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Source: Congress.gov
Participants
Transcript
Today's hearing will come to order. Pursuant to Rule 4B3, members of the House Armed Services Committee who are not members of the subcommittee are allowed to participate in today's hearing and will be recognized after all subcommittee members have had the opportunity to ask questions. The Strategic Forces Subcommittee meets today to receive testimony on the policies and programs related to the national security space activities. Good afternoon to our witnesses and thank you for joining us today.
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Major General Stephen Purdy
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Ms. Andrea Yaffe
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Major General Stephen Purdy
We have Dr. Chris Scalise, the Director of the National Reconnaissance Office, Vice Admiral Frank Whitworth, the Director of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, and Major General Steven Purdy, the Acting Assistant Director of the Air Force Space Acquisition Integration. We appreciate your time today and your service.
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Dr. Chris Scolese
We appreciate your service and the good work you've done at the NRO. Unfortunately, we still do not have programmatic details for the President's budget request for fiscal year 2026, but the top line number did give us some hints. The space systems and people provided by the organizations you all represent are foundational to the security of our nation and the joint force. This is why it is so important that we have the ability to fight and win in space. It is not enough to simply provide important information like missile warning, PNT, and nuclear command and control in all stages of the conflict. Now we must be able to hold at risk the CCP kill web that enables space-based targeting and tracking of our terrestrial forces and extends the range and accuracy of their weapons. Our ability to break this kill web will determine the success or failure of the joint force and its objectives in the Indo-Pacific. That requires having the right systems and relevant timeline.
Specifically regarding the Space Force, they have raised concerns with how these acquisition professionals are developed, trained, and given opportunities to advance in their careers. As we work to make sure we are developing a force that can fight and win in space, we must also make sure that the platforms they will need to break those kill webs are delivered on time and on budget. That starts with having highly trained acquisition professionals. Every Guardian supports the warfighting mission. This means that time spent at Space Systems Command figuring out how to bring more non-traditional companies into the mix is just as important as time spent at Delta 9 conducting orbital warfare. This subcommittee is probably where Space Force got its start. We will, in a bipartisan way, continue to push to make sure that it stays the course and achieves that original vision of improving space acquisitions. I look forward to hearing updates today from our witnesses on some of your programs and how you're working to speed up that acquisition timeline so that we can deliver needed systems to the force.
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Major General Stephen Purdy
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Vice Admiral Frank Whitworth
The recent awarding of task orders for commercial imagery analysis on your LUNO-A program and the funding of the LUNO-B program focused on commercial AI are exactly the kind of commercial integration we need to stay ahead of our adversaries. Finally, Ms. Schaffi, all these efforts are underpinned by our policies in space. How your office is planning for the increased testing, training, and changing operational norms to support these new systems and warfighting doctrine will be incredibly important. With that, I now recognize my good friend and ranking member, Mr. Moulton, for his opening remarks. Thank you very much, Chairman Desjardins, and welcome to our panel of witnesses. Dr. Scalise, I understand this will be your last hearing in front of this subcommittee. Thank you for your dedicated service to our nation and your steadfast commitment to transforming the NRO into an organization prepared to face the threats we face in space today and into the future. Our national security space architecture is undergoing a significant transformation, and it must transform, because life as we know it relies on satellites. The global positioning system developed, launched, and operated by the Space Force is the most obvious. Most people don't realize all the things that depend on GPS. For example, it provides the timing information that makes our entire financial system function. Without it, you wouldn't be able to use your credit card, withdraw money from a bank account, and Wall Street would cease all trading. It's also no secret that almost every weapon system in our inventory depends on space, whether for communications, navigations, or intelligence. Over the past 30 years of U.S. operations in the Middle East, Russia and China have watched our reliance on space and have developed, deployed, and demonstrated capabilities to hold our satellites and therefore our way of war at risk. The People's Republic of China has now launched over 1,000 satellites into orbit, 70% of those in the last five years.
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