posture location in Africa is Camp Lemonwa in Djibouti, which hosts 3,300 DoD military personnel and civilians that support ARIRCOM, Sentcom, US Special Operations Command, and US Transportation Command operations. This base along with smaller enduring locations provide support to contingency operations, episodic militaryto engagements, and crisis response.
▶ 0:07:09To conclude, I want to emphas I want to emphasize the important role of Congress in enabling the Department of Defense to achieve our objectives in the scentcom and ARIRCOM areas of responsibility. Your support and funding have been and will continue to be critical to advancing peace through strength. Thank you for the opportunity to testify on behalf of the Department of Defense and we appreciate your continued support to the soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, guardians, and civilians who work every day to make the American people safer and more secure. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Thompson. General Curriller, you're recognized.
▶ 0:07:40Chairman Rogers, Ranking Member Smith, and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. I'm joined today by Command Master Chief Fleet Derek Walters, the command senior enlisted leader of US Central Command. Our partners have described the events of the last 20 months as a tectonic shift, an earthquake, one that began on 7 October 2023 and continued to produce aftershocks across the region. We have been at the brink of regional war several times.
▶ 0:08:11Conflict was triggered in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, the Red Sea, and Yemen. The region held its breath as Iran and Israel traded blows in the first overt state-on-state attacks between these two countries in their history. At the same time, Thrron continued to increase their stockpiles of uranium enriched to 60%. for which there is no civilian purpose.
▶ 0:08:40Threatening catastrophic ramifications across the region and beyond. Global violent extremists exploited the turmoil wherever possible to sustain their networks and regenerate capability. This included in post Assad Syria and the poorest border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. We saw this threat actualized multiple times throughout 2024 in high-profile attacks overseas and attempted here at home. However, from this uh this order emerges opportunity.
▶ 0:09:08Iran is in a weaker strategic position now than at any point in the past 40 years. Though it maintains significant operational capability, Kasamsulammani's vision of a Shia crescent from Iran through Iraq and Syria to Lebanon was shattered as the Syrian regime collapsed and Assad fled to Russia.
▶ 0:09:29Lebanese Hezbollah was decimated by Israel, including the death of many of their leaders who were implicated in the 1983 Beirut bombing that killed 241 American service members. This dealt a massive blow to Iran's terror network that has targeted and killed US personnel across the region for decades.
▶ 0:09:48The Houthis, Iran's new premier proxy, threatened the free flow of commerce to a vital waterway and were met with a sustained, deliberate, and focused campaign to reestablish American freedom of navigation. Terrorists are under pressure as SenCom's relentless campaign against ISIS removed hundreds of fighters and leaders from the battlefields in Iraq and Syria to include just six hours ago. Our network of partners dealt significant blows to the ISIS Coruson networks.
▶ 0:10:17exploiting the tribal areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan to include our Pakistani partners bringing the terrorist behind the Abbey Gate bombing to justice. Finally, the reality of aligning with Russia and China was laid bare as our partners across the region as they watched Russia supporting Assad's atrocities against the Syrian people and the Chinese Communist Party cynically exploit Iranbacked violence in the Red Sea.
▶ 0:10:42The United States now stands in a strategic window of opportunity to secure its national interests in the central region to protect the homeland, secure our economic prosperity, establish freedom of navigation, and prevent a nuclear armed Iran. Sentcon's deep militarytoilitary partnerships have proven a catalyst to these wide-ranging opportunities that now lay before us.
▶ 0:11:05Our relationships provide the foundation of the Middle East air defense initiative that defeated hundreds of Iranian munitions and continues to set conditions for the rest of the region's defense. These relationships unleash our shared creative potential in what has become a sandbox of experimentation, enabling us to innovate together, develop rapid solutions to the entire joint force. Our partners are also on the front line in Iraq and Syria.
▶ 0:11:31They remain crucial to the enduring defeat of ISIS, battling the group across their respective countries, as well as enabling the repatriation of ISIS datis and displaced persons. The war fighters of US Central Command representing less than 2% of the entire joint force have been at the forefront of these seismic events over the last year and often on the front lines of conflict. It was those war fighters who sprinted out of their bunkers to fuel, arm, and fly their F-15s through a barrage of missiles and UAVs.
▶ 0:12:00It was those war fighters who led the vanguard against maritime terror in the Red Sea, protecting the connective tissue of the global economy. And it was those war fighters who continue to pursue and eliminate the remnants of ISIS wherever they are to stop future attacks as far away from this homeland as possible. It is on their behalf, the soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, coast guardsmen, and guardians who serve this nation on the front lines of freedom that I speak before you today. It is the honor of my professional life to serve as their commander.
▶ 0:12:29As I close over 37 years of uniform service to this nation, I'd offer one final thought. I have spent most of my adult life living, fighting, leading, and building partnerships in the central region. We have traditionally viewed the region as a risk to our national interests. But as I depart, I would offer that there has rarely been a time with greater opportunity to protect those national interests than we have right now, but only if we have the courage to step through that window. Thank you, and I do look forward to your questions. Thank you, General Cilla. General Langley, you're recognized.
▶ 0:13:02Chairman Rogers, Ranking Member Smith, distinguished committee members, it's an honor to appear here today representing the outstanding service members, civilians, and families of the United States Africa Command. As I get closer to the end of my tenure of command, I remain in awe of the character and the capabilities of the men and women willing to serve our nation.
▶ 0:13:24Our team of soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardian, and civilians performed valiantly, and I'm honored and proud to serve with them. America remains in good hands. I'm proud to testify with my friend, General Eric Carrilla, the commander of United States Central Command, and my colleague, Miss Katherine Thompson from OSD policy. I'd like to extend my gratitude for their steadfast cooperation.
▶ 0:13:53Now, ordinarily, I would be joined by my command senior enlisted leader, Sergeant Major Michael Woods. However, as all of our outstanding NS uh NCOs's do, Sergeant Major Woods has chosen to put himself at the best position to influence operations. Today, he's in Morocco for the Africa Senior Enlisted Leaders Conference.
▶ 0:14:20Now, Morocco is a shining example of a great return on our investment and their efforts in developing the enlisted corps across the continent is a crucial step in African military professionalism. I recently traveled to Morocco. I attended the African Lion 2025.
▶ 0:14:43This exercise is the largest exercise with participation of over 52 nations, 10 NATO allies and two nonNATO allies and over 10,000 soldiers participating. I also just returned from Kenya where we jointly hosted the Afghan Chiefs of Defense Conference in Nairobi.
▶ 0:15:08This gathering showcased the Kenyan Defense Force's commitment to fostering military dialogue and demonstrated their leadership. The insights drawn from that forum will help inform ARICOM's approach to hearing how our African partners are solving challenges in their own neighborhoods and understanding where they can shoulder more of the load. Now, everything we do at the United States has overarching goal in mind.
▶ 0:15:36achieving peace through strength. Now, this requires three things. A clear understanding of national security threats, a robust and dependable network of like-minded allies and partners, and appropriate resourcing to match military requirements. Now, as I've said in previous testimony, Africa remains a nexus theater from which the United States cannot afford to shift its gaze.
▶ 0:16:04It is home to terrorists who take advantage of conditions in Africa to grow and export their ideology. ISIS controls their global network from Somalia. It is where the Chinese Communist Party actively works to change the international rules-based order and establish regional hedgemani.
▶ 0:16:22And it's where the Russian Federation seizes opportunities created by chaos and Ladies and gentlemen, we must deter these nations and other malign actors from their goals on the continent. Many of our security and economic interests overlap with those of our African and European partners. Successful outcomes enabled by burden sharing are beneficial for all.
▶ 0:16:48As a posture limited theater, we establish strength and work towards peace by enhancing security capabilities of our African partners through our robust system of alliances. training events, security cooperation, and foreign military sales programs are the backbone of our military activities on the continent.
▶ 0:17:12Through these activities, our forces lead by example with a warrior ethos and stand by our partners and enhance trust in the United States military. United States Africa Africs to match capabilities with current and emerging threats to ensure that security of our forces while advancing American interests.
▶ 0:17:34intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, crisis response forces, counteron aerial systems technology, and integrated air missile defense platforms are critical resources AC to accomplish our mission. I welcome your advocacy and assuring that these necessary tools are in Aficcom's hands. Ladies and gentlemen, I appreciate the opportunity to be here today and I'd like to close by thanking the committee for your stalwart support during my tenure of command.
▶ 0:18:01Our ability to accomplish the mission is always linked to your advocacy and encouragement and I look forward to your questions. Thank you, General Angler. Sharon recognizes himself for questions. General Carrilla, Operation Rough Rider degraded Houthy capabilities and took a target off US commercial ships. Uh what but they still keep hitting at Israel.
▶ 0:18:22What more can the US do to support Israel against the Houthis and Iran's other terrorist So I would tell you right now that the Iranian proxies are at the one of the weakest levels they've been um what they did decimation of the disintegration of the Hezbollah Hamas. However, the Houthis the biggest challenge with the Houthis is they are being provided with Iranian weapons. Um they provide the weapons and they assemble them inside of uh uh Yemen.
▶ 0:18:49There are experts from uh the IRGC that are inside of Yemen helping them to be able to manufacture these systems as well. Um, so this is going to be a challenge going forward. We have got to stop the the flow of the weapons into Yemen. Thank you.
▶ 0:19:03President Trump's made it clear that if Iran doesn't permanently give up its uh nuclear enrichment military force by the US may be necessary if the president directed um is sentcom prepared to respond with overwhelming force to prevent a nuclear armed Iran. I have provided the secretary of defense and the president a wide range of options. I take that as a yes. Yes.
▶ 0:19:27Uh General Langley, your command was created in 2007 to address the shortcomings of the division of Africa between Sentcom, Indopaccom, and Yukcom. Since then, Africa's strategic importance has only grown with transnational terrorism on the rise as well as China and Russia, Russia working to undermine our interest on the continent. Uh can you tell me in your best military jud judgment should ARICOM remain its own combatant command separate and apart from Yukon?
▶ 0:19:58Chairman uh those uh those uh statistics that you just stated uh is more of a reason why Aricom uh needs to remain as a uh overall command uh to be able to address these challenges. Africa is a nexus theater for the great power competition and then also uh with a number of violent extremist organizations uh uh that are encroaching upon the continent. It is a threat.
▶ 0:20:24It is a threat to our homeland and is a threat for our overall national security and protection our national interests. I take that as a yes. Yes, chairman. Yes. Um and I I fully agree with you. I've made it very clear publicly that I will vigorously oppose any effort uh to consolidate Afric heard in my opening statement.
▶ 0:20:46We need to be putting more resources in Africam to combat what China and Russia and Iran are doing rather than looking at taking away attention and and resources. Uh General Carelli, yesterday the ranking member and I introduced the speed act. It's our effort by this committee to try to speed up uh acquisition uh of critical war fighting capabilities to strengthen our defense industrial base. What impact, if any, do you think uh this could have on our ability to help our partners in Sentcom? Thanks, Chairman. I have not read the full act.
▶ 0:21:17Um but I do know that is trying to speed it speed acquisition, change acquisition to get into the hands of the war fighter. Anything we can do to fix what I think is a very bureaucratic and slow process will help the war fighter. Is there something else that you would suggest that we do to try I think we need to start from scratch with a blank piece of paper on the FMS process. We've had dozens of task forces to look at FMS and I have not seen much change.
▶ 0:21:43Um it is one of the number one complaints that we get from our foreign partners and we are 40% of the entire FMS proc projects in uh in the region. And if you had that blank sheet of paper and you were writing it out, tell me what you would do with it. Well, I think there's four levers that that control FMS. There's DoD. I think we have to fix some of our own processes internal on these uh these requests such as well I think we take sometimes we take months and up to a year when they someone says I'd like to sell you patriots and we go back and forth for a year.
▶ 0:22:12That should be days or weeks. It then goes to the state department. Candidly that is not where a lot holdup is. I think this body of Congress there can be holds up for whatever reason that we hold. We don't want to sell a weapon system to a country. And candidly, the biggest problem we have right now is with industry that they are not putting the investments into in capital into their production lines. The biggest thing I think Congress can help with is multi-year funding that would be able if you're a business and you say, I I'm only going to get funded one year. They're not going to want to put the capital into those production lines.
▶ 0:22:41I thank you for what you've done with some of the uh two-year pro uh funding, but I think it needs to be multi-year funding so that we can get these production lines up. And I think we ought to look at our partners that are offering to also produce inside the region. Sorry for the long response. Well, I I think that last point especially is would be very helpful. And I think uh I speak for this committee when I say we're open to that idea. I hope that when you testify before the appropriators, you tell them the same thing. With that, I yield to the ranking member for any questions he may have.
▶ 0:23:11Uh thank you, Mr. Chairman. With regard to Iran and their nuclear program, without getting into the more classified discussion about what Israel might do on their own, if Israel were to act on their own um and attack Iran, what implications would that have for our force protection in your region and what should we be doing to try to, you know, put ourselves in a position to protect against that? I think it would increase risk to force of our forces in the region.
▶ 0:23:38But every day we're making assessments of our posture um and our risk of force and we make adjustments based on those. We're fielding new systems and new equipment and making adjustments every single day. We have a rule in Sentcom. You improve your foxhole every single day, whether that's through uh rehearsals or any other actions that you're taking to better protect our forces.
▶ 0:23:56What are the systems that you think are working best if we were to, you know, throw money at you and say, "Here's what you need right now that could best put you in a in a better position to protect your forces." What systems would you would would you ask for? So, counter UAS is the number one thing. We have a revolution in warfare. The character of of warfare is changing with the drone revolution and unmanned systems. We see that in Ukraine. We saw that with the Houthis and we see that even in Iraq and Syria. The number one challenge out there is detect.
▶ 0:24:25It's the ability to detect the counter UAS systems and to defeat the swarms. And I think anything we can do in the air defense world, you know, we went back to the FMS. You know, we ought to ask ourselves the question, why does a THAAD missile cost three times as much as an arrow that is jointly developed between the US and Israel and and the milit? Why is an SM3 block 2B six times more expensive than an aerrow missile with roughly the same capabilities? Yeah.
▶ 0:24:52in in Syria, what's your and I realize this is a huge diplomatic piece of this, but uh you are a diplomat as well as well as a warrior. Um where can you give us an update on where you see the Syrian government? Obviously, it's crucial that that government stabilize um and block Iran and Russia from getting back in. What can we most do to help that? And where do you see it at right now? I I think what the president did was talking about lifting some of the sanctions that's going to allow other countries to come in and bring some of the investments.
▶ 0:25:21That is one of the things that's desperately needed is the uh the investments back into the country. We're working directly right now with the Syrian democratic forces. Our our Kurdish partners and Arab partners on the ground going after de ISIS to get them to integrate in with the new Syrian government. Turkey has played a very positive role in that. Um that is a big piece for the stability in terms of that. I think they got to figure out how to run all of the administration of their country. They have a few people that are running the country right now.
▶ 0:25:48I am very concerned um with the stability, but I think the fact that we are at the table now having those discussions, the upside is great. The downside is very low to being at the table. How important is our troop presence in Syria to help helping facilitate that process and continue to keep ISIS at bay? So, our purpose for being in Syria is for the deisis fight. We literally took a strike this morning on an external operations leader from a of a of from central Asia up in northwest Syria. We're still waiting for the full results of that.
▶ 0:26:19Um that's what our forces do inside of Syria. We've made some adjustments, some consolidation of bases based on the fall of Assad. Right now, we're making an assessment going forward of what other bases. It's all conditionsbased that I'll make my recommendations to the Secretary of Defense and the President, but right now the guidance to me has been given to to right now make an assessment on any other adjustments that we need to make in our posture. Terrific. General Langley, there's a lot of concerning aspects to Africa, but West Africa right now seems to be the most concerning.
▶ 0:26:47I mean, it seems that the most capable terrorist organization is, you know, gaining influence in multiple countries and threatening others. um we don't have much of a presence there. What would be your recommendation in terms of how we contain that threat that is growing out of West Africa?
▶ 0:27:06ranking member I I would say uh you know since we we moved out of Nijir uh we had to reset our CT strategy and that's uh further engagement especially with the coast to west Africa countries who are building capabilities and capacity to deter and a number of countries it's is working uh but uh J&M which is uh and AQIM and also ISIS Sahel are really starting uh uh starting to get get their footing and and uh affect the elves across
▶ 0:27:36uh across the uh AES countries of Nijir uh Mali and Bikina Faso. I think that uh just collaboration with our partners in increasing institutional capacity for enduring solution against uh against uh those affforementioned uh uh uh VEOs. Uh to do that it takes a whole of government approach not so much our whole of government but their whole of government and we need to invest in that. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
▶ 0:28:06Chair now recognizes his gentleman from Arizona, Mr. Amade, for five minutes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And uh thank you generals for your leadership and your service for our country. And uh as a former Army Reserve intelligence officer who served in the Middle East, it is incredible to see President Trump's bold vision and a Middle East defined by quote, "Commerce, not chaos." Now, those words are now backed by decisive actions that nobody dreamed possible.
▶ 0:28:33Now, President Trump changed Syria's path overnight from endless bloodshed towards hope. There's a lot of optimism right there and I know Ambassador Tom Bareric and Presidential Envoy Bareric's doing an incredible job in Syria hitting the ground running. I don't know. He has a lot of flights back and forth from Ankura to Damascus. But, General Kella, I know there are so many questions about Syria's transition and after coming off of a 50-year Assad rule and ISIS mostly defeated.
▶ 0:28:58Um, and I know you helped with the, you just talked about it briefly with the agreement between integrating the Syrian Kurdish forces with the government forces of Syria. How's that integration actually going? Uh, I would tell you it's actually going well right now. There's some sticking points, but what's happening is you have the Syrian Kurds are talking directly to Alshara and the the Syrian government right now. Turkey has played a positive role uh in that as well, but I think that we're we're on a good path right now.
▶ 0:29:23And do you envision that integration could also include other minority militia like the Drews or the Christians or Alawways in Syria? It could. Um right now though, I mean we're focused on our on our partner that we have right now up in the uh the northeast and that's the Kurds. Very good. And our counter ISIS train and equip fund which helped the Syrian Kurds destroy ISIS could be wrapping up. Now can or should the train and equip shift to include Syria's forces? I think that would have to be a wait and see.
▶ 0:29:51I think the fact that we're at the table right now having this discussion um and that will allow us to make an assessment of that if that would be a wise choice. And how concerned are you about the foreign fighters possibly being integrated within the Syrian armed forces? That is the reason we have to take a wait and see on this. And are they integrating them right now? So right now I mean if you remember these are some of the people that brought Shara into power. Um they are integrated into some portions of the government and this is something that we have to make an assessment on. Very good.
▶ 0:30:20Now, shifting toward Iraq, the same train and equip fund is also used in Iraq. Um, but why are we subsidizing Iraq currently when it's withholding public salaries and military equipment from our Kurdish allies up north? They they have challenges every now and then. We end up working through them. They end up getting the salaries. They end up getting the equipment. There is always small frictions that we have to work through, but they are getting what they need. Sure. at Iran's stronghold within Iraq.
▶ 0:30:44Is that presence increasing even uh despite all of the the setbacks that Iran has been facing the last few months? I think Iran is trying to double down on getting their the a grip inside of Iraq, but I think Iraq is a sovereign nation and they don't want to be a vassal state of Iran. Of course, although there's a lot of Iranian militias currently still operating Iraq, I know they're holding hostage Elizabeth Sarov that we want released as well.
▶ 0:31:09Um, but how do you envision us pulling Iraq from Iran's I I it's it is a challenge because it's their next door neighbor. We partner at the military level with the Iraqi security forces to go after the ISIS. They are doing actually a very um good job in terms of going after ISIS. We killed the number two ISIS, global number two ISIS, Abu Khadija out in the Ambar with the assistance of the Iraqis. So I think when from a military to military standpoint they understand the need and why they want to have a relationship with the west.
▶ 0:31:39There are a lot of other reasons at the state department level on why we want to have a relationship with Iraq. A stable Iraq helps with a stable Middle East. Thank you General. And shifting to Africam. General Langley. Uh I know you have a lot of positive things to say about Morocco and I do as well as they were the first country to recognize United States independence and it seems like uh their alliance is increasing with us. Do you ever envision moving the headquarters of ARICOM from Germany to an African partner country like Morocco?
▶ 0:32:08Congressman, now thanks for that question. Um, and as I look at it from the operational perspective, costbenefit analysis, um, the benefit of uh, moving to to Morocco uh, would not uh, exceed the cost. uh the benefit operationally of us being able to operate from from Stuggard headquarters onto it does not uh does not benefit in an amount.
▶ 0:32:34The cost of moving the headquarters uh would be uh a a big dent to our budget. Uh so I I would say from a cost analysis uh perspective uh I think uh we we are advantageous of where we are right now. uh when we look at the overall cost it would we would not be uh benefiting from uh moving our headquarters onto the African continent at large.
▶ 0:32:56Uh but let me just say uh Morocco is a great partner uh and what they do in exporting security is tremendous uh especially in the subsahara countries. Very good chairman I yield back. Chair now recognized gent from Missouri Mr. Bale. Matthew 2016. So, the last shall be first and the first shall be last.
▶ 0:33:19Um, uh, Representative Wilson and Courtney, if you need any, uh, tips on how to maximize your time, uh, Rep. Amade and myself are experts, um, in this particular committee. I want to thank you uh, to the chair, to our ranking member, uh, to our witnesses, as well as the service members I see behind you for your service as well. Uh, my district in the greater St.
▶ 0:33:42Louis region is home to the production of some of the most advanced fighter aircraft in the world, including including many that Sinc has used in recent operations, such as intercepting incoming Iranian drones and missiles that targeted Israel and our regional allies.
▶ 0:34:00While I'm proud to represent a region that contributes so significantly to our national defense, I must also acknowledge that many of my constituents are still struggling to recover from the most disaster most devastating natural disaster to impact our state since the late 1950s. But as a region, we will recover and we are committed to build and support our domestic industrial base that is crucial to our national security.
▶ 0:34:26But what is not crucial to our national security is turning our backs on our allies. Um like we've seen from the administration and cutting essential foreign assistance programs that go hand in hand with our efforts to promote strong US global leadership. China and Russia have made significant military and economic inroads across the African continent posing serious implications for US strategic interests.
▶ 0:34:55At the same time, the Trump administration under the guise of pursuing efficiency has slashed funding for global development and humanitarian programs. These cuts have in practice created greater inefficiencies and undermined US influence abroad.
▶ 0:35:13General Langley, how does US economic aid h how does US economic and humanitarian engagement on the continent contribute to advancing Africam's military objectives particularly when it comes to countering the destabilizing destabilizing influence of Russia and China? Congressman, uh, thanks for that question.
▶ 0:35:38And I'll just go back uh on the operations, especially the operations that we do in Somalia. Um so when we support the Somali National Army uh as they've gone through numerous phases to the liberation phase of significant regions across uh across Somalia they get into phase four and some of the capabilities uh that uh outside of the kinetics and and military operations was they were able to stabilize the
▶ 0:36:09region. So we're at a point now looking forward to what worked as far as aid in the past. But this is where the secretary has uh charged me with engaging other countries of a shared a shared burden a shared burden on looking at uh uh contributing countries not only troop contributing but also in phase four operation which is stabilization.
▶ 0:36:31So those discussions are are taking place at a higher level uh at at the policy level and engagement with other countries so that we can focus uh laser focus on countering terrorism and a shared burden uh with other countries to be able to take up that that void over.
▶ 0:36:48And since Hamas's October 7th terrorist attack against Israel, one notable development has been the strengthening of military and security partnerships between Israel and its Arab n neighbors, especially evident during the two Iranian missile and drone attacks last year. This growing security cooperation has shown potential in laying the groundwork for peace.
▶ 0:37:13And to the ranking membmber's point, we endeavor to see a future for Palestine beyond Hamas. So, General Kurilla, from a security perspective, how can enhanced cooperation between is Israeli and Palestinian security forces or broader regional security coordination help establish a foundation for long-term peace and stability? Great question, Congressman. There has to be Hamas cannot be in charge. There has to be an alternative to Hamas.
▶ 0:37:43I think that is some form of a Palestinian governance. I think the regional partners can work with uh Israel to figure out what that is and with the Palestinian people. For almost 20 months, the Iranianbacked Houthis have wre havoc across the region, causing significant instability. Uh the ad the administration recently announced an agreement to seesaw operations against against the Houthis in exchange for a halt in their attacks on US ships.
▶ 0:38:11Um I I will submit my question but I want to talk about how this agreement excludes our regional allies and the implications of that. Um time expired chair now recognize gentleman from Indiana Mr. Msmer. Thank you Chairman Rogers and thank you to the witnesses for being here today. Uh, Jenner Currill, I couldn't agree with you more that FMS reform is needed and we we just have to do better in that regard.
▶ 0:38:35Um, in addition to reforming the FMS and DCS process, would you also agree with the need to reform or eliminate other non-treaty agreements that inhibit inhibit our ability to work with our allied allies and partners such as missile the missile technology control regime? C. Can you say the question again, please, Congress? Yes.
▶ 0:38:54uh how could other than FMS and and the DCS process would would you agree that we need to reform or eliminate other non-treaty agreements that inhibit our ability to work with our allies and partners such as missile technology control? I think we should find those partners in the region that can that we know can safeguard the technologies and we should work with them. We have several in the region that have offered up to say they would like to help produce. That is where we need help is the production line right now and I think that's something we should strongly look at. Okay. Thank you.
▶ 0:39:24Um, also I'd like to acknowledge the prof professionalism of our forces who have conducted operations in the Red Sea, but I'm wondering what what work needs to be done on the policy end with our regional allies and within our own inter agency to dei to devise a successful strategy against Yemen both that deters their destabilizing military actions of the Houthies and course them into making their closure of the Red Sea politically untenable in the region. Was that to me or to Paul? Um, to you.
▶ 0:39:52So I think from a well I'll defer to policy first for any policy question then I'll take it. Thank you for the question congressman. Um I would just highlight two things. First um with the conclusion of of operation ruff rider um we are not in certainly in a position where we are ending our entire engagement regarding the Houthi problem set. Um the Houthis are still under a foreign terrorist organization designation and we're still pursuing uh a whole of government approach which obviously includes um other inter agency elements to to tackle this problem set.
▶ 0:40:21Um and then I I would just highlight some of the comments that that you made um just a moment ago, which is this will uh the longer term problem set for for Yemen and the Houthis at large um really is something that um in our relationships with Saudi Arabia, UAE, uh Qatar and our our other Gulf partners.
▶ 0:40:38This is something where we'll look to burden share um this effort and and and really develop a regional solution um that empowers our our our Gulf partners that that we've continued to develop a deeper defense partnership with to to tackle the long-term elements of of the problem set. Thank you.
▶ 0:40:55uh General Kura um also have concerns about the long-term stability and strategic implications of using high-end platforms and munitions like the B2 bomber, Jasmine, and Tomahawk cruise missiles against supposedly unsophisticated adversaries like the Houthies. Has use of these platforms and and the rapid proliferation of adversarial drones led to more consideration toward effect the effectiveness of directed energy technologies encountered these platforms.
▶ 0:41:21Yeah, we absolutely need to be putting more work into directed energy high-powered microwave. I think some of the innovations that have come out of this since operation rough rider about 40% of the drones shot down were shot down by something called advanced precision weapon kill system. A laserg guided 2.75 in rocket fired off our F-16s or F-15s.
▶ 0:41:43That's a $25,000 uh munition going against a roughly $50 or $100,000 drone that is an Iranian provided drone to the Houthis. Excellent. So, what what uh role can our defense industrial base play in advancing directed energy solutions to ensure SentCom can maintain their technological advance? So, I would compliment someone like uh General Randy George and his army transformation initiative. He is sending things over once they reach a technology readiness level to a certain level.
▶ 0:42:10He sent over directed energy mobile short-range air defense. We brought it into the theater. We tested it in the harshest conditions you can find against an active enemy and a thinking enemy and we provided feedback on its effectiveness to make it better when so they can make a better informed decision on that. We have the same with high-powered microwave. We're doing things with software. Software is a weapon as well and rapidly changing this. the thing the warfare the character of warfare has changed with the drone revolution and that's what we need to be paying attention to. Okay.
▶ 0:42:41Thank you. U also uh how how would you assess the performance of Israel's missile defense architecture during recent fighting particularly systems like David's Sling and Arrow that we So I would tell you that the the missile defense out of the 300 plus missiles that were fired into Israel, one person was killed, a Palestinian from Gaza who is living in Jericho. Okay. Thank you. Has the attack highlighted any gaps in our budget requiring additional resources from Congress?
▶ 0:43:09I think we need to figure out how we also produce. I go back to my comment. Why does a THAAD cost three times as much as an arrow? Why does an SM2 block SM3 block 2B cost six times as much? We've got to figure that out because we are on the wrong side of the cost curve. Very good. Um, Congress has appropriated. Gentleman's time's expired. Chair and I recognize gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Vinderman. Thank you, Mr. care and thank you to all the witnesses and General Carrilla and General Langley. Thank you for your decades of uniform service.
▶ 0:43:40Um I want to thank you General Langley for these great place mats. I mean it's a a fantastic um graphic depiction of why Africa is is so important to our national security now and into the future. And in particular, uh, the things that I I sort of honed in on is the fact that it's, uh, the le 11 of the 20 fastest growing economies in the world are in Africa.
▶ 0:44:08Um, 25% of the 193 countries in the general assembly of the UN hold seats in Africa. And, um, the rare earths is probably maybe even more interesting in how much China controls here. So in this context in this sort of geopolitical context when we look at all the elements of power we have diplomatic information military economic and I know there are various iterations of this.
▶ 0:44:37Um Miss Thompson you emphasized the importance of countering China's influence in Africa. However this week the house is voting on a recision package that cut cuts 3.7 billion in soft power for example hundreds of millions in cuts to PEPAR a program started by uh George W. Bush forgetting the more than 25 million lives saved by PEPAR since uh the the program started in 2003.
▶ 0:45:03There's no question that there has been um that this has been an effective program in extending America's power and influence. Um this has made us safer and boosted our national security. And in the testimony that DoD sent over uh for today's briefing said, "Unfortunately, the CCP information manipulation is significantly outpacing our efforts to counter their campaigns.
▶ 0:45:25Unchecked China's efforts could reshape the information landscape in Africa, creating biases and gaps that could lead African nations to make decisions to subordinate the economic and security interests to China's own." So my question is given sort of the withdrawal that we've seen this administration take in the information environment and communicating through um you know voice of America and other entities that are specifically focused on on
▶ 0:45:55Africa um and in withdrawal of these critical soft power programs. Are we more or less uh in a position to to make sure that our military objectives are achieved? Thank you for the question, Congressman. Um I can't speak explicitly to the State Department equities in this, particularly the the humanitarian aid uh that you speak about.
▶ 0:46:19However, I will say from a a title 10 DoD perspective, um obviously the department has I'm sorry, let me stop you for a second. I'm talking about like sort of these elements of power, right? And there's a balance to these, right? So by withdrawing from theformational from the economic elements does that make achieving the military objectives more or less difficult? Appreciate the question sir.
▶ 0:46:43What I would say from a DoD perspective um thinking exclusively about the title 10 assistance that we provide particularly on the continent. That's part of our review process is understanding how our our Let me let me pause you right there. General Langley, same question to you. Does this make achieving the military objectives more or less difficult?
▶ 0:47:04Especially in the uh the MISO, we just as far as our information operations, countering uh some of the uh propaganda uh that uh the CCP is putting out there. Um yes uh that's that's where we need to be able to confront them because we had a lot of success in the past and even going forward uh Secretary Hex has given us the tools to press back on the CCP. Um we So thank you General Langley.
▶ 0:47:31I heard yes which I think is the short answer to the the the question and I just that we need to to counter them going forward. Switching gears to the Houthis. Uh, General Krill, um, over the last few months, we spent over a billion dollars attacking uh, the Houthis and our campaign.
▶ 0:47:47Um, can you can you evaluate uh, whether we've disrupted, neutralized, destroyed their So, the uh, president gave us a very specific mission, which was to get the Houthis to quit shooting at American ships. 6 months ago on 12th November 2024 was the last time a destroyer went through the Babel Mandeb. It was attacked 17 times with anti-ship ballistic missiles and anti-hship cruise missiles and UAVs.
▶ 0:48:15In the last week, we've put four destroyers back through the Babel Mandab, and we were not. Okay, I got that. They're they're not attacking US shipping. Are they still attacking Israel? Yes or no? They are still attacking Israel, and we are still defending Israel with our THAAD system. Thank you. So, gentlemen, times have expired. Mr. McGuire, you're now recognized for five minutes, sir. Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to our witnesses and to all of our military folks here. We wouldn't have a country without you. Thank you. Um, Miss Thompson, we really appreciate what you're doing in this administration with peace through strength.
▶ 0:48:45I think we all agree you have to have strong American leadership in the world or you have a lot of problems. Um, how has the president's outreach to the new government in Syria encouraged a good outcome for our Kurdish partners in the Syrian Democratic Forces? Thank you for the question, Congressman. And I would highlight the president's speech in Riad in particular. this idea that the Middle East region is transitioning from chaos to a region focused on commerce and empowerment. Um I think that this is an incredible good news story when it comes to the the conversation around Syria.
▶ 0:49:15We are giving the Syrian government a chance um and and stability if it if it holds in Syria um will be monumental for the region and and it's something that the administration is really leaning forward on um as a whole of government effort. Um obviously it's conditions based and we'll be very careful as we watch the developments. Um, but it's it's a really positive uh good news story that furthers further underscores that the region is really transitioning from this region of chaos into into a region focused on prosperity. Thank you, Miss Thompson.
▶ 0:49:42Since President Trump took office, have counterterrorism operations remained static or has there been an increase in operations in Somalia that have removed a number of terrorists from the battlefield? Thank you for the question. Um I will defer to General Langley on any additional operational comments, but I would say yes, the the Somalia um elements that you highlight, the increase in uh precision targeting uh in Somalia to take out terrorists uh who specifically pose a threat to the US homeland, demonstrating the capability and intent um to carry out operations against the
▶ 0:50:12US homeland, our forces, and our our people. Um is a is an incredible success uh as part of this administration's effort. Obviously countering or countering terrorism and protecting the homeland is one of our number one national security objectives. Um and I think that the activities in Somalia since day one uh really do highlight the capabilities that that we have and so I would offer General Langley the opportunity for any operational comments.
▶ 0:50:36Yeah, thanks Congressman for for the question and uh I would say that uh you know when the the president gave me expanded authorities and through the secretary of defense we've been pressurizing ISIS in the Golden Mountains considerably uh that is reinstituting deterrence uh in in a in a kinetic way and uh they are yielding to it uh to the point uh that they they are considering moving to seek refuge elsewhere.
▶ 0:51:01So uh uh that this this is what the warrior ethos and the lethality that we've imposed uh in the gold mountains against a uh a uh a foe that has the capability of a of attacking our homeland. I think uh this movement to increase our or lethal effects on them is uh causing their to to to establish pause. Thank you, General Krill.
▶ 0:51:27Iran and its proxies across SNCOM continue to use drones to target critical infrastructure, military installations, and commercial shipping in the region. The conflict in Ukraine, Iran's attacks on Israel have highlighted the challenges posed by saturation attacks comprised of UAS and missile threats.
▶ 0:51:44And I'm concerned about the survivability of high value air defense systems like Patriot BAD against drones and drone swarms in the Middle East as tensions remain high as the threat from proliferated small UAS technology grows in sinkcom to the extent you can share in an open set. How is the army thinking about requirements to defend deployed assets in theater against coordinated attacks from advanced aerial threats like drones and drone swarms?
▶ 0:52:11So that's why you want to have a a layered defense congressman. And we start everything from they can reach as far out you have ballistic missile all the way down to the group one quadcopters. Um we have capabilities that we layer against all of that whether it's electronic or kinetic non-kinetic means as well.
▶ 0:52:28Um what the army is doing to help us with that as General George is doing his army transformation initiative sending forward capability not to replace but to augment to put it in those harshest conditions in scentcom against an active thinking enemy and we give him feedback on the effectiveness of those to make it better before they do large purchases of those equipment. Perfect. All right. From your perspective, uh, General Carella, and for integration, would it be better to baseline these requirements into existing weapon systems like Patriot or THAAD or separate?
▶ 0:52:59What we want to be able to do is have a layered defense, but we need all of those systems to talk to each other. We can't have one-off proprietary software systems that don't um work with one overarching software system that controls all of them. Awesome. Well, thank you for our witness for answering the questions and I yield back. Mr. Tran, you're recognized for five minutes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, General Langley, General Krilla, uh, thank you so much for your service. Miss Thompson, welcome.
▶ 0:53:28Um, General Langley, you rightfully stated that Africa is a nexus theater where global interests converge and the United States continues to face fierce competition from China and Russia across the continent. Chinese state-owned firms now hold stakes in 78 African ports and China is currently negotiating a second PLA Navy base in Gaban. In your testimony, you mentioned that the US approach to Africa is African partnerled, US and ally enabled.
▶ 0:53:53General Lingley, in your view, which African partners are the most important to furthering US interests on the continent and why? Uh, Congressman, thanks for that question. is a is a broad question but uh as far as uh China is uh concerned and their aspirations to become a global hedgeimon uh I'll just give a a statistic that's pretty compelling um they're outspending Africa militarily 100 to one so as uh they have
▶ 0:54:23basing aspirations uh across the globe uh but especially in Africa uh in those p places uh whether it's on the east side or the west side uh they're trying to close the gap uh from a geostrategic positioning uh to be able to uh stop uh our uh joint forces for uh employing across the road globe or uh A2A in which aerial denial anti-access uh so and then also their critical minerals trying to control those supply chains.
▶ 0:54:54So those geostrategic region uh uh um ways uh of affecting their geopolitical means to engage with a number of countries is too many to to state. Sure. I appreciate that. And then um you know with US engagement with certain African countries being either cooled or stalled entirely uh General Langley, why is continued engagement with those African countries that are still engaged with the US so essential for our national sec national security? Absolutely.
▶ 0:55:22because uh some of these countries we have shared interest in and we see it as essential uh for the purposes of the shared commitment of stability and security across the region not only for counterterrorism uh but just for international rulesbased order.
▶ 0:55:37number of these countries see the importance of that and that's why we we have shared uh uh national security objectives so they can get to the future of being able to stand on their own and be able to uh create prosperity in uh in across across the future and a number of countries side with the United States in our ways to do it. Thank you. General Angley, you mentioned in uh your opening that Morocco is an example of success from our investment.
▶ 0:56:03Was hard power the sole tool we deployed for the access and generally do you believe that hard power is the only tool we have to further US interest in Africa? uh it's a it's a port portfolio of a number number of uh uh powers you know whole old government uh building institutional capacity having the African countries take a lead and share with one another as as a whole has proven to be the the success against a number of layered threats that are uh stalling progress across the African
▶ 0:56:34continent. That's right. And uh we need to be thinking about all levers of power, including the soft power tools at our disposal when looking to counter Chinese influence, deter further adversarial military expansion, and to protect access to critical minerals on the continent. In fact, that is why I I plan on voting against a recision package on the House floor this week that rescends bilateral and multilateral investment in places like Africa. General Korea, how is the US military supporting the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza?
▶ 0:57:03And what obstacles have you observed that are preventing the seamless delivery of such aid? So we have in the past we've delivered a humanitarian aid through both air, sea, and land. Um we are working with the Jordanians. We help screen the convoys that would been bring in the food for that. But right now we we have we are not actively working the humanitarian aid. Is there a reason why we're not? I mean that right now Israel has contracted an American company that is doing the distribution inside of Gaza.
▶ 0:57:32Um, Hamas hates that because Hamas no longer has control over that distribution. So, this is an American private company that Israel did. There was no SECOM was not part of that that contracted this that is doing a millionish meals. I think they're doing a day, a little more than that, um, through this private company. And are we prepared to help if Israel is uh was to ask for our assistance? We are prepared if the president directs us to do that. Thank you. Thank you, gentlemen, for your service and your testimony here today. Thank you, chairman.
▶ 0:58:00I yield chair. Now recognize a gentleman from Wisconsin, Mr. Ban Orton. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, General Carrilla, I want to congratulate you on on a on a fantastic career. Thank you. For your service to the country. Um, it's wonderful. I'd also like to acknowledge your master chief back there. Derek and I worked together for well, you could probably tell for how long by the color of my beard and the amount of hair we both have on our head. So, you did well by yourself there, General.
▶ 0:58:29Um, General Langley, you're a Marine, right? And then the Marine Hymn from the halls of Montazuma to the shores of Tripoli, right? Tripoli, that's Libya. And we went to war with them because the Barbar pirates were our citizens. Thomas Jefferson did not want to do that, but he did. And other nations were paying tribute to these pirates. And we said enough, right?
▶ 0:58:57So, I'd like to gently remind some of my colleagues that sit over there, if they actually did their homework and read the recisions packages that are proposed by the Trump administration, we're removing what can really reasonably be titled 21st century tribute. So, we're going to be assisting our African partners and our Middle East partners, but we're not paying tribute anymore. Those days are over. And you're in that uniform because we stopped paying tribute back then.
▶ 0:59:25So I can forward the package to anybody over there if you want actually want to read it instead of just complaining. Um so former Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said he would take the Taliban at their word when they're talking about anti-terrorist operations, counterterrorist operations and human rights in particular to rights of women in Afghanistan. Uh General Krill, how how's that work out for women in Not very well right now. Not very well. Okay.
▶ 0:59:54So, the Houthis now have said that, okay, my bad. We're going to stop shooting missiles at ships. And I would encourage everybody to to give as much validity to the Taliban statement as we did or excuse me to the Houthi statement as we did or should have to the um the Taliban.
▶ 1:00:14Um, General Langley and General Carrilla, I've spoke to the special operations component commanders about this, so I understand the issue with the Houthis is not a seam, you know, between your two cocoms, but can you in this setting, can you tell me like do we know how the Houthis are being resupplied by Vast majority of it is by sea. They put them on, they come out of the ports in uh in Iran. They put them on Dows, stateless Dows.
▶ 1:00:43Some of them go on maritime vessels into Djibouti. Yeah. Um on the UN vessel inspection mechanism, they put stuff inside a container. If you have a ship with 500 containers and it's in the bottom of it, you can put all those sensitive components in the bottom of that. Now, a positive thing that just happened in the last month is that the UN vessel UN vessel inspection mechanism decided to go to 100% inspection of containers.
▶ 1:01:09I think it needs to be 100% unloading of all the containers to see what's inside of them, but that's a positive step. But probably about 80 to 85% goes by by sea. Okay. Um why are we not sinking these vessels? So we have we have a we have a terrorist nation Iran with these their their minions. They're sending lethal munitions to the minions which have shut off the Red Sea for commercial traffic. Why aren't we sinking? I guess maybe that's a question.
▶ 1:01:38We we have to find the ships is the the hardest part is to find that ship at any given time. There's between 3,000 and 5,000 dows on between the uh um Iran and Babel Mandeb. That's the same distance from the tip of Florida to Boston. Oh yeah. That you're trying to find these Dows. I I lived in Djibouti for a long time and I sent some of my guys to Yemen and that was a big secret and it's not anymore obviously. But Miss Thompson, have you guys looked at this from a policy perspective?
▶ 1:02:05I mean, the the last two SEALs that were killed in combat uh unfortunately were in the Red Sea, Dererick and I's uh teammates, and they were boarding these vessels to try to prevent these munitions from getting to the Houthi. So, this is very personal to me. Miss Thompson, thank you for the question, Congressman, and and rightly understood. I I can say more on some of the particular policy elements in close session on this, but what I would say is one of the elements that we have looked at and and continue to engage on um is our European partners.
▶ 1:02:34they are actually very well equipped to to continue to help us with this effort. Um particularly from their positioning in the region. Miss Thompson, I don't mean to interrupt you, but I'm going to because I have 20 seconds left. Um right now, from a policy perspective, from the DoD, um if the United States of America understands our European allies find a ship, and we know for sure that there are munitions on there that are going to the Houthies, can we just sink it? We can board it. We have the authority to board it. And if we find the munitions, we'll take the crew.
▶ 1:03:03We'll transfer that crew and we can end up sinking the ship. We did one on a dial uh two weeks ago. Gentleman's time's expired. Chair and I recognize gentle from California, Mr. Whitesides. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh General, General Killa, uh General Langley, thank you both for being here today. And thank you, ma'am, for being here today. And I want to echo my colleagues and thanking you for your distinguished service. Um I want to begin by uh talking about a trip that we took uh last month. We went to the SenCom area of responsibility including Iraq, Bahrain, Qatar, and the UAE.
▶ 1:03:32with ranking member Smith and a bipartisan delegation from this committee. I have to say, General Currill, how impressed I was by the de dedication and professionalism of the men and women serving in your AO, especially given the rapidly shifting landscape in that part of the world. That dedication is incredibly important. The Middle East is a place that deserves American attention and investment, as I'm sure you would agree. Uh, General Krill, in your time as SenCom commander, you've seen the culmination of the civil war in Syria, the explosion of conflict in Gaza, a changing paradigm in Yemen, and much more.
▶ 1:04:02In my visit, I heard a sense of concern from our allies in the region amid the serious change. Some of our partners in the Middle East worry that we're taking our eyes off the ball. Uh, General Krill, what are the tangible concrete steps you think are necessary to reassure our allies that we are still focused on your AO and that we still stand with them? So, I think words matter and actions matter. I think what we are doing is we are transitioning from a security guarantor to a security integrator. I think the thing we have to have a sufficient and a sustainable posture.
▶ 1:04:32So we can't take everything. We have to have enough that we can still be able to partner um with our partners in the region. We need to be able to give them the military equipment, the foreign military sales so that I can be integrated into the uh the region. We saw that on the defense of Israel systems that can talk to each other and this is one of the challenges with foreign military sales. They have real security needs. If we don't fill them, they're going to fill them. China shows up with an Amazon catalog. They say, "Pick anything in here.
▶ 1:05:01I'll give you financing, free shipping, prime shipping, and no enduser agreement." But I tell them it'll never touch our networks. So, we've got to be able to provide them the tools that they need to integrate in the region. And then we become the security integrator. Yeah, I would agree with that. We actually heard that from several time several times over there. We also need to be more responsive in being able to fulfill uh the the deals that we do do so that people are not waiting you know 10 years or or whatever for the systems. Maybe we can work together with that. Anyway, uh next question.
▶ 1:05:29What we are seeing around the world is that allies are regarding the United States as an increasingly uncertain partner as we impose and then remove unilateral tariffs, consider cutting active duty and foreign assistance programs, and discuss using military force to take the territory of other nations like Greenland. I believe that we are made safer through our alliances and that making our alliances doubt our resolve makes us less strong. That is particularly true in Africa where China has made long-term efforts through various initiatives.
▶ 1:05:56Meanwhile, the new administration muses publicly about terminating ARICOM. General Langley, can you describe in general terms the concerns you have heard from our African allies and security partners about this potential administration policy change and the impact it would have on our nation's security and economic resource requirements.
▶ 1:06:15Congressman, I was in Nairobi uh last week and uh I will say the message from the Secretary of Defense by uh by the chiefs of defense across Africa was wellreceived. They get that they need to be able to provide their own security. They they get that they they do not need to be dependent on us anymore.
▶ 1:06:36there's things that they think that uh they can share in the burden and they are ready to shift such as countries like uh Morocco and Tunisia and uh in Kenya but there's others also in in that as well. So they uh articulate what they need uh to to push to that level. Uh but at this point here, I think everything is positive that uh they need to be able to take on take on their own security uh for Africa to uh prosper at large.
▶ 1:07:07Thank you, gentlemen. I appreciate your service. I yield back. Thanks. Gentleman yields back here. And I recognize gentleman from Louisiana, Mr. Higgins. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ma'am, gentlemen, thank you for being here. I look at the the flags behind you and means a lot to us. I look at the streamers on those flags, what they stand for, what they represent.
▶ 1:07:38I think about the service that you two gentlemen have provided to your country the blood that you've shared and friends that you've lost, brothers and sisters that are represented in some of those streamers on those flags. The significance of a hearing like this cannot be overstated.
▶ 1:08:03Really we are in a era of adjustment our nation whereby we can we can uh move into the 21st century as a dominant military force worldwide in order to to maintain and preserve or establish peace.
▶ 1:08:24And Congress has an incredibly significant job to do to to listen to the experts that is provided to us so that we can we can improve the the uh means by which we provide our war fighters with modern So I thank you for being here and and for your service.
▶ 1:08:50And General Killa, you you had mentioned multi-year funding uh versus uh one or two-year funding. Would you please clarify for this committee the difference between multi-year funding for the DoD versus multi-year contracting for our defense contractors?
▶ 1:09:14cuz we don't want to lock into a technology that could be replaced by a better, less expensive technology. Would you touch on that? Sure. I agree. I mean, one of the challenges I think you have if you're a business and you make X um you have this production line, but if you know you're only going to get money from these companies, you you're spreading that out. You only have so much production line.
▶ 1:09:38So, when when we have partners come to us and say, "We would like to purchase X." and we tell them they can get it in 2029 um because we don't have the production capability. That is a concern. I'm also just as concerned that the industrial base cannot keep up with the weapon expenditure. Every conflict that we've had recently has underestimated the weapons. Russia, Ukraine, Israel. Um and so I think what we want to do, right? Yes, sir. So, not to interrupt you, but you're at the heart of the problem.
▶ 1:10:05What I want to get to here is that that if we if we have to find the sweet spot and I'm going to ask you what that is. You have a problem of of historically like constant design changes with a program, we have to move away from that.
▶ 1:10:19If we have multi-year funding for the Department of Defense, that gives greater executive authority to accomplish the mission um and build and procure and take delivery of the the right vessels and craft.
▶ 1:10:37But we don't want to be locked into a multi-year contract with a particular defense contractor because it that would that would insulate us against the emergence of significantly better tech that's more effective and more lethal and less expensive. We have to be able to make that shift. So what is that sweet spot? I I can't tell you exactly what the sweet spot is, but I do know we have to be agile. We've been making Patriot missiles for a very very long time.
▶ 1:11:05So, the multi-year funding on that, I don't know if it's three to five years, but if if I'm a businessman, I'm not going to build new production lines. I don't know if I'm going to get money next year. That's what like existing tech. Okay, shifting to to some tech that's out there that I want to know if it's being shared. Some of our uh allies in the in the Middle East incredibly wealthy. They have unlimited funding for research and development.
▶ 1:11:31And uh from my research indicates that they're that they are fielding some uh autonomous tech that is that is uh far beyond what we have. Are they sharing that with us? So we are partnered with several of these uh partners in the Middle East. We do share quite a bit. There are some things that we know that they are using as well. Um but we have quite a bit of uh visibility on that.
▶ 1:11:55And finally, what would it take to wipe out Houthi operational capabilities? Sir, I think the number one thing that has to happen is to have Iran quit resupplying them. Um that they would die on the vine without Iranian support. Die on the vine. We would like that. General Langley, General Krillin, Miss Thompson. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I yield. Gentleman yields back. Chairman, I recognize gentle lady from Maryland, Miss Elforth. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
▶ 1:12:23Thank you for being here and and generals, thank you for your decades of service to this nation. It is greatly appreciated. Uh I'm going to start where my colleague left off with the Houthis. Uh even though we've negotiated the ceasefire with a designated terrorist organization, they continue to launch attacks as we've said both at our allies and continue to place global commerce at risk. What can you tell us in this open session uh about the specific drones attack on Israel and what are we learning from that? The specific what, ma'am? Drone attacks on Israel.
▶ 1:12:53from Iran or from the Houthies? From the Houthis. So for the Houthies, I mean we are still shooting down Houthi UAVs that are going towards Israel. Um they have taken an Iranian UAV. It's called a Kazo4 with some modifications, additional gas. They call it a YAFA. Um it has the I mean there's some Houthy firsts here, but it's Iranian equipment um that can go 2600 kilometers. Um and so when we have that, we've shot down dozens of them.
▶ 1:13:20Um, and so they are taking a very simple UAV, extending the range of it, and then Israel has effective defenses as well. It's been said, but I I want to reiterate, we're in uh between Ukraine and and this region hypersonic technology development with particularly with with drones. What evidence do you have that the Houthis were sharing their drone warfare knowledge with our adversaries? Um, so with other adversaries, so I will take you back to July of 2024.
▶ 1:13:51We killed seven individuals in Iraq that were setting up two UAVs. Of the seven individuals killed, there was a Houthi UAV expert, a brigadier general. There was an Iranian IRGC uh UAV expert there. There was three Kab Hezbollah individuals there as well. And there was a Lebanese Hezbollah individual there as well. Um so we are seeing that there is Houthis have outreached to Russia.
▶ 1:14:17Um they have gone to China, they have uh cells in Iran, they're in Syria, they're in Lebanon as well. Okay. Thank you. Um switching gears to General Langley. Uh we've touched on in this hearing the the very real real nexus between our long-standing humanitarian efforts and investments in Africa uh to build allies and the same time the very real threat China poses particularly to to naval progress but also the extraction of those rare earth minerals that are critical to national defense.
▶ 1:14:46All of that related to national security and your role. Over the last six years the terrorist organization Geni Gen JNIM has seen dramatic growth in activities. You recently gave remarks emphasizing that the US was focused on helping African nations build the self-reliance to fight such terrorists. But it was reported that the vast majority of programs run through the Global Fragility Act, a multi-year initiative intended to bolster stability in v vulnerable West African countries has been shut down by this administration.
▶ 1:15:14Can you please speak to the threat of gen JNIM to the region and its stability? Congresswoman, thanks for the question. Uh yes, the epicenter of J&M right now uh lies within u the countries of Mali and Mikina Faso and to some degree Nier but it's threatening uh of uh the the former uh GFA uh recipient states I've u met in Kodvar with uh with Ambassador Davis
▶ 1:15:44VA and the thing uh in in the past they have been able to benefit of uh being able to uh share um ways ahead for uh counterterrorism. So in their northern regions of uh of Bikina of excuse me uh the southern regions of Bikina Fossil but the northern regions of Kotvar uh they've been very effective with the construct they've established. So yeah, they benefited for from their whole of government.
▶ 1:16:10Uh and I think that the GFA had uh been an enabler for that in the past. But going forward uh they know that uh with the straight talk that we have already said that we need to share this burden and uh Mikina Faso uh is uh we've offered them other uh opportunities uh to uh be able to benefit with with what Kotvara has been successful at.
▶ 1:16:34So, it's a sharing of ideas and sharing of uh the enduring solution to counterterrorism which all of those countries can can benefit from. Thank you, General. And in my remaining moments, I'm just going to make a statement about the president's recent desire or statements and desire to develop the Gaza Strip into the Riviera of the Middle East and how deeply troubling those statements are. Many of us share the desire for a lasting two-state solution driven by self-governance and long-term stability in the region.
▶ 1:16:59Yet building such a resort and displacing 2 million Palestinians will only exacerbate tensions and create a target for further hostilities in the region. I understand this isn't directly related to your responsibilities in the military, but I fail to see the national security reasoning. Instead, I want to echo with my last moments my colleague, Congressman Tran's uh excellent proposal that SenCom use its incredible logistics capabilities to support distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza. Thank you. Gentle lady yields back. Chair and I recognize gentleman from Texas, Mr. Gooden. Thank you. Uh, General Langley, I'll start with you and then move east.
▶ 1:17:30Um, regarding the DRC in Rwanda, could you give me kind of an update, not necessarily a history, uh, but where you see things, uh, as they stand today with that conflict? at the at the cusp of it, at the central piece of it is the uh the encroachment of M23 forces uh uh into into the DRC, eastern DRC.
▶ 1:17:59Uh they've been very successful in their offensive operations uh going all the way down to South Ku. This encapsulates some of the regions uh that are rich in critical minerals. Uh so uh and just at the at the diplomatic realm uh I won't speak to uh that piece but uh I know that Rwanda uh is allegedly uh supporting uh supporting the M23.
▶ 1:18:24Uh and then uh President Tiskeetti and DRC is trying to get his forces right set so they can counter this. So that's all in the diplomatic realm. SADC, another a number of regional constructs in southern Africa are trying to solve this uh problem uh and and trying to come to a truce uh where that we can affect peace over well we would consider both uh both countries to be friends of ours I believe. So it's tricky in that sense.
▶ 1:18:50But in your mind, what needs to happen to wrap this conflict up uh and bring peace to the region? From an operational perspective, uh like I said, this is mainly in the diplomatic uh realm. So I had to defer to State Department. Fair enough. Thank you. General, could you The last time you were here, I asked you about Qatar and our relationship with them.
▶ 1:19:11Um, some of my colleagues have questioned Qatar's reliability as a US partner and their status as a non u a major non-NATO ally and in light of the president's recent visit. Could you clarify the strategic benefits of of continuing advanced military exports to Doha and our relationship with them? How's that going? We have a phenomenal relationship militaryto military with Qatar. They house the largest base in the Middle East in Doha in Doha.
▶ 1:19:39They uh provide burden sharing in the form of $300 million a year to run those bases. Um they have been sup incredibly supportive of everything we do. Generally the answer is yes. What is the question when I talk to them is the um I find that to be the case as well. I share your your belief toward that. How does the um what opportunities could you see uh for us to expand that relationship uh that would benefit our nation? Sure.
▶ 1:20:08Just last week, we inducted for the first time a Patriot component into their depo level maintenance and they repaired that component for us. One of the things Cutter has offered to do is to help in either manufacturing or depo level maintenance for some of the unique uh systems that we both share. So, I think there's tremendous opportunity that can help also our industrial base as well as our maintenance base. I appreciate that. Thank you for the work you're all doing and uh good luck. Thanks so much. Yield back. Gentlemen yields back.
▶ 1:20:38Chair and I recognize a gentle lady from New Hampshire, Miss Goodlander. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to our witnesses for being here today, particularly to you, General Kurilla, and General Langley. I want to thank you for your incredible service to our country, and I will miss you very much as a new member on this committee. So, thank you for everything you've done.
▶ 1:20:57General Krill, I want to take you back to 2022, your confirmation hearing, when you testified that Iran, the Iranian regime, is the number one destabilizing force in the Middle East. Is that still still remains the number one malign influence in the Middle East. Thank you for that. you know, you you in your written testimony, you testified that Iran's nuclear threat um its best chance at restoring deterrence and imposing its will on the region is its nuclear threat.
▶ 1:21:27And you also testified that Iran has virtually doubled its enrichment capacity in the past six months, which is extremely alarming, I think, to everybody on this committee. And I just want to say at the outset that Congress is we are committed on a bipartisan basis to taking action on this issue. I'm proud to be uh supporting the Enhanced Iran Sanctions Act of 2025.
▶ 1:21:48And we welcome uh the the Pentagon's help in in advising Congress as we think through every tool that can be used to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. I I want to ask you, General, about um as many of my colleagues have, uh the other pillar of the threat Iran poses, its funding for terrorist groups and particularly the Houthis.
▶ 1:22:09Um so last month the president reached a ceasefire agreement uh with the Houthis the terrorist organization the Houthis. Um I wanted to ask you the goal of that ceasefire agreement and and the terms of the agreement. So when the president gave the mission to Sentcom, it was a very specific mission on March 10th. He said I want the Houthis to quit shooting at our ships.
▶ 1:22:36That was the mission that was given to us for 51 days. We pounded the Houthis. They were screaming to all of our partners in the region to include the Omanis to get the Americans to stop pounding them. And so they came and said, "We will quit shooting at you if you quit shoot. We will stop shooting at you if you quit shooting at us." That met the president's goal. So stop shooting at American chips. That was the specific goal that was given to me. Understood.
▶ 1:23:00And the goal is to restore freedom of navigation in this important part of the world where so much of global commercial shipping depends upon the freedom of navigation. 30% of all container traffic. So has commercial shipping resumed? So that will be a more of a lagging indicator when the insurance rates come down. Um we just did a freedom of navigation with four warships over the last week. Nothing was shot at them. We also had multiple other comp uh countries frigots and the UK destroyer went through there.
▶ 1:23:31Um I think you will see over time as long as the conditions exist. Deterrence is always temporal. Um as long as those conditions exist and the insurance rates come back down, it's a two-eek faster transit to go through the Red Sea and the Suez than to go around the Cape of Good Hope. But right now a shipping industry is looking at as long as the insurance rates stay high, they will choose to go a different route. And so that's going to be a lagging indicator. So how long do you expect it will take for commercial shipping to resume?
▶ 1:23:59I think you'll see us start to escort some other uh US flagships and I think others will start to go through there as well over time as long as the conditions exist. Thank you, General. Well, as you know well, the cost of this lagging indicator is very real for the American people. And Mr. Chairman, I'd like to enter into the record um an article uh dated June 5th. Red Sea passage remains remains a no-go for shipping despite US action. Without objection, so ordered. Thank you.
▶ 1:24:30General, I you know I I want to ask you about uh well, first of all, so our goal was to to protect American ships. Our goal was not to protect our ally Israel and we are seeing an escalation in the conflict between the Houthis and our ally Israel. Um you've testified to some of the things we can do to help mitigate that threat to our ally. Um, but I I just want to say for the record that this you you have said well that this is a threat that's metastasizing.
▶ 1:25:00It's a regional scourge and the United States cannot give up on this. We are still protecting Israel though we have that battery there that is shooting down Houthy missiles and we shoot down Houthi UAVs that are going towards Israel. Thank you, General. I I was very interested and I'll be submitting more questions for the record in in what you said um about what SenCom could do to help deliver humanitarian assistance to Gaza.
▶ 1:25:23Can you can you tell us what resources SenCom has to bear uh towards what I think we can all agree is a really important mission. So I think that the biggest resources that SenCom can assist with is the ground lock is where how you you move large quantities of that. We assisted the Jordanians in scanning all of their um trucks before they went in and that met the Israeli security concerns of any trucks going in and we deliver times expired. Chair I recognize gentleman from Guam.
▶ 1:25:53Uh Mr. Mullen. Thank you Mr. Chairman. I thank you all for your participation today. Uh especially what what you have in front of you and over the last 18 months from the administration and SenCom and Africa and you sustained some high tempmpo operations involving missile defense and rapid force protection. You contested logistics and your counterpro proxy engagement.
▶ 1:26:19So many of which reflect the type of challenges we're anticipating in the potential Indo-Pacific conflict. So lessons learned hope I'd like to hear from each of you uh from this kinetic operations that you've been doing whether whether it be from Santiccom's counter uh Houthi maritime strikes or Africcom's experience in the disperse operations and low access environments.
▶ 1:26:47What lessons are being actively into strategic planning for high-end fight in the Indo-Pacific? Uh, Miss Thompson, if we can start first with you, please. Thank you, Congressman. I think it's an incredibly important question. Um, I'll leave the operational details to to General Langley and General Krill, but I would say um, one of the most important things that that we're watching is certainly uh, strategic waterways and the ability to flow forces into the Indoacific.
▶ 1:27:14Obviously, uh, freedom of navigation for US military vessels through the BAM and the Red Sea, um, is critical to that effort. So, I would just highlight that as one of the big takeaways and and one of the strategic choke points that's very important to to make sure we have control over. General, please. Yeah.
▶ 1:27:29So I think between both the Iranian attacks on Israel as well as our uh the Houthi attacks on our naval forces, we have learned a lot that are applicable and we pass these back to big navy, big air force, uh the army as well. Um it software is a weapon. Our ability to do combined joint all domain command and control. Um the things that we are doing with software is amazing.
▶ 1:27:55um we have advanced that we have engineers every day making improvements on our ability to do that. It's a warfighting headquarters. The things that we are doing with ballistic missile defense. The software is changing based on what we are seeing on the battlefield. The same thing I would tell you as it comes to counter UAS as well. We are making changes to the Navy software on the spy radars based on what we're seeing. It's the first time in the history of warfare that anti-hship ballistic missiles have been used against ships.
▶ 1:28:23Um, I would remind you that the uh uh the Truman spent 51 days in the the longest sustained period of combat for an aircraft carrier since World War II and they performed marvelously. Thank you, General. Thank you, Congressman, for that question.
▶ 1:28:39And from my perspective um in the operational sense, I look at it as supporting three different uh combat commanders to include uh SentCom and uh in their global integrated plan against uh their foe, especially Iran and then uh and and even uh Yukcom in their their their global plan as as well as inopcom.
▶ 1:29:00uh and on this map here that you see the strategic choke points uh as far as Africama what we're charged to do and to supporting those respective combat commanders in support of their uh global plans is to be able to keep us at phase zero phase zero of deter and being able to dur and and keep free flow of commerce and freedom of action around us. So we work uh through our partners a number of uh countries across the McGreb for the end.
▶ 1:29:26Every exercise has that teed up as far as a objective to how we do that with shared objectives, shared intel and uh and common common objectives I should say uh with other countries and that's an enabler for us in my support support plans to those respective combatant commanders. Thank you General uh General Carrilla and most my hearings I'm always an advocate for the army.
▶ 1:29:51right in the Indopace area especially but today I want to advocate for the Navy's role in Sentcom. So how has the United States participated in this multi- national maritime task force to counter both state and non-state actors within your area of operation? So I'm incredibly proud of the uh the sailors in our Navy and what they've been able to accomplish. So when I look at Sentcom, it has three of the eight strategic choke points in the world.
▶ 1:30:19Um, and what our Navy has been able to do to be able to secure those has been fantastic. I mean, they have really, when you look at what they've done both against the Houthis and in the interdiction of other in uh things coming into the region, they've done a fantastic job. Thank you so much. Thank you for your service to the nation. I appreciate you all. Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Gentleman yields back. Chair now recognize gentleman from Illinois, Miss Sorenson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, good morning and welcome to General Currill, General Langley, and Miss Thompson.
▶ 1:30:48I especially want to thank uh the two generals here today uh for your many years of service, your dedication to our nation. Um since this will be the last time that you appear before our committee, you have worn your uniform so proudly and your country will always be grateful of that. Um both sides of the aisle agree today um that we must continue to improve support to service members as well as our standing around the world.
▶ 1:31:13But I must say uh that my constituents and I are still very angry uh that our men and women in the Sentcom theater were put at risk by the signal mess with Secretary Hexath, Vice President Vance, and other senior members of this administration. Our brave service members should never have to worry that our own leaders are giving enemies our mission secrets.
▶ 1:31:39As we've seen with the Houthis, we need to be able to pro properly protect ourselves uh from drones and and we should be outfitting our own war fighter with drones. The Rock Island Arsenal's Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center 3D prints drones that then get outfitted with the sensors and the systems needed for our important missions. I think this is crucially needed. to both generals today.
▶ 1:32:03Uh can you talk about where we need to be going in terms of both our unmanned air systems and counter UAS capabilities in our regions? If I could just jump on the additive manufacturing 3D printing. So we have a innovation task force out there. One of them is task force 39 which has an additive manufacturing in Kuwait. We use that for both polymers and metallic additive manufacturing. We'll print parts, get that back to get a get a system back up until that OEM part can come in. We do that on a routine basis.
▶ 1:32:33We are 3D printing drones down in task force 99 down in uh Qatar and they do with these small um attritable drones. We slap some cameras on them and we use those very effectively as well. So I think this is you know when you talk counter UAS though a big part of it is the detect and I think we have to do a better job to be able to detect and that is something that we've made some some recommendations on as well.
▶ 1:32:58General Now I'll just go ahead and state that uh my buddy here at Kella uh in Sentincom region has been the lead uh lead as far as uh uh evolving technology to counter drones uh because what happens in SCCOM uh will eventually happen in Africcom. So uh we've been following his lead in in the technology and experimentation and uh we've been leveraging that uh within Africam region. Thank you sir. The new regime in Syria certainly changes the landscape of the Middle East.
▶ 1:33:27You know, I'm hopeful that this will really diminish Iran's influence uh in the region and lessen Russia's foothold uh in the Middle East. To General Carrilla, uh with our approach to Syria changing, where do you see things headed today? And what opportunities and challenges do you see going forward? So, the opportunities are are significant. I think I see a lot of upside. I say little downside for engaging right now. Ambassador Tom Bark, he's the US ambassador to Turkey, but also the special envoy to Syria. I talked to him often.
▶ 1:33:57Um he is at the table. I think we were waited a little too long to come to the table um with the fall of Assad back in December. Um we're now there and we're we're able to engage and be able to shape the way forward. I think that's a very very positive thing. One of the things that I worry about with the current administration is how we're handling the relationships that we have with our allies around the world. Our ability to forge new partnerships and friendships. you know, building and maintaining these partnerships is so crucial to our own safety and our interests.
▶ 1:34:27And as General Currill mentioned in your written statement, we can't take our partners for granted. Um, can you speak to the importance of our allies in the region and what we in Congress need to do to support them? Well, I think a big part of it is is being there for them. I've I've been to the region 45 times. You have to be there. You have to sit down. You have a meal together. And that's how you build a friendship and a relationship. Um, I talk to the Chads almost every single day.
▶ 1:34:55I'm talking to a different Chad, multiple chiefs of defense, I'm sorry. Every single day I'm talking to several of them. Um, when they're sending you pictures of their grandkids, you know, you're you know, you're part of the family. And and to be able to do that though, what they're asking of us is, hey, one, are you going to be there for us? And the answer is yes. But it's the foreign military sales is their single biggest frustration that they have on the time to deliver. They have the means to purchase.
▶ 1:35:21It's the time to deliver that equipment that they're asking for and that's where I think we can amend 40% of all foreign military sales um in the world in the Sentcom region and I think we can do a better job. Thank you gentlemen both for your service and we appreciate your dedication to our country. Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Gentleman yields back. Chair recognize gentleman from Texas, Mr. Latril. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Gentlemen, thank you for coming today. And I'd like to thank everyone in in uniform today, as well as our veterans that are in the in the room.
▶ 1:35:48Uh, General Krill, you you talked about ISIS K and Afghanistan in your opening statement. Um, I'd like a little deep dive if you don't mind. Sure. All right. So, ISIS Corusan, perhaps one of the most active in trying to do external plots globally to include against the homeland. Um, right now what we saw is the Taliban um in going after ISIS K. They hate each other. Pushed a lot of them into the tribal areas on the Afghan Pakistan border through a phenomenal partnership with Pakistan.
▶ 1:36:20They have gone after ISIS Corusan killing dozens of them through a relationship we have with them intellig providing intelligence. They have captured at least five ISIS corusan high-value individuals. They extradited back Jafar who was one of the key individuals behind the Abbey gate bombing and the first person he called for uh chief of the army staff Moner was me and said I've caught him. I'm willing to extradite him back to the United States. Please tell the uh secretary of defense and the president.
▶ 1:36:49So we are seeing Pakistan with with limited intelligence that were provided them go after them using their means to do that and we're seeing an effect on ISIS course. At the same point they are continuing to move around. Sometimes they will try and go back into Afghanistan. We have the means to be able to collect, but for the most part right now they're hanging out right in that border area of Pakistan.
▶ 1:37:11And I would also tell you that I mean since 2024 the beginning Pakistan had over a thousand uh terrorist attacks in the western area killing about 700 security and civilians and 2500 wounded. They're in an active counterterrorism fight right now and they have been a phenomenal partner in the counterterrorism world. It seems like does it seem like they're scaling down or scaling up? So I think from ISIS Corusan they got hit very very hard over the last several months.
▶ 1:37:40Um and so they're I I would tell you right now they're at a low point right now. What we're getting out of interrogation and exploitation has been significant but remember these are the same individuals that did the Crocus Music City Hall attack in Moscow. They did the attack in Kermon, Iran, and they've attempted other attacks and there is actually ties in a classified setting that I could talk in terms of the homeland. China, whatever we have to do not to go back to that place would be amazing. That's why we need to if I could. Yes, please. We have to have a relationship with Pakistan and with India.
▶ 1:38:11I do not believe it is a binary switch that we can't have one with Pakistan if we have a relationship with India. We should look at the merits of the relationship for the positives that it has. General Langley with in regards to Africcom, it it seems as if Russia more or less has Africa landlocked. Uh well, I'm looking at the map here.
▶ 1:38:32Can you give me a kind of a high level briefing when it comes to Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya, the northern part of Africa, if you roll the clock back maybe a decade, that seems to be the best place you could hide in plain sight, especially in the northern point of Tunisia, uh with the the the vastest of the desert. Um, are we seeing anything happening developing in the northern part of Africa? Because it seems as if we are centrally kind of focused on where all the rare earth minerals are being mined.
▶ 1:39:02Congressman, that's a great question. And I've always been uh through through my tenure of command and the last three years engaging with all these countries uh to the degree uh as we look at this is NATO's southern flank and I see those strategic choke points on there. We need freedom of navigation or freedom of action for our ships in support of those war plans uh for NATO and for Yukon. So, I've um been working overtime and engaging with these countries.
▶ 1:39:32Morocco is doing their part and even Algeria, which in some uh realms that uh we disagree on some things, but Algeria, we were able to uh to sign a non-binding agreement and cooperation, but I will tell you that uh Russia is still there. They're still trying to affect uh an agreement on their own so they can get basing access or port access.
▶ 1:39:53And as you even go down into Libya, you know, I met with uh Phil Marshall Haftar uh almost two times actually two times uh engaging them to to ensure that we can work with them because they have we have shared threats especially along their southern borders of terrorism. Uh just engaging with both sides trying to get collective agreement uh in Libya between the GNU and the LNA.
▶ 1:40:18uh that is essential that we keep uh uh US uh diplomatic uh agreements and and cooperation with these countries uh because we see uh what Russia is trying to do establish some ports across the Mediterranean warm water ports uh so that it'll affect uh their operations try to get a decisive advantage uh but we're not going to let that happen in phase zero coherency operations that we do in Africam. Thank you Miss Thompson I have nothing for you today. Keep up the great work.
▶ 1:40:48I yield back, sir. You got it easy today from All right. We now have Mr. Cisneros is recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and uh General Carrilla and General Langley, thank you both for your uh years of of service and dedication to our country as you both uh get ready to retire here in a while.
▶ 1:41:08But um General Langley um you know when I was in the Navy my ship the USS Ogden uh stopped in Iritria which was at that time a new independent nation. Um you know we went there to show the flag uh but to show a support for this new country and really to the region as well. Um but that's not the impression I'm getting from the the current administration. Uh they're pulling away foreign aid. Ships aren't visiting the continent like they used to.
▶ 1:41:37We're leaving a void for for Russia and for the PRC to fill. And you've been quoted as saying that the PRC is replicating what we have done in Africa targeting the targeting the international military education and training program. That they also said they're going to increase security and training in a number of countries. In April, it was reported that Cairo and the PRC were planning to participate in a joint exercise between their air as the administration continues to pull back and the PRC continues to build relations.
▶ 1:42:07Uh what in your opinion is the national security risk and impact uh to Africa as well as to us here at home? Uh um I'd say uh the CCP is trying to replicate what we do uh what we've done in the past uh and have a strategic advantage and especially uh engaging with our African partners uh because they want to be able to uh establish a enabler
▶ 1:42:38to close the decisive gap that we've had over them for years. Uh I'll just go in a maritime sense especially with uh their NETF their NETF which is the their naval expeditionary task force. They go around the periphery of uh of the African continent engaging with a number of countries. Uh we need to be able to get that uh you brought up, you know, your naval background. You know, when we had the ARG Muse, uh we're not heel to toe anymore. We're not 3.0.
▶ 1:43:06Uh we do need uh the the amphibious readiness uh group and uh the the the marine expeditionary units out there on ships. Uh that is a force multiplier uh for crisis response uh or any other show of deterrence. Uh I say uh you know that's not uh that doesn't go across political lines. That that goes in operational lines.
▶ 1:43:29uh you know Navy as I met with uh uh the uh the the the vice admiral uh uh in in their operation sense but also met met with Admiral Kilby and and also Stuart Munch and they are bringing up the capability to try to provide Africa with that capability so that we can compete with China especially in a maritime sense. Uh so I would say that uh one step in the right direction is getting those argues back out there and then the Afric. All right, Gator Navy all the way.
▶ 1:44:00Um Miss Thompson, you said in your opening remarks that the department is working um with uh with its um African with African nations to grow um working with them to to increase operational ret independence for these African nations. But I think really what we're seeing right is they're not doing that. They're moving towards the PRC.
▶ 1:44:24Uh as you know, as I referenced here, uh Egypt and and um the PRC kind of talking about doing joint operations. Um how does the department not see this as a red flag? Uh why aren't we doing something about this? Why are we pulling away and we're just pushing them in the direction of our, you know, of our pacing threat here? Sir, thank you for the question. I really appreciate it. And um I would point you first to our interim national defense strategic guidance.
▶ 1:44:54Our top two priorities are defense of the homeland, countering terrorist threats that have the capability and intent to strike the homeland and then deterrence of the the PRC, particularly in the Western Pacific, but obviously as you outlined absolutely correctly, um that bleeds over to the African continent as well. And so I would say from our title 10 security assistance approach to the continent um but then also as we're in the development process for our national defense strategy uh this is something that is top of mind and this is certainly not an area where we're pulling back.
▶ 1:45:21We want to be very targeted and strategic um in our approach to make sure that we are deterring the PRC's particularly their ability to have a military advantage um on the continent. So I I would share your your assessment on that front. Well, please take that back to the heads over there, right? As we continue to pull away, uh they are continuing to build relationships with China and the PRC and you know, they are PRC is more than happy to fill that void as we pull away.
▶ 1:45:46Uh and this should be a red flag that they are working with the things and that is something that needs to be brought up and and considered. And with that, I yield back my time. Gentleman yields back. Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia, Dr. McCormick. Thank you, Mr. Chair. General Krill, General Langley, it's been a pleasure working with you. I wish you fair winds and following seas in your next endeavors. I'm sure you'll be highly successful. We'll miss you.
▶ 1:46:11Uh I consider you friends and if any time you ever want to share a beverage or a box of crayons, just let me know. We'll always be available. Uh General Langley, I'll start with you. uh the Djibouti air uh base cluster is within striking distance of some of the Houthi weapons and and I was wondering especially with the development of Jo drones that have been developed in Iran and put together uh in Yemen uh what are we doing for counter measures and do you think we could do better?
▶ 1:46:38How can we assist you in equipping our bases with counter measures for those advanced drones and what they're trying to Congressman, it's a evolving threat um especially with these on other side of the Red Sea. Um uh and I would get into specifics of what we actually need um uh to to improve upon enhance upon. Uh we're protected now.
▶ 1:47:06uh but I will get into specifics uh in close session of uh things that I I think that we can continue to enhance and involve uh in that uh because it's not just uh Djibouti, it's all the way uh down to Manda Bay in in uh in uh in Kenya. So um I I will say that uh this it is involving uh the Houthis are gaining in in capability.
▶ 1:47:32Uh and then there's other uh other elicit actors in the region uh that is that that can be a threat uh within East Africa at large. Would you say that uh it's safe to assume that we have a ways to go to to be secure in in our endeavors? Uh we will always uh do position improvement. You know, our fighting holes always need to be improved. uh for force protection. That's my number one mission is protecting the troops on the ground.
▶ 1:47:57And in regards to Sententcom, we we've seen everything from Tower 22 to the the ship lanes uh really kind of being a proving ground for drone attacks and missile attacks and I'm sure we're going to eventually encounter supersonic missiles and other things are very very alarming. Uh what have you learned from from those sort of contacts as we as we advance our technologies and we have these new technologies to deal with?
▶ 1:48:22You have uh congressman, you have to have a layered defense is the first thing and you have to continue to improve upon your capabilities and evolve faster and move faster than the enemy can on theirs. Look at what happened in uh in Russia uh with the Ukraine when you watched also them go to fiber optic drones because the EW and the jamming that was up there. So they're moving very very quickly in terms of advancements. We have to move faster.
▶ 1:48:48Yeah, I I've looked I just talked to an AI community about that very same thing and closing the kill chain making sure that our our next technologies I mean fly wire is awesome but it's kind of like a look back at the tow technology I want to look forward and look at new terrain models how we're going to do that uh what do you what's your feeling and this is associated question I just came up on just as we're talking uh if we're going to have different navigation systems that aren't going to be controlled by semiautonomous controllers autonomous weapon systems that literally to identify
▶ 1:49:18targets without any input once they're launched and they exist right now. The question is would that be a good I I get a little bit squeamish when we talk about autonomous weapon systems that that direct themselves and we and they don't have that final I think those exist right they don't I know they exist right now it's when you get into that final mile that final kilometer that then locks on a target that's an autonomous target recognition system that has then taken it in and you can't jam it etc. Yeah, good point. Good point.
▶ 1:49:46Uh, one of the other things I thought was really interesting is is there's US aid and other things we do in foreign uh, investments we do that now come into question. Now, some of it's been wasteful, but obviously I'm not against foreign aid because it gives us real influence and really create stability in different regions. Uh, where do you think we could redirect those funds that have maybe been not spent on the most efficient systems?
▶ 1:50:09Is this for both of you and I know we only have 45 seconds left, but where can we best spend the money we do to influence and create stability in those regions that we're talking about right now? Well, I think from a USCID state department is now taking taking on that responsibility for us. There are certain countries that absolutely don't have the natural resources and those are things that we need to look at. I can get specific with you and if you have a written question, I'll turn it over to Mike. uh phase four operations stability.
▶ 1:50:35I've seen it work in uh in Somalia, you know, as they were going through lower and middle Shabelli from uh from 2022 uh here to four. Uh but uh without that and recreation recreating that and or getting it from other countries uh that there's going to be a lapse in completing a credible force to do the hold. My best to you both gentlemen. Love working with you. Simplify. Jim's time is expired.
▶ 1:51:03Gh chair and I recognize gentle lady from California, Miss Jacobs. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I will echo all of my colleagues thanks to both of you for your many decades of service. I've very much enjoyed working with all of you. And General Krill, as predicted, I outlasted Um, uh, General Langley, I first want to, uh, discuss our strategy in Somalia. Um, under your leadership, the United States has rapidly increased the pace of air strikes against both al-Shabaab and ISIS Somalia.
▶ 1:51:31In the past five months alone, the US has conducted 37 strikes compared to just four during the entire first year of the Biden administration. That's actually nearly as many as President Trump authorized in his first year, which totaled 39. Um, so could you first tell me what is the objective of these air strikes?
▶ 1:51:54Congresswoman, uh, this is one of the number one objectives of Secretary Hex came in when he became the Secretary of Defense. He said, u, ARICAM needs to do counterterrorism operations to protect the homeland. Up there in the Golden Mountains, you have ISIS, Somalia. They have the propensity to affect the homeland, whether it be uh global financing. Uh, we had to stop that.
▶ 1:52:19uh you know we did have an operation back in 2023 but uh ISIS uh Somalia has grown a matter of fact the amir is there now uh they've only increased their capability and capacity that's why we had to turn up the heat on putting pressure uh through lethal means to be able to retract that I I I understand um the threat I guess what I'm concerned about is that we've been using this same logic for decades. it doesn't seem like it's attached to any ability for us to eventually leave.
▶ 1:52:49And we saw that for instance in 2019 when there was p uh expanded air strikes that it didn't actually translate to fewer al-Shabaab attacks in Somalia. So are these air strikes part of a coherent articulated strategy aimed at enabling long-term stability and ultimately drawing down the US military footprint? Yes, that's that's our operational intent right now and to be able to cease or deter their ability for exx ops to protect the homeland.
▶ 1:53:18Okay, that's different than there being an actual strategy. Um, Miss Thompson, you said Somalia is an incredible success. I think I would disagree with your um assessment of that. Is there a whole of government coherent articulated strategy aimed at enabling long-term stability and ultimately drawing down the US military footprint in Somalia? Thank you for the question, Congresswoman. I would highlight my commentary was meant to associate with the INDSG guidance.
▶ 1:53:44Our number one objective is obviously to deter um and deny and degrade credible and credible exops threats to the homeland. Um and I as I've highlighted and as you highlighted in your opening comments um the significant uptick in strikes is demonstrative of basically attaching those activities to our number one INDSG objective. So I would I would articulate that that is where the connection to the strategy is in terms of force posture in Somalia on a long-term basis.
▶ 1:54:11This is something that obviously we would contemplate as part of the broader global force posture review and no decisions for ARICOM or for anywhere else have been made at this time. Um and but it's certainly something that would f into the none of this sounds like an actual strategy to create stability in Somalia. So I will look forward to following up with you both on that. Um General Krill, I'd like to turn to you now on Yemen. Um civil society and media organizations have reported numerous civilian casualties caused by recent US operations in Yemen.
▶ 1:54:38Many as a result of the use of heavy explosive weapons in populated areas. For example, the US strikes on Ross Issa port in Hoda um on April 17th reportedly killed at least 84 civilians. So one, did SENCOM foresee the level of civilian harm reported and what steps did SECOM take to mitigate the risks of civilian harm during the conduct of recent strikes in Yemen? So any civilian death is a tragedy is a tragedy.
▶ 1:55:03What we have is a civilian harm mitigation team um that investigates every single one of these to determine if they're credible. There are still several that are under investigation. You mentioned Ross Issa. There were several things that we did to mitigate that prior to include heavy ISR soaking of that prior to that. Um we did messaging to the individuals there. We did messaging to the ships. We ensured the weaponer and the mitigation of those systems. Now the problem is you have a fuel port um that is being hit.
▶ 1:55:30We did not target the uh the trucks that were in the in the port at that same time. But again that that's under investigation to determine the actual numbers. And again, I would argue that this is the Houthi casualty numbers as well. And can you commit today on behalf of SECOM to publish your findings on civilian casualties in Yemen? Push all of that up and to the OSD and they end up pushing those out. Okay. So, you will publish that. Absolutely. Excellent. Um, thank you so much. And Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Gentle yields back. Chair now recognizes a gentleman from Colorado, Mr. Crank.
▶ 1:56:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, Miss Thompson, thank you for being here. Generals Krilla and Langley, thank you for being here and for your service. Uh, I want to start by asking you the same question I've asked every combatant commander that has come before HA this year. In your opinion, has the space-based threat from China and Russia in your theater improved or worsened in the last five years?
▶ 1:56:25From a Sentcom perspective, Russia has actually gone down because they're no longer really in the region where they were basing some of their space-based threats. Um, China has probably increased. Um, but I would tell you Iran has significantly increased. So overall increased, you would say? Yeah, General Langley on a continent app. It has increased uh especially down in Namibia dual use state sponsored type uh space enabling capabilities by the CCP. Yeah.
▶ 1:56:54And obviously we're in an open setting here, but can you provide a maybe a brief description of how this threat affects your operations, General Currill? I would be happy to do that in a close session. Okay, sounds good. General Same. Okay. Yes, in a close session. Okay, thank you. On another topic, I'm concerned about the nuclear threat from Iran and reports that they rejected the latest proposal for a new nuclear deal from the US.
▶ 1:57:19And it seems like Iran is hellbent on uh having nuclear weapons, which would be a direct threat to the existence of Israel. Uh General Kurilla, in your written testimony, you say, quote, "A nuclear armed Iran would change the Middle East overnight and forever, potentially setting off a regional arms race with catastrophic consequences." Can you expand on this? What would a Middle East with a nuclear Iran look like?
▶ 1:57:47I think you would see other countries in the region doing everything they could to obtain a nuclear weapon either development or through purchase um to be able to gain one to be able to retain deterrence back with Iran. And how can Sintcom deter Iran uh from proceeding with their nuclear development program? How can they strengthen this the president's hand at the negotiating table?
▶ 1:58:09I provide a range of options to the president, but I am in all favor of uh having a negotiated settlement that prevents Iran from getting a nuclear weapon because of the consequences of conflict. Okay. And then General Carrilla, what lessons can the US learn from Iron Dome uh that could be applied to the development of Golden Dome? Do you believe uh deterrence by denial to be an effective strategy? It can be. Um but I would tell you some of the biggest lessons learned is how Israel's defense industrial base works.
▶ 1:58:38You cannot even sell a system to the Israeli military, the IDF that is not open architecture that will not work with the rest of their systems. So you don't end up with a proprietary system that's standalone. We need systems that can integrate and all talk to each other. And so Golden Dome should should take note of that. That would be my recommendation. Okay. Thank you, General. Uh Miss Thompson, how does our partnership with Jordan advance peace and stability in the Middle East? Thank you for the question, sir.
▶ 1:59:07I think Jordan in particular and our partnership with the Jordanian armed forces um not only goes to promote greater burden sharing throughout the region to include uh countering shared threats that we have particularly on the terrorism front, but then also weapons and narcotics smuggling and interdiction. They're a really great partner on that. Um and then UAS and ballistic missile uh interdiction as well. and and I'm sure General Krill can provide some more operational specifics, but those are the those are the main pillars of the the security relationship that we have with the Jordanians.
▶ 1:59:36General, they're one of our strongest partners. Um they are the country I have visited the most when I go to the Middle East. Okay. Is there any more that the department could do to support Jordanian armed forces? I I think there are things that we can do to strongpoint Jordan in the counter UAS. Counter UAS in Jordan defends both Jordan US forces and Israel. Okay. Thank you, Miss Thompson.
▶ 2:00:00Uh after years of neglect by President Biden, President Trump is right to prioritize our Gulf partners. How did his recent visit to the region advance US national security Thank you for the question, sir. And I would just highlight particularly the deepening of defense partnerships that we have.
▶ 2:00:18Not only I mean as General Kurrilla has highlighted obviously we have um a long way to go on working through the the kinks in our FMS process and defense industrial base but deepening those partnerships to enable greater uh allied burden sharing but then also interoperability and empowerment of our Gulf partners to take on more of the responsibility in the region.
▶ 2:00:37um particularly given normalized relations with Israel um for a fair few of them uh is a is a is a massive step in the right direction for the posture we want to have in the region and then I would also um just highlight the the commercial success as well that's coupled with um the defense success and I think both um per President Trump's comments and Riad really echo that sentiment. Thank you Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Gentleman's time's expired.
▶ 2:01:01Uh I do want to make the announcement that uh we will be um concluding the open session at 12:30 uh and going into uh classified session a few minutes thereafter because votes are going to be called on the house floor at 1:30. So with that, the chair and I recognize a gentleman from New York, Mr. Ryan, for 5 minutes. Uh thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm sorry to my colleague from Pennsylvania. I think I got here after you. Um thank thank you uh all for being here.
▶ 2:01:30Um especially given that it's both of your last hearings, Generals Kill and Langley. Just want to That's an appropriate fist bump. Um just want to commend and thank you both as I know many of my colleagues have but cannot be said enough. Appreciate it. And General Krill in particular, I want to commend you.
▶ 2:01:46I don't think you've I know you're a a a humble, quiet professional, but I think in particular what you did in defense of Israel, in defense of the region, in defense of the US, most importantly in your leadership on two unprecedented direct attacks, as you said in your opening testimony, that have never occurred in the history of either Iran or Israel.
▶ 2:02:08your leadership in preparing and executing th that defense was exceptional and and I think we all have a lot to learn on a bunch of levels from that. But I just wanted to say that publicly uh here today. Um Miss Thompson, appreciate you being here again. Uh I know the last time you were here, I was a little frustrated that we weren't getting really many answers from you. Hopefully we can get some more answers. My line of questioning is similar to to what I asked you last time. I know it's been hit on by colleagues, but I want to come back on it again.
▶ 2:02:37And I want to bring in uh what General Kurlo said in his opening very powerfully in in speaking about both the risks and the tectonic shift, but also the opportunity visav Iran on its heels or arguably knees uh and and our ability and opportunity to press press press in that moment.
▶ 2:02:59And I'm trying to just wrestle with the the dissonance between that and some of the both appointees of this administration and some of the rhetoric of this administration. Not so much you today in your testimony specifically. Um but I I I've pointed that this out before. The dazzy for the Middle East, Mr.
▶ 2:03:18Demino has said deeply concerning things, including that the Middle East does quote not really matter for US that quote vital or existential threats in the Middle East are quote best characterized as minimal to He's also specifically characterized Iran's missile attacks on Israel as quote fairly moderate. I think General Kurilla, I'm not going to put you on the spot, might disagree with that.
▶ 2:03:48He's vocally opposed attacking Iran's nuclear program and described UX strikes against the Houthis as quote futile. Can you just explain to us? I mean, I I agree what with what I've heard from uh General Currill and other experienced military leaders. We need to press the the the advantage we have visa v Iran and their proxies. How are we supposed to do that when senior appointees in the Pentagon are saying things like that? Thank you for the the question, Congressman.
▶ 2:04:17First and foremost, I I will just note that I was not involved in in the hiring of any officials um in the administration or the political but you are here to speak on its behalf. So what I would say from the yeah from the from the ISA perspective within the under secretary of defense for policy I will make very clear uh we support the president's objective to not only first and foremost defend the state of Israel but second of course deny Iran the ability to obtain a nuclear weapon. That is something we are uh 100% committed to.
▶ 2:04:45And I will also note that we support the president's objectives and stand ready to provide military options should uh his strategy of pursuing uh uh peace with Iran through a negotiated solution and denying Iran a nuclear weapon through a negotiated solution. We stand ready as a department and within OSD policy to provide uh the secretary. I'm sorry, but how are you ready if you're not in agreement? I mean, I can only speak I should Mr. Demino be in the position then if he's not aligned with the president's intent?
▶ 2:05:10That's not something that I can specifically speak to, but I can speak to for for the international security uh the international security role that I play in the Department of Defense. This is what we are committed to working under under secretary KBY. Um we are very much in line with Secretary Hegath and Secretary and President Trump's uh guidance on this and and none of that has changed.
▶ 2:05:32Might this dissonance explain, for example, why in in the recent back and forth about um the negotiations, which we all agree we want to happen, there's lack of clarity on level of enrichment that might be allowed within the administration, signaling division and weakness to our adversaries. Sir, that's not something I can speak to. That's something that would be a question for Ambassador Wickoff's team at the State Department because they are the lead for negotiations. And Miss Thompson, I'll I'll interrupt you again. I I I respect you.
▶ 2:05:58I know you have a hard job and I know you're performing the duties of if if I'm saying that right. Yes. Performing the duties of correct. Um but can the administration send us someone that can speak to the these are pretty important questions. Can we can we get somebody that can speak to these? I would very much like to to to come and do a a broad Iran briefing for you all if that would be something that's helpful. But I would respectfully ask that the State Department be present for that as well because Ambassador Wickoff's team as the lead for negotiations uh really would have the most color.
▶ 2:06:27Times chair and I recognize a gentle lady from South Carolina, Miss B. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, Iran's reckless behavior continues to threaten US forces, our allies, and regional stability. Its support for Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis and other dangerous proxy groups continue to seow chaos throughout the Middle East, as I know you all are very familiar. Its support for proxy militias and terrorists threatens our interests and those of our allies.
▶ 2:06:54While it advances in ballistic missile technology and pursuit of nuclear weapons threaten to plunge the region into greater turmoil. SenCom's presence in the region deters aggression against our personnel and Middle Eastern allies. We must impose real costs on the Ayatollas and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to ensure that deterrence is fully restored and Iran ceases its destructive activities. We must also send a clear message. Any advance toward Iran acquiring nucle nuclear weapons is unacceptable to the United States.
▶ 2:07:24I commend President Trump's efforts to ensure Iran's nuclear program is fully dismantled. Nothing short of full dismantlement of their nuclear capabilities will ensure peace and stability in the region. So the Iranian regime has mastered the art of wielding proxy groups against its adversaries in the region repeatedly. From Hamas barbarism to Hezbollah's arsenals in Lebanon and the Houthi strikes in the Red Sea, Iran leverages its surrogates to strike our allies and harm our interests.
▶ 2:07:50So my first question today for General Kurilla, can you briefly discuss the threat landscape you see from Iran including the use of proxies? So Iran basically has three pillars that they use. The first one is long range um weapons and anti-access aerial denial. So think long range missiles, UAVs. Um the second is their proxy networks. Um the number one proxy they had was Lebanese Hezbollah which acted as a bit of a sword of damicles over the top of Israel.
▶ 2:08:18Israel's the doctrinal term disintegration of Lebanese Hezbollah should be studied by every military. I was recently there and saw that destruction and they did a very successful uh work. It was it was brilliant. Um what they have done to Hamas. Um the Houthis were one that not a lot of people thought about before because at one point it was the lowest priority for intelligence. I think it is something that we have to pay a lot of attention to. I think what you're seeing with the Iranian aligned militia groups inside of Iraq, they used to be inside of Syria with the fall of Assad.
▶ 2:08:49Um that basically severed the Shia crescent. Kasamsulammani who he killed back in 2020. He wanted to have this Shia crescent that ran from Iran to Iraq, Syria to Lebanon. The fall of Assad severed that. That is probably the single biggest event that has happened in the Middle East. And what's changed since October 7th? I think what's changed since October 7th is Israel feels they're in an extential threat for their very existence with a lot of these Iranian proxies that are attacking them. And we had the first state-on state um attacks blows between the two countries.
▶ 2:09:19Um Iran has is a weaker strategic position. They've lost a lot of their proxies. Their air defense network is not what it used to be. However, they still have a lot of operational capability in terms of their long range weapons. at the classified session. Um I can talk in great detail their capabilities. Do you have any concern about uh the Houthis and their relationship with Saudi Arabia? The the relationship with Saudi Arabia? No, I don't have I mean Saudi Arabia um has been a strong supporter of what we were doing in operation. Yes, they have.
▶ 2:09:49But we you know my understanding is we designate the Houthis for example as not the top tier terrorist organization. They're on the lower rung of designation. Is that correct? They they were ma'am. They were firstly a specially designated terrorist group and then we made them a foreign terrorist organization under President Trump. So they are at the top level. They're at the top level now which is something I advocated for when Biden was president and it didn't happen. Um which means uh there are consequences to that in the Middle East which is good for the United States and our allies overseas.
▶ 2:10:16Um has the uh has the degradation of Iran's proxy network affected its ability to destabilize the region? So the the the one challenge we have with Iran, they get pro uh dollars. Okay. 90% 85 to 90% of their oil is purchased by China. So China is effectively supporting and financing Iran's malign behavior.
▶ 2:10:41We still see the amount of funds that are going to the IRGC cuds force that is who runs the proxy networks outside of Iran. So as we look at the sanctioned oil um I think for the first time the state department sanctioned what are called the teapot refineries. These are refineries along the Chinese coast that these ships take this sanctioned oil. Iran this is 10% of all Chinese oil they get they import 70% 50% goes to the straight of hormuz but it's 85 to 90% from Iran.
▶ 2:11:10It goes into these teapot refineries. Um and I think the first time we've ever done is we've sanctioned one of those teapot refineries. Last question. Thoughts on cutter? I am. We have a very strong relationship military to military largest base there. They fund the base. They do burden sharing. When I ask them a question, they say the answer is yes. What is the question? Okay, Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Thank you. Gentle lady yields back. Chair and I recognize gentle lady from Pennsylvania, Miss Hulan. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And that's what you get for being late to the gavl.
▶ 2:11:40Um, I really appreciate your service, General. in general, thank you so much for your um amazing careers and for the opportunity to speak with you. Most questions have been asked, so I'm going to ask the one that I have that hasn't yet been asked. General Angley, you spoke a lot about what's going on in Africa and the fact that you've had a conversation with our uh partners and allies and that they understand uh and are embracing in your I think words um their new roles and responsibilities. I'd like to I'd like to believe that.
▶ 2:12:08And so let's say that that's true because I hear that a lot from all of Europe as well about Europe and and Ukraine. Assuming that is true, can you describe how ARICOM is operationalizing that process of transitioning the responsibilities and roles over to our allies and to our partners?
▶ 2:12:25And can you also explain and this is for both of you all um how you would measure or what sort of metrics or benchmarks you would have to know whether or not our partners are indeed transitioning and are really truly prepared to be able to take on this sort of operational responsibility. That's my only question.
▶ 2:12:41So, I'd love it if you would give it some real thought because it's really really important that if we assume that these folks can or are interested in doing this that we have performance metrics or standards that we're looking for and that we also have an operational plan that we have to transition those responsibilities over. Congresswoman, great uh I'm grateful for the question.
▶ 2:13:01I know we last spoke u when we're at Munich Security Conference and we were in the throws of the uh uh title 22 uh pause and then at the forefront of the title 10 review. Uh so at Ariccom what we had to do is reassess where we were and and try to do some uh predictive analytics on what the effects would be.
▶ 2:13:21Uh this is all in parallel with uh structuring our narrative or structuring our narrative of going to our partners uh going to our allies and and and come up with straight talk of what it really means of a shared burden for the for the sake of stability and security on the continent of Africa.
▶ 2:13:43So I did uh further I did meet with the uh uh the NATO rep uh for the southern neighborhood as they call it they call it snap and shared that with him. I said uh you know our government uh uh we are all in for stability and security across Africa. Uh but we need to share commitment from you because this is your your southern neighborhood.
▶ 2:14:05uh what happens uh as far as mass migration or or migration of terrorists uh that can threaten your neighborhood uh your your borders uh is our same concern with our southwest border. Uh so that uh soaked in well uh with our African partners uh shared commitment. They said well it's going to take a little time and uh also we're going to uh diversify our partner.
▶ 2:14:31Uh so we get that as long as we have those shared objectives, as long as we have those shared values to reach that end instate. So in Nairobi last week um collectively we got with the chiefs of defense and said hey you know uh their biggest message to me hey we're not looking to be saved. We can hit we can hit stability. What does that look like? And when you're talking about you know a narrative narratives don't get it done. You know what what is the plan? What is the operational plan that we all have collectively?
▶ 2:15:00Uh on our responsibility to hand that over and on our ability to measure whether it's actually been handed over with any sort of uh security or safety or assurance that we that it will be consistent to the standards that we have always put to the region. And Congresswoman, I'll just tell you the plan is theirs. Uh you know, every country is different. Uh we don't push ourselves uh to invade on their sovereignty. uh uh every every country is coming up with their own plan. That was their take takeaway.
▶ 2:15:29Um but they also know that uh that the military all these military leads know that they're giving their best military advice uh for the enduring solution from their layered threats. One of them being uh that's that's a shared threat of ours is uh is terrorism. So there lies their ability and and their responsibility to come up with their own plans. I'm seeing it different uh from coastal west Africa all the way to Somalia. They all have a different approach.
▶ 2:15:56I have to respect that uh and how weak and then we then we decide uh uh you know then we go through our title 10 title 10 review and we double down based on an empirical data what has worked in the past and what didn't work. those those strategies together or do you just walk away and say everybody's got their own plan and it looks like to be to excuse me a bunch of Democrats, you know, we're all going to have a different plan. You don't want that.
▶ 2:16:23You want people to figure out how to work together and us walking away from this is is irresponsible unless we feel as though we're walking away with a plan that's unified and not just individual sovereignty. Am I making sense? Time recognize from Virginia, Mr. Whitman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'd like to thank our witnesses for joining us. Miss Thompson, General Krill, General Langley. Thank you so much for your service. Thanks for all you've done for our nation.
▶ 2:16:49I want to try to maybe draw a line amongst a number of different issues that you all are dealing with. I really think that the combatant commands being there on the front lines probably have the best assessment and understanding of the threat and the timeliness of the threat and then how that needs to be expressed and the assets that we need in order to counter that threat.
▶ 2:17:12I mean, we see our exquisite assets, the ones you have in theater, General Carrillo, General Langley, you see where we, you know, we pull the Carl Vincent from the East China Sea. we extended the deployment of the Harry Truman.
▶ 2:17:25Uh General Langley, you know that when we had um we had needs there in Africa, whether it's places like Sudan, Morocco, uh even even some of the other events there in the Red Sea, we see the demand signal go up and then when we'd like to have a C crisis response team in an ARC MW, we don't have it or we have to move other assets around.
▶ 2:17:50General Krillo, you spoke at length about the building threat from oneway attack drones, and all you have to do is to look at the aerial photographs of the runways there in Russia and ask the Russians about the impact of one-way attack drones and give the give the Ukrainians credit. But the thing that concerns me is that's a scenario that can play in the opposite direction today and tomorrow. and I just don't believe we have the counter UAS capability that we need.
▶ 2:18:20I want your perspective because I think the the co-coms are closest to the threat and if you were tomorrow to say these are the things that I need that I can operationalize quickly. I love our exquisite platforms and we need them but they're not coming quickly and they're not coming inexpensively. But there are lots of opportunities with expendables and attitudables. Give me your perspective.
▶ 2:18:45If you could give us on your euphor list, if you could say today, today my top priorities on the euper list, the way you see the threat as it is today, both of you, what would be your top five priorities to make sure this nation gives you at least a part of the tool set that you need, part of the kit that you would need to counter what you see and how it changes on a daily basis. So the greatest risk congressman in the sencom a is the unmanned aerial systems and ballistic missiles.
▶ 2:19:16So it would be in the detect and kill of counter UAS to include swarms large numbers. You need magazine depth. Um and then in terms of our air defense assets that are forward deployed, you have to be able to protect those from counter UAS as well. We need to be very mobile. We need to be able to integrate them into the systems. When I took over three years ago, if I walked into a base defense operations center, that's where they do all the command and control for the base to be able to defend against drones. You'd see five systems, five screens, five operators. Yeah.
▶ 2:19:45Now, when you walk in, we've been able to integrate that into maybe two screens and two operators, but you have now seven systems uh integrated into there. So, we need to really do better at the detect. It's we're only going to see the systems get smaller, more lethal. um electronic magnetic information, the the electromagnetic spectrum when we try and jam them. That's why the Ukraine and Russia went to fiber optics going out to 40 kilometers with fiber optic drones. Um you can't jam that.
▶ 2:20:13So those are the things I would ask right now is the counter UAS detect. I think we need to put aerial ISA radars for low radar cross-section to be able to pick up elevated. Um and then ballistic missile defense. Very good. General ballistic missile defense. Yeah. Yes. Thank you. I think my top three is about the same as Eric Carillis County UAE integrated air missile defense and but I was going to add sense to make sense ISR.
▶ 2:20:37I'm at a deficit for ISR across across the continent for imminating threats match capabilities to the threats. That's what Secretary H told me to do and that's what I'm requesting. Uh but just going further down the list, uh maritime capability. Uh like I said, I I've said it already, but I'm just going to bang the drum. Uh we miss the ARGM MW, we miss the amphibious readiness group. Uh the marine expeditionary units, they're ready, but they're sitting on the they're sitting on the shore.
▶ 2:21:05Uh but we need to fix the ship problem. Uh you know, as far as that at three ship, uh ARG is what's needed. We can't do heel to toe anymore. At sometimes we're not even 1.0. Uh we need to get back to there. I talked to the vice the other day and uh he gets it as well as I talked to the common of the Marine Corps. Uh we missed that in the ARICOM uh AO, you know, from crisis response and we need that seabbase forward.
▶ 2:21:32You're right uh congressman, we really did need that uh in uh when uh uh Amedi was going at it uh with Burhan uh in in Sudan. We really needed that offshore uh to utilize that. So, and then also for a forced deterrent, it's a show of show of power to contend with uh the uh the netup that the Chinese is going around the periphery of the continent. Very good. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yield back. Jim's time to expire. This will conclude the open portion of our hearing.
▶ 2:22:02We will reconvene in 10 minutes at 12:40 in room 20 2212 for the classified portion.