FY2027 Defense Authorization: Indo-Pacific Command, Forces Korea Posture Hearing

This hearing will come to order. This morning we held a hearing on the posture of the US Indo-Pacific Command and US Forces Korea. At the outset, I would like to thank Admiral Paparo and General Brunson for their distinguished service to our country. This committee appreciates their service and we're grateful for the ethos, ethos that has long been the defining characteristic of America's general and flag officers. Thank you, gentlemen. Um, we speak today and we meet today at a time of global turmoil. Despite the doubts of our own intelligence community and many others, Ukraine continues to outperform conventional wisdom. Now, in the fifth year of Putin's illegal war of choice, In the Middle East, President Trump's taken decisive action to end forty-seven years of aggression by the Ayatollahs. But amid those wars, we must remember this. China is the leader of the axis of aggressors. The People's Republic of China intends to, and is capable of preventing an American-led twenty-first century. We cannot ignore the implications of Xi Jinping's aggression. The Chinese Communist Party and its People Liberation Army have spent decades studying the American way of war. This has informed their massive military modernization effort. The PLA now fields the world's largest navy. Its nuclear triad is growing at a breathtaking pace, and it possesses an increasingly capable air force armed with world-class munitions. China's military strategy has transitioned. It has moved from a mostly asymmetric, competitive approach to a more comprehensive strategy. Their goal is to achieve decisive advantage over the US and our allies in the Indo-Pacific. We also recognize the danger posed by a nuclear-armed North Korea. Kim Jong-un is a cruel and ruthless despot. Worse, he possesses nuclear weapons and and he possesses the means to deliver them. He has demonstrated a high tolerance for risk taking, and he is backed by his nuclear armed partners, Xi and Putin. The North Korean army has gained valuable insights on modern warfare from its experience supporting Russia's invasion of Ukraine. North Korea will remember what it learned from drone and missile use in Ukraine. It continues to learn lessons. Right now, It is thinking about how to employ these capabilities on the Korean peninsula. Russia has repaid Kim for supporting its illegal invasion of Ukraine, by providing North Korea with advanced military technology and financial relief. While Vladimir Putin creates mayhem in Europe, it is not lost on this committee that he also actively works to undermine the existing order in the Indo-Pacific. Putin has revitalized his partnership with the Kim regime, and he has deepened Russia's comprehensive strategic partnership with Xi and the Chinese Communist Party. The growing alignment of our adversaries throws into sharp relief the enduring importance of America's allies and the way they help protect our strategic interests. For decades, our alliance bonds, including NATO, have provided a comparative anti-advantage over authoritarian states, like China, North Korea, Russia, and Iran. These alliances continue to pay dividends for the United States. People need to stop saying otherwise. It is not helpful when American leaders speak of our alliances with derision. But we must be clear about the numerous political, strategic, and moral benefits that our country receives from its alliances. Some have suggested that our allies have become little more than dependents on the United States. These skeptics argue that the United States must shift the burden. And that word shift is what I have a problem with. They argue that we must shift the burden of defense and deterrence from the United States, and on to our allies in Europe and Asia. I do not agree with these skeptics. Of course, I'm glad to see America's allies stepping up, as they are doing all over the world. But there's a difference between burden shifting and burden sharing. The President has called for increased burden sharing, and I support that. But the way we execute that vision matters. We Americans have a massive stake in maintaining a favorable balance of power in both Asia and Europe. It remains a vital interest of the United States and cannot yet be delegated to others, not even to our closest allies. Burden shifting suggests that the United States has a limited stake in conflicts that erupt, or could erupt, in these key regions. Burden shifting implies abdication, rather than collective responsibility. Upholding our interest in the Indo-Pacific requires the cultivation of a ro- a robust alliance network, what we call burden sharing, which I agree with. The Western Pacific is far from the American homeland, and that distance has long placed a premium on strong and persistent forward presence in the region. This presence allows us to defend our interest in the Indo-Pacific and to project power from there into other regions of the world. It's worth noting that America's alliance network is comprised of like-minded democracies and free market economies. The importance of this fact cannot be overstated. Unlike our un- unlike um um uh uh authoritarian countries, the foundation of the US alliance network is built upon the explicit support of its respective electorates. Our alliances depend on each nation's internal domestic political support. Again, this is crucial. Every military alliance requires negotiation and compromise. Every military alliance requires negotiation and compromise. Alliances by definition are a two-way street. They require patience and appreciation for the political drivers of the parties and a willingness to undertake political, military, and economic risk on behalf of one another. Popular support from free people gives legitimacy to those necessary compromises. We must continue to modernize our alliances to match today's threats and capabilities, but any reform should make us stronger and safer. They should not detract from the strategic imperative of deterring aggression and coercion by China, North Korea, and Russia. I look forward to hearing how our witnesses are working with our Japanese. South Korean, Filipino, Australian, and Taiwanese allies, among others, to strengthen our strategic position in the Indo-Pacific. With that, I thank our witnesses for being here, and I turn to my colleague, Ranking Member Reid, Senator Reid.

Well, thank you very much, Mister Chairman, and uh Admiral Paro, General Brunson, welcome, and thank you for your distinguished service uh over a lifetime of dedication to the country and to uh the men and women that you lead please convey our appreciation and support for these extraordinary americans that you command and lead president trump's war of choice in iran has resulted in significant military posture changes in the indo-pacific region and on the korean peninsula over the past two months president trump has transferred major military capabilities out of your theaters to central command including the carrier strike group, amphibious radio group, various missile defense capabilities, and other munitions. Admiral Paparo and General Brunson, um, I would like to understand your assessment of the effect of these transfers on your capabilities. Long range strike weapons and missile interceptors are not quickly replaced. The current production rates, reconstituting what we have expended could take years. The decisions President Trump has made in Iran will impact your readiness in the indo-pacific for a long time to come i'm also deeply concerned about what our adversaries are learning china and north korea have watched the united states engage in sustained high intensity warfare requiring massive expenditures of the exact musicians the munitions that are most critical for deterrence in the indo-pacific i would like your candid assessment of what lessons the beijing and peng yang are drawing from this conflict and how those lessons may affect their long-term planning. Relatedly, Admiral Papara, on December eighth, the president announced that he would allow the sale of advanced H two hundred, semiconductor chips to China, a category of chip, previously prohibited because of its ability to accelerate Chinese military capabilities, including artificial intelligence. This committee has long agreed on a bipartisan basis that our national defense is predicated on maintaining a qualitative technological edge over china i want to know whether indo paycom was consulted before this decision was made and whether you believe selling advanced semiconductor chips to china is consistent with maintaining a favorable balance of military power in the indo pacific general brunson there are also persistent and troubling reports that the administration is considering significant reductions to us forced posture in south korea Last year you testified that america's forward presence in korea provides in your words unmatched access unmatched deterrence at minimal cost you also made clear that us force presence in korea is not solely about north korea our presence creates dilemmas for china in the yellow sea and imposes course on russia in the east sea i would ask for your assessment of what true productions would mean for deterrence across those threat vectors i would also note that this committee voted to include a provision in the fiscal year twenty twenty six n d a a to prohibit any reduction of troops in career without a full assessment of the risks involved and certification to congress emerald paparo general brunson you lead our forces in the most strategically consequential theory in the world parse it against the most capable potent capable potential adversaries the united states faces the decisions being made in the white house right now on its wars of choice, on munitions, on semiconductor sales, on america's alliances, will determine whether deterrence holds. I thank you for your leadership at this critical time, and I look forward to your testimony. Thank you, Mister Chairman.

I understand each of you has um opening statements, who'd like to go first? Admiral Paparo you are recognized, sir.

Chairman Rankin, members members of the committee, thank you very much for the opportunity. Uh, today, uh, first I'll call attention to Sergeant Major Eric Cook, United States Marine Corps, right behind me. And his charge is the fighting forces morale, that combination of physical, mental, and spiritual readiness, that is the key factor in combat. This is the essence of readiness and the ability to prevail. This morale that Sergeant Major Cook leads, uh, and our led by our highly professional n c o corps, are the backbone, the body, and the soul of the joint force. And I'd like to acknowledge uh Sergeant Major Cook, uh and all that he represents. As discussed, the Indo-Pacific is the defining strategic theater of the twenty-first century, where all four lines of effort in the national defense strategy converge. That is safeguarding the United States homeland, uh, especially including uh those elements that are in the Indo-Pacific, uh, deterring China, deepening burden sharing with our allies and partners, and supercharging the defense industrial base. Indo-Pacific command puts those priorities into action every single day. The sea has long been a highway for trade and a vector for power projection, and it's also becoming increasingly an end unto itself as a source of food, energy, minerals and strategic leverage. China's forced design since two thousand and nine reflects that reality. Since twenty twenty four, China has delivered twelve submarines, including nuclear attack submarines and nuclear ballistic missile submarines, an aircraft carrier, two cruisers, ten destroyers, seven frigates, as well as amphibious and combat logistics force. That scale is for the projection of power, coercion and to enforce the rules in every relationship. North Korea continues to threaten the US homeland and our allies with nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, and Russia has increased its forced posture of air-missile maritime in the Indo-Pacific and the increasing strategic part uh cooperation among them all is deeply concerning. Our strategy is clear, to deny china from achieving its objectives through military aggression, to deter it. Deterrence is our highest duty. We deter with dynamic combat power, conducting operation every day with allies and partners and across domains. Our allies and partners increase our combat capability and capacity, expand our maneuver space, and extend operational reach and strengthen deterrence. Yesterday we began the largest ever exercise, Balacatan in the Republic of the Philippines. This exercise demonstrates a significant leap in allied firepower, integrating US land-based Tomahawks with Philippine Brahmos missiles and Japanese anti-ship missiles. Our alliances are rapidly fielding advanced capabilities. We're adapting to the changing character of warfare, and we're driving towards information and decision superiority. We're accelerating decision making through our AI-enabled headquarters and our AI-enabled commands, strengthening our posture, improving integrated air and missile defenses, hardening key infrastructure, and increasing munitions throughput. Congress and the department have provided the resources now industry must deliver. With your continued support, we'll preserve peace through strength, and defend a free and open Indo-Pacific. I now defer to General Brunson and most especially your questions.

General Brunson, you're recognized, sir.

Thank you, Chairman Wicker, Ranking Member Reid, distinguished members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today, alongside Admiral Paparo regarding the security environment in the Republic of Korea in Northeast Asia. I would like to first thank those who behind me who got me here to this hearing today have helped me to prepare and represent the members of our force forward in the United States forces, Korea. I'd also extend my gratitude to the seventeen other United Nations member states Australia Belgium Canada Colombia Denmark France, Germany Greece Italy Netherlands New Zealand Norway the Philippines, South Africa Thailand Turkey and the United Kingdom. But I especially thank the Korean people for their continued partnership, hospitality, and commitment to our alliance. The Korean peninsula is key strategic terrain, vital to defending the American homeland and advancing American interest in the region. Our forces in Korea are modernizing to address rapidly evolving strategic dilemmas. That's why my focus remains strictly on capabilities over numbers. While our presence is a baseline, it's imperative that we maintain focus on the precise capabilities that must be resident on the peninsula. To truly understand this shift from capacity to capability, I encourage the committee to observe the tri-command firsthand. Should you visit us, you will see, as Senator Shaheen has, the readiness exemplified by our service members, civil servants, allies, and inter-agency partners who defend the homelands. Across the peninsula, our war fighters build readiness. Some examples include eighth armies, continued work along with our rotational force, and which has led them to exceed ninety percent on most of their readiness metrics. The continued integration of seventh Air Force, Marine Corps Forces Korea, Naval Forces Korea, Special Operations Command Korea, and Space Forces Korea. Those components into Indo-Pakom exercises demonstrate the potential to project power from Korea in support of deterrence across the greater Indo-Pacific. A key component of readiness is our facilities. We are improving our infrastructure to synchronize US space forces and other components while seizing theater opportunities to conduct integrated sustainment and forward repair with our allies partners in the joint force. And across the information domain, we not only communicate the centrality of the region to American interest, but actively maneuver to neutralize misinformation and disinformation. The Tri-Command, United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command, and US Forces Korea stand ready and capable capable to support a favorable balance of power across the region, that deters aggression, supports a free and open Indo-Pacific. Our presence in the region is a driving force that has evolved our alliances over decades, from dependencies to true partnerships. While our cooperation and commitment to the region has maintained the armistice and deterred large-scale conflict, our forces must remain vigilant. Together with the department, our inter- agency teams, the United States Congress, and our multita- multinational allies and partners, we will continue to demonstrate American strength in the region, so that a fair favorable peace prevails. Under one flag, we go together, kachikapshida.

You may have to help the uh transcriber on that last sentence, General. Uh you you um gave us a a number of countries. Why did you list them specifically, sir?

Chairman, what I hope to do is to thank them for their continued contribution to the core of the United Nations command. Each of those companies that I'm, countries that I mentioned, has over the year and a half or so that I've been in command, had uh officers and soldiers within our headquarters in United Nations command, sir.

OK, thank you very much for that. Um, Admiral, I I wanna ask about our overseas military bases. Of course, we we know they're not sovereign US territory, the territory belongs to the various countries who host us. Um Uh, all allies and partners require some form of prior consultation before allowing US forces to operate from their sovereign territory. That is a correct statement, is it not, Admiral?

Yes, Chairman.

And um, as it purviewed in its national defense strategy, and the AUKUS review, DOD is now Pressing allies to provide uncoveated, uncoveated, and unimpeded access, from bases located in their country. Uh, is this realistic? And I I've I have three questions which I'll just ask all at once. Um, our overseas bases provide enormous benefit. Um, is it uh, realistic to seek uncoveated and unconstrained access to these bases? Is there anything you want to do now that you cannot do under existing basing arrangements? And is it realistic to expect our allies, even our closest ones, to provide unfettered access, basing, and overflight with no operational restrictions?

Chairman, I I think that it's sensible uh to gain assurances that in the unforgiving hour we'll be able to employ those for our own planning. And I think it's pragmatic to understand that each of our allies and partners will experience various uh civil pressures within those that they that they govern. And I think uh going a long way to gain assurances from our partners uh is a practical and sensible approach. I think it enhances our plannings, but I think it also must be approached with the pragmatism that each government is accountable to their people and will make deeper decisions when the unforgiving hour comes.

Um, OK, it's, is, the the my my second follow-up question was what can we not do now? Is there anything we cannot currently do under existing basing arrangements?

Chairman, there are frequent occasions when we would prefer to execute certain operations or certain live fire operations and our host nations are sensitive for domestic reasons. And so it's always a uh negotiation with our allies and partners. And we always do so within the faith that uh our allies and partners want to go as far as they practically can. But certainly there's always limits on or there's, you know, I should say there's frequently uh instances where there's things that we would like to do, uh but we can't do it because uh the host government is sensitive to public opinion, it is in the presence of populations, and uh we work through it with good faith.

Um, ok, and then in the minute and a half we have, um, let's talk about, um, replacing both exquisite traditional munitions and newer low-cost munitions. Uh, we fired a lot of weapons in operation epic fury um secretary feinberg has a plan to increase production of um exquisite munitions such as those made by lakite and raytheon um um will that take time and uh can you give us an idea of how much time and um is it time also to go all in on low cost munitions including cruise missiles hypersonics long range drones and unmanned surface vessels.

Senator, yes and yes, and the the traditional defense primes have to innovate to go faster. I think it'll take one to two years for them to scale. It won't be soon enough. And I think that we really must press the system with nontraditional vendors, bringing bringing to bear new lost low-cost munitions such as hypersonics, low-cost cruise missiles, and then across a variety of droned and uh unmanned systems.

Is it possible, um, thank you for your answer there, um, particularly on the um, low-cost munitions. Is it possible for us to incentivize the um, exquisite manufacturers such as Lockheed, Raytheon and others to go faster?

It most certainly is, and I, you know, I think that the department is putting a great deal of accountability and pressure on the primes. Thus far the progress is good, and I'm eager for more.

And so we thank you very much, Senator Reid.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and uh General Paparo and General Brunson. First, let me commend your staff. Uh, from my early experience, I know how hard it is to sit at attention. Uh, so thank you. Well done. Well done. Uh, Admiral Paparo, uh, I'll just follow on, uh, the chairman's question, which is basically we've extended a great deal of ordinance in the, uh, Iranian combat. Uh, it has some effect on you. Uh. The question going forward though is is, if we resume a rate of fire, similar to what we were doing, did you, do you have an idea of how long we could fire without creating severe effects on your command?

Uh, first I acknowledge your statement uh, ranking member and uh, you know I deliver that in a classified setting, but

Uh.

there are finite limits to the magazine, and I've all the faith in the world that they're being employed judiciously.

Thank you very much, Admiral. Uh, General Brunson, um, Our present military situation in uh South Korea, I assume but you could confirm that it is creating s- some significant uh strategic and operational dilemmas for the Chinese. Could you indicate and discuss those?

A rank ranking member in uh in in open, what I would say is that we have positional advantage currently. I've uh I've written articles that are out there right now that talk about the positional advantage achieved by changing our perspective of looking at a map differently it places us with interior lines inside the first island chain. And what that allows us to do from that position alone is uh as we operate on um OEIs given to us, by indo pay calm it allows us to operate from a different aperture if you will to project power into the region and achieve effect significant effect i might add i also believe that uh the imposition of cost is a thing that happens when we marry capabilities with position on the ground geographically and that i

hmm hmm

would call or term posture truly is the marrying of the capabilities with the right positioning and then to be able to achieve significant effect

thank you very much um in my opening statement now for bar i talked about the proposed sale of chips the h two hundred chip uh do you have any concerns that you would like to comment upon

remember i want every competitive advantage that the united states of america can have and that includes ai powered warfare indopay comms and ai powered headquarters uh the chinese by their philosophy are fast followers they've taken every bit of intellectual property that's ever been trade shared to the trade in technology stack and they've not only implemented it but they've improved upon it so i have deep concerns with anything that enables them to become a better high ai powered headquarters than our headquarters

well i share your concerns admiral i think they're legitimate and compelling uh and thank you uh Amber Pearl, uh what lessons do you think the Chinese have learned from uh Operation Epic Fury?

Remember I I think that number one, I think they're impressed by the operational acumen that's been demonstrated uh by the United States and our partners. Uh number two, I think they see the power of uh small low-cost munitions on the ability to hold key geography at risk, and so have we. And and we see that, and who implements that the fastest is absolutely the best, uh, is going to be the best here in the twenty-first century. Uh, and um, I think the key is, is that uh our force has learned a lot, including a lot of combat experience. We have to continue to accelerate uh that learning and bring that to bear. That's a key advantage that the Indo-Pacific forces that have uh engaged in combat uh in that our would-be adversaries have not had and we need to um accelerate that

a quick final question i have just few seconds remaining uh there is roughly uh analogies between the situation in taiwan and ukraine asymmetric warfare will be what the uh taiwanese practice against the the the chinese so are we focusing now on the the lessons from ukraine drone warfare, uh, all the ingenuity of the Ukrainian, is that the the approach that we're taking with the Taiwanese?

So that's a, uh, you know, that's a a key emphasis. You're quite well aware of the hellscape strategy, the fact that low-cost munitions, drone war makes assault much, much more costly to assaulting forces. Bringing those lessons to bear to the max extent possible is an imperative.

thank you very much gentlemen thank you

thank you senator fisher

thank you mister chairman and thank uh both of you gentlemen and the the members of our military that you serve with for the important work you do every single day thank you admiral the current program of record for at least one hundred b twenty one bombers that's not sufficient when accounting for both nuclear and conventional bomber requirements would you agree that we need to secure at least a hundred and forty five b twenty ones and shouldn't we be seriously considering at least two hundred

senator fisher good morning i would favor two hundred b one uh b twenty one bombers uh not just for the nuclear deterrence mission but for penetrating strike capabilities uh and i could be a stronger advocate

thank you we need to consider both stratcom's requirements and yours in

center i would say that and and stratcom is you know uh absolutely among my strongest partners we are in lockstep on this and uh we don't view a separateness of our individual requirement uh we view ourselves as a teammate side-by-side on the journey

thank you uh also while the nuclear threats are awful often considered stratcom the more numerous and or they obviously have a serious implications in indo paikon and your mission can you describe your view of china's nuclear expansion and the impact that more numerous and capable chinese nuclear forces in the region have from your perspective as a geographic combatant commander

senator in the next five years i expect uh china's uh nuclear arsenal to nearly double and that taken in some with their uh comprehensive strategic partner, their no limits partnership with russia and with their arsenal. uh It's a it's a concern. uh We've got to overmatch that capability. We have to continue to modernize the US nuclear deterrent, uh including tactical nuclear forces.

You've mentioned the importance of allies and partners, and in the indo-pacific region that includes several that depend upon our nuclear umbrella, our nuclear deterrence guarantees. Based on your interaction with these allies and partners, how do you believe they would view a delay or cancellation of our nuclear modernization effort, or rhetoric to that effect? And to what extent would they be concerned?

Senator, you rightly identify it would be a deep concern,

admiral uh you know know as well as anyone the challenges that are posed by the vast distances in the indo-pacific and being able to connect those ships and the aircraft with fuel that's gonna be crucial. Uh, in your opening statement you stated our tanker fleet falls below requirements. How are you working with General Reed at Transcom to address those, uh, refueling needs and really shortfalls that we have?

Senator, uh, you know, uh, uh, I'm, you know, I, I could tell you in a classified setting how many millions of pounds it takes to be in the air to support our air refueling. requirements. And I'd also add our combat logistics force and our at sea fuel requirements as well. Um, I strongly applaud the Air Force's uh, standing back up the tanker fleet and uh, refreshing it. And, you know, I'd be in favor of anything that accelerates our ability uh, to put fuel in the air.

Thank you. Uh, General Brunson, back to our nuclear deterrence and the importance it has for our allies and our partners. Can you uh comment on how important that relationship is uh between uh the US and ROK?

Uh, yes uh, Senator, it has a, it has a tremendous um, it goes tremendously far in helping us to assure our allies of our will and our intent. Um, so to that end we've developed a staff section, the J ten, which works along and serves as an interface between stratcom and US stratcom. Uh, we've also participated fully in the nuclear consultative group. And these things all allow our allies to focus on other things in the region, whilst being confounded about are they protected, are they covered. So, our assurance through extended deterrence is incredibly important for our uh us being allies.

Thank you very much. Thank you, Mister Chair.

Thank you, Senator Fisher. I have um senator horono and then senator tubberville senator horono

thank you very much for your service and leadership i'm more you've been uh very candid about your concerns with the us military's magazine depth over the last several years and of course uh with the uh illegal war in uh iran and you noted today that your um you believe that the magazine is being judiciously employed uh uh i'm not so sure about that but uh you did note that we need to have a better mix i think um i think that's where you were going better mix of the exquisite high cost low volume systems with affordable high volume munitions you did note that uh that that we are working with non-traditional vendors to help us produce these other types of munitions so i'm i'm curious to know that how are we doing that uh are we providing encouragement to these non-traditional vendors to help us with uh uh providing the uh unmanned systems and the other munitions that you are seeking to uh develop

good morning and aloha center uh yes most certainly uh first is that

aloha

um we working with the defense innovation unit uh we have funded uh multiple tests including uh the employment of a uh low cost hypersonic weapon uh off of a us aircraft this summer uh and so uh yes we've encouraged yes we've advocated for diu experimentation and we've advocated very strongly with the department for uh contracting these capabilities those contracting capabilities are reflected in this year's budget submission uh with orders in the hundreds thousands of these uh systems

that's an area that um i would like to uh provide more support because clearly we need to uh really move toward the kind of innovations that you have very much advocated for the the the times that i have worked with you so thank you very much for your continuing leadership in this regard i did want to mention uh that although you are not directly involved with the military services continuing negotiations with the state of hawaii regarding extending the use of very critical military training lands in hawaii without those training lands for example the uh it would be very hard to justify uh the army's presence in hawaii and therefore the the impact on

right

uh national security so i just uh wanted to bring the importance of the significance of these negotiations and um particularly for the army to continue to negotiate in good faith with the state to come to a resolution acceptable to all parties and not short-circuit the discussions by seeking to condemn the land without fully exhausting the avenues and i just wanted to get your brief uh thoughts on the the importance of these negotiations and how these negotiations should proceed

senator uh engagement is critical Pahakaloa is absolutely indispensable to the nation's defense. It's indispensable to deterrence here in the Indo-Pacific. And I'm strongly in favor of every, uh, every effort, uh, that leads to, uh, a favorable outcome to maintain twenty-fifth ID and in fact, uh, United States Army's continued usage of, uh, Pahakaloa training area, as well as all of the other, uh, key land lease issues. that we're dealing with in the state of hawaii which also includes air force navy space force and then uh marine usage and so across the joint force i'm strongly in favor of uh building towards uh consensus and sensible solutions

i think the key words here are uh consensus because i think it would be uh not in the interest of our the the military's presence in hawaii uh if the these negotiations are somehow short-sighted and uh there is resort to condemnation that would not go over very well i would say with the people of hawaii so um any uh input that you have toward those kinds of negotiations would be much appreciated uh well we are seeing increasing cooperation between iran russia north korea and china and as us forces remain heavily engaged in the middle east how are you working with the regional allies particularly japan republic of korea and australia to increase cooperation and coordination among our partners in the um indo-pacific er

center all those relationships are on a strong strong upward trajectory including the relationships among them and um it is a daily matter of duty to work closely with all the allies

i just also wanna mention that as we talk about the importance of strengthening our allies we should not forget the our compact island nations and the fact that we should be working very closely to support the the our compact nations and other island nations as china is very much extending itself in the indo-pacific area with regard to establishing stronger relations with palau marshal islands micronesia other island nations let us not forget our uh island nation partners

Will do senator and and uh republic of palau federated states of micronesia republic of the marshal uh, continue to be areas of Chinese encroachment, across the gray zone, across elements of elite capture. And, uh, maintaining a close focus on those relationships is, uh, incredibly important to the defense of the United States of America.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

And, um, our relationships with, um, with those, uh, peoples, um, are very strong and appreciated. Senator Tuberville.

Thank you. Good morning, gentlemen. Uh, Admiral, what flexibility and capability does Endopacom gain if we were able to field sixteen Columbia Cask class submarines versus twelve?

Senator, good morning. It's the addition of sixty-four missile tubes. It enhance, it would enhance our uh, ability to provide extended deterrence. Uh, it would enhance our overall readiness, uh, not just for strategic weapons, but for tactical weapons. And uh, I'm strongly in favor of uh enhancing that, and you'll find me a strong vote yes on increasing our uh Columbia inventory.

Thank you. Uh, to another subject, our competition with China isn't just about military strength it also includes monetary strength as well. You know, last year the Chinese Communist Party's main monetary think tank published research on Bitcoin as a strategic asset. You know, this came after President Trump moved to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve. Admiral, how does leadership in Bitcoin impact leverage, resilience, deterrence for Indopaycom against China? And do you think that a strategic Bitcoin reserve helps America compete against China?

Senator, uh, our, you know, our research into Bitcoin is as a computer science tool. It's the combination of cryptography, a blockchain, and a proof of work. and bitcoin shows incredible potential as a uh as a computer science tool that through the proof of work protocols is a actually imposes more cost than just the algorithmic securing of networks and our ability to operate and uh bitcoin is a reality it is a valuable computer science tool as a power projection uh and um outside of the economic formulation of it it has got really important computer science applications for cyber security.

Thank you. What what recommendations do you have for us here in Congress on how to, how the US can lead on Bitcoin competition?

Uh, you know, and I have to go deeper on that with you uh for the record, and uh uh I can go I can go deeper on that case, but um, it, Bitcoin is a reality, uh, it is a peer-to-peer, uh, zero trust transfer,

Thank you. I'll have to go back and listen to that answer to kind of decipher it. Most of us entered, you're way over our head. Go ahead. Um General, uh, what we're seeing as far as changes in strategic environment with respect to North Korea. What are we seeing?

Senator, thank you for the question. Uh one of the things that we're seeing, if we were to just take this from um you know political, military, and then just informational or intelligence view, what we're seeing with them is uh politically KJU is firmly in his seat. I think militarily what we see is a more experienced force that's been forward into the conflict in Ukraine, come back, trained other forces, and taken best advantage of the offsets that were learned in that fight. and uh begun to employ them in their training. Uh informationally and through intelligence what we find is uh a continued isolated population in that country and less communication south with the government in Korea um there are no overtures toward peace from the north to the south and we see increasing hardness if you will in terms of that relation. So every overture is rebuffed uh and there are no more outreaches from the

What kind of reactions are you seeing from the conflict in the Middle East, from the North Koreans?

Uh, Senator, as as mentioned in closed, uh, we are seeing reflections, and I I would just say, um, they're watching that with a wary eye, by virtue of the um, the use of of munitions and the things that we've done in that conflict currently, and how quickly that occurred.

Thank you. Thanks, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Senator Tuberville, and Admiral Papara, I believe you told Senator Tuberville that that you hope to supplement your answer on the record with regard to bitcoin.

Yes, sir. I will I will respond on the record also.

Uh-huh. Thank you very m-

I'll put it in plain English too.

Yeah. Uh-huh. Thank you. We'll uh Senator Tuberville will not be the only one who um goes back over that. Senator Blumenthal.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you both for your service. and really critical roles. Admiral uh I apologize that I was unable to attend the closed session because of a conflict. So my question really is based on public reporting and I know that there was some coverage of various topics in the closed session uh but I am tremendously concerned about the impact of the transfer the draw down of munitions and capabilities to the middle east i'm under the impression that the impact has been serious would you agree

listen alright i think uh we maintain deep magazines and uh there there's no walking away from the uh quantitative use of of uh weapons and uh our way forward is to uh supercharge our defense base and equally important is to innovate with nontraditional crimes.

Would you agree with me that the American people really need and deserve to know more about what the impact will be so they can appreciate the seriousness of the costs of the Iran war and the really urgent need to replenish and restock munitions and and other resources for your command and others.

um i acknowledge it sir and um uh you know and uh the secretary is addressing it uh as i can see

well i hope that there will be more truth telling to the american people about the need to build the industrial base and to provide more of the resources that you need because otherwise the american people are just gonna assume we don't have any need to do it um the cooperation between russia and north korea is deepening militarily my understanding is that north korea has transferred millions of artillery shells rockets ballistic missiles and other resources to russia for use in ukraine and that north korea has provided more than ten thousand troops right now fighting actually fighting uh on the front line in ukraine is that correct

that's that's correct senator

thank you general bronson um and in turn uh russia is providing north korea with food energy supplies and maybe most importantly technology correct

yes senator that's correct

how significant in your view militarily is that cooperation and i understand it's growing

Y- yes, Senator, uh, it's it's significant due to the fact that, uh, they're able to alleviate their research development, uh, training and evaluation, or testing and evaluation. Uh, they're getting ready-made equipment. They're receiving training. They're putting those things into operation immediately.

Um, Admiral, um, I was very interested in your three meta-trends in your testimony. and particularly as to the growing capability of asymmetric warfare, cheap masked unmanned warfare, we've seen it in Ukraine uh i assume your comments are based on the iran war as well how does that bear on the chinese calculus given that taiwan is smaller fewer numbers of troops but highly capable in cyber and also in providing those unmanned asymmetric forces against maybe a very significant chinese invasion but maybe something that the chinese ought to be more worry about

senator blumenthal i i think the chinese are deeply worried about it and they're trying to reckon with it as we do which i think that why all of us together have gotta reckon with these three meta trend and the mega trend around it and the changing character of warfare um i think that their view is is that they wanna build a drone force that would be a vanguard of an assaulting force and in the end all things being equal uh the mass deployment and employment of cheap expendable munitions will favor the defensive so long as we pursue it uh fully uh with mass with numbers with sustainability and with ai tools that uh enable us to uh command it uh and outmatch our uh potential adversaries

in other words as long as we continue supporting taiwan with those resources

yes sir and uh taiwan's continued pursuit in and of itself of its own defense which is a key factor

thank you thanks mr. chairman

thank you senator blumenthal senator ernst

Thank you, Mister Chair, and again thank you so much gentlemen for being here today. We appreciate your service as well as your team's uh in protecting our great nation. Uh, when Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, it it directly threatened the energy security of a number of our allies in the Indo-Pacific. Uh, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines. And these are key allies. for us and they assist us with the deterrence in that region. President Trump's national security strategy rightly treats American energy dominance as a strategic asset, it's not just an economic one. So, Admiral Paparo, um does does Indopaycom currently treat allied energy dependence as a strategic vulnerability when doing its planning?