Thank you, Chairman Kelly, for organizing this morning’s hearing. And thank you to our witnesses here this morning to discuss such an important topic.
And to General Minihan ahead of your retirement later this year - thank you for your commitments in an impressive 34-year career in the Air Force. You have been a great friend to this Committee and leader to this nation.
I’d also like to acknowledge the Readiness Ranking Member, John Garamendi, who cannot be with us here today while he undergoes treatment. In the words of Ranking Member Smith, if there is anyone who can fight this, it’s John.
I will keep my remarks brief as we have the two subcommittees together, and I want to reserve enough time for all members to ask questions.
Connectivity is a critical pillar of the air mobility enterprise’s mission to deliver a credible interoperable joint force capable of projecting and sustaining airpower, especially as we look at the tyranny of distance in the Indo-Pacific. As we have experienced over 20 years of access to permissive environments in predominantly ground wars in the Middle East, there is no doubt that our adversaries have invested in advanced technologies that seek to deny us access and our ability to project power in an already strained environment.
I remain concerned that most Air Mobility Command’s fleet of aircraft do not have capabilities sufficient for a contested environment, including battle networks and communications incompatible with our allies. It is clear that this presents a unique challenge for integrated deterrence using our network of allies and partners. We must rapidly improve our communications suites on mobility aircraft to ensure we do not fall behind as certain fleets of aircraft become obsolescent.
I know that TRANSCOM and Air Mobility Command recognize this challenge and have investment plans in place to improve our connectivity capabilities. I look forward to discussing that in more detail today.
With that I yield back.
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