“Today we’re here to discuss the global missile defense responsibilities. We are challenged by them, by those responsibilities. We have a national defense strategy that’s calling us to compete with our near peers. We have limited capacity and capability that are deployed today under extreme high demand across our COCOMS. We have gaps, and we have to address those gaps, in cruise missile defense, in hypersonic defense, in 360 missile defense, in layered ballistic missile defense. We have programs of records that are in play today, but they have to sustain us until the new programs come in play. We have reducing budgets, and certainly with COVID-19, we will see that pressure. We have inefficiencies, and we have the missile defense review that is put forward our mission and our policy to defend against all missiles. So today’s discussion is, how do we make this better? How do we set the conditions to make our nation and the world safer through the deployment, the evolution, and development of missile defense systems?” – Riki Ellison, Chairman and Founder of MDAA, at MDAA’s Virtual CRT on June 23, 2020.
“How do we make it better? I think the way we make it better is to talk about it, to see how we transform the way we think about Homeland defense. And most importantly, how we think about cruise missile defense and ballistic missile defense and advanced capabilities…we know that threats can come from that 360 in all areas. And being mindful of that, we know that as we transform the way we think about Homeland defense, and we look at how we need to get advocacy and advanced capabilities, it’s real great to see the discussion about layered defense” – Director for Operations, U.S Northern Command, Maj. Gen. Kevin Huyck, at MDAA’s Virtual CRT on June 23, 2020.
“The threat of air and missile attacks from an increasingly capable China should be concerning for all combatant commands as they contribute to our national security strategy. China represents the greatest long term strategic threat to security in the 21st century, not only in the Indo-Pacific but to the entire globe.” – Director for Operations, U.S Indo-Pacific Command, RADM Steve Koehler, at MDAA’s Virtual CRT on June 23, 2020.
“Missile Defense plays a major role in denied benefit…We are denying adversary benefit, and that is super important to ensure our capabilities are dispersed around the globe to ensure adversaries don’t feel they can take advantage of a lesser capable region” – Commander U.S Army Space and Missile Defense Command, LTG Daniel Karbler, at MDAA’s Virtual CRT on June 23, 2020.
“My team works for the combatant commands. They are how we defined the Warfighter. So that is priority one. And if you look at our budget, we take a lot of heat for this. It is where the majority of our budget goes, into that sustainment support so that the service can operate and sustain whatever in whatever geographic capacity they happen to be in. Number one priority. And, oh, by the way, despite COVID-19, we never missed a beat on ensuring that we are standing behind that priority.” – Director, Missile Defense Agency, VADM Jon Hill, at MDAA’s Virtual CRT on June 23, 2020.
MDAA’s fourth Congressional Roundtable was held yesterday on “Global Missile Defense Responsibilities”. Click here for both video and transcripts of the event.
