Hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee - Pending Nominations

Statement

Hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee - Pending Nominations

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

SEN. JOHN THUNE (D-SD): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I, too, want to add my support of the gentlemen who have been nominated for these positions.

This is a panel and a group of nominees with great experience, great skill. And we're grateful for your service to our country, each and every one of you, and to your families. We appreciate the sacrifice and the service that the families also undertake whenever you serve in your capacities. So we appreciate your willingness to take on these important responsibilities.

And General Chilton, I remember visiting with you about your daughters in my office, and I have two daughters that are -- well, one's in college and one's in high school. And you have adventurous days ahead of you. I only had half the adventure, I guess I would say. But it's great fun in all their activities, and I know you're going to enjoy those days ahead of you.

I would like to ask you a question regarding a statement that you made in response to the advance policy questions regarding ballistic missile defense. You stated, and I quote, that "The Unified Command Plan directs U.S. STRATCOM to plan, integrate, coordinate global missile defense operations and support for missile defense, as well as to develop and advocate missile defense characteristics and capabilities for all combatant commands. If confirmed, this is an area that I will focus on to be sure I clearly understand the command's authorities and responsibilities, as well as those of the regional combatant commanders and the Missile Defense Agency."

Currently MDA is tasked with many funding responsibilities of missile defense, which include research and development, procurement and testing. This responsibility places a major burden on the agency's primary research and development mission.

Assuming that you are confirmed as STRATCOM commander, I'd like to know what your thoughts are on seeing more operational control of missile defense given to the active forces in the manner that you described.

GEN. CHILTON: Senator, that is the goal, I believe, of missile defense is to acquire these systems and then turn them over to the active forces to operate, as they mature and become ready to do so.

And so that is my understanding of where we're headed toward. For the ABL program in particular, as the former Air Force programmer, I know we were looking forward to the time period when that system became certified to be utilized, and the Air Force was going to take over operation of that system and support the combatant commanders around the world. So that is the way I see it moving forward.

SEN. THUNE: You mentioned some of the -- one of the questions I want to ask with regard to the future of some of these programs is do you believe that direct energy technology is important to the future of missile defense?

GEN. CHILTON: I absolutely believe that's an area we need to continue to explore, because the potential return for developing that type of capability, I think, could be revolutionary.

SEN. THUNE: One of the obviously strategic capabilities, our newest strategic capabilities, is missile defense. And by the end of the year, we should have 24 ground-based interceptors fielded for the protection of the homeland against long-range ballistic missile threats; approximately 21 SM-3 missiles on Navy ships, 10 Navy ships, to provide protection against medium-range missiles; and hundreds of Patriot PAC-3 missiles to protect against short-range ballistic missile threats.

Missile defense capabilities have been used now in the two Gulf wars to protect U.S. forces. And during July of 2006, the ground- based midcourse defense system was ready to intercept a long-range North Korean test missile, should it have been necessary.

How do you view the role of missile defense as a strategic capability?

GEN. CHILTON: It's absolutely a critical part, Senator, of our triad today, which has morphed from a classic just offensive nuclear of the Cold War to one that provides still that offensive nuclear piece, conventional and nonkinetic, balanced with a defensive posture and a defensive capability that we see through the missile defense system, and then our responsive infrastructure being the third leg of that new triad; so absolutely a critical element of the strategic deterrent posture for this country.

SEN. THUNE: What impact do you think that our initial deployments have on our ability to address potential threats that are posed by North Korea and Iran?

GEN. CHILTON: Today -- my understanding of our deployments today are that they are focused to the West to deter against a North Korean attack, and that we currently do not have the capabilities in place for an Iranian attack, but this is a threat that we foresee developing in the future.

SEN. THUNE: Do you have confidence in our currently deployed missile defense systems?

GEN. CHILTON: I do, sir, from the level of knowledge that I have of them today. But if confirmed, this will be an area where my -- my current duties do not have me focusing a lot on the end-to-end portion of that. As the Air Force Space Command commander, we participate in the early warning portion and the mid-course tracking, with some of our radar sites. And I'm very confident in their ability to do their mission. The end-to-end portion of that I'll -- I'll delve deeper into, if confirmed.

SEN. THUNE: The -- with regard to the missile defense capabilities through the year 2013, do you think that these deployments are going to keep pace with your understanding of the threats?

GEN. CHILTON: Senator, I do not know the schedule today of the deployment plan for those weapons, and so I couldn't give you an answer to that today as to whether or not that schedule matches up with the threat predictions out there.

SEN. THUNE: Well, again, I appreciate -- my time has expired, so I didn't get a chance to ask the other members of the panel questions. But thank you again for your service to our country, and we look forward to your confirmation. Thank you very much.

GEN. CHILTON: Thank you, sir.

SEN. THUNE: Thanks, Mr. Chairman.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source