Pentagon Holds Briefing After White House Confirms Russia's Anti-Satellite Capability Transcript

All right, well good afternoon everyone. Thanks very much for your patience today. Just a few things to talk about at the top, and then we’ll get right to your questions.

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Per our announcement. Earlier this morning, Secretary Austin returned to work at the Pentagon today following his recent hospitalization. The secretary is glad to be back in the building and has expressed his appreciation for the great medical care he received while at Walter Reed and for all the well wishes.

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As his doctors highlighted on Tuesday, he’s anticipated to continue his full recovery and the secretary remains squarely focused on executing his duties as Secretary of Defense.

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Secretary Austin also released a statement earlier today following the conclusion of the NATO defense Ministerial meeting in Brussels. In it, the secretary reaffirmed that the United States will continue to stand with our NATO allies and defend the sovereignty and the territory of every Alliance member stating, “Every inch of it. Our commitment to Article 5 remains ironclad.”

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Secretary Austin also underscored that NATO remains the greatest Alliance in history, and that NATO today is stronger, more united and more vital to our shared future than ever. The full statement can be found on DOD’s website.

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Switching gears, earlier today, the department released its first ever resilient and healthy defense community strategy. The strategy will guide the DOD’s actions in the coming years to improve both constructed facilities and the natural environment across our defense installations. More than 2 million military and civilian personnel live, work, train raise children and spend time with their families on the Department’s 538 installations, which include more than 280,000 buildings and 30 million acres of land. These spaces are critical to carrying out our DOD missions. It’s therefore both a national security imperative and a moral obligation to ensure these communities are healthy, functional, and resilient, and that we’re working to ensure a good quality of life for our entire force. Additional information, to include a copy of the strategy is available on defense.gov.

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And finally, yesterday afternoon, the Missile Defense Agency and Space Development Agency launched six satellites to low Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The satellites, which include two satellites for MDA’s, hypersonic and ballistic tracking space sensor and the four SDA tracking layer satellites, are conducting initial testing. The launch of the two prototype systems will be followed by two years of on-orbit testing. And over the next few weeks, MDA and SDA engineers will run a series of tests and check out procedures to ensure the satellites are operating and communicating with the other systems as expected. For more information, I’d refer you to Missile Defense Agency Public Affairs. And with that, I’d be glad to take your questions. Let me go first to Associated Press, Tara Copp, who’s calling in today?

Hi, General Ryder. Thanks for doing this. Wanted to ask you about the White House briefing that just occurred on the Russian anti-satellite capabilities. Has DOD been briefed on, what the NSC and the intel communities know about this, and has the Space Force and Space Command taken any sort of posture changes in order to secure US satellites? Thanks.

Thanks, Tara. Yes, we are tracking what this is. We have been briefed on it. The secretary, of course, is part of the National Security team that’s been briefing the president. I’m not going to have anything to provide beyond what Mr. Kirby briefed over at the White House. And as it relates to Space Command, I don’t have anything specific in regards to any changes other than to say that, as you know, as space has become more congested and contested and in light of growing threats by strategic competitors in space, US Space Command and the US Space Force were established several years ago to maintain a dedicated focus on this vital domain and to ensure that we have trained and prepared military space professionals whose mission it is to protect and defend America’s interests in space. Thank you. We go to the room here. Oren?

The White House said there was ongoing outreach efforts to Russia regarding the anti-satellite capability. Is the Pentagon part of that and has there been any attempt to set up a call between Secretary Austin and his Russian counterpart about this?

Yeah, I don’t have anything to announce in terms of calls, and I just refer you back to the White House on that. Liz?

So the Acting Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, is that in place if Secretary Austin is going to brief on the Hill today?

No.

Okay. So-

She was planning to go over there.

So if he hadn’t been recovering, she would’ve gone anyway.

She was requested to go over there, and she’s sitting in on the briefing. Thanks. Laura?

On the Russian anti-satellite weapon, can you say whether this was a new capability? Was there some sort of triggering event that this was put into the public discourse that Congressman Turner picked up on? Is there anything new here, or is this something that Russia has been developing for a while?

Yeah, thanks. Again, I’m not going to have anything to provide beyond what Mr. Kirby highlighted and underscore the key points he made. It’s not an immediate threat. It’s not an active capability. It has not been deployed, and as you highlighted, it’s related to anti-satellite capability. So just leave it there.

And then separately, there were some reports that there was another Houthi attack this morning in the Red Sea. Can you confirm that or tell us there was an incident today?

I cannot. I know that as you’ve seen, CENTCOM has been issuing daily press releases on any activity in the Red Sea, so if there has been, then I would keep an eye out for that. Idris.

I think one of the things Kirby said with some of the intel is months and months and potentially years old. When was the secretary, when was he briefed on it?

Yeah, so I’m not going to provide a specific date. I can tell you he’s tracking this particular issue.

On an unrelated note, I think the last attack against US troops in Iraq in Syria was February 4th. Do you believe this tit-for-tat, the current round of tit-for-tat attacks, is now over?

You’re right. We have not seen an attack against US forces in Iraq and Syria since February 4th, but we’ll see. Right? As we have been, we will maintain our focus on the mission that we’re there to do, which is the enduring defeat of ISIS. But again, if our forces are threatened or attacked, we maintain the inherent right of self-defense, and we’ll take appropriate action.

And to the retaliation for the January 28th attack, or is that an indefinite?

Again, as we’ve talked about before, I’m not going to speculate or talk about potential future operations other than, again, we reserve the right to protect our forces and we’ll take appropriate action. Joseph.

Just a follow-up on the previous question. Does the department assess that the US response, those two rounds of responses to these attacks led to this, what seems to be one of the longest periods that US forces haven’t been attacked since October?

That’s really a question for the Iranian proxy groups to answer. Again, we’ll see. I don’t want to predict the future. We’re staying focused on the mission that we were sent there to do, which is again, to participate in the international coalition to defeat ISIS.

And just a second one, U.S officials told the Wall Street Journal yesterday or the day before that the US is probing Israeli strikes in Gaza and the use of white phosphorus in Lebanon from, I think October attacks, including an Israeli attack on the Jabalia refugee camp that killed more than 125 people. Do you have any comment on that? Does the department have anybody looking into any Israeli attacks using US weapons?

Yeah, I’m not aware of any, Joseph, as far as the white phosphorus. I’ve seen those press reports, and you’ve seen that State Department has an effort underway, so I’d refer you to them for any questions about that.

You mentioned the white phosphorus. How about the attacks Gaza, or did you mean both?

I’m not tracking the US Department of Defense conducting any investigations in Gaza. Tom.

Thanks, General. Mr. Kirby said the new space-based capability was troubling. How troubled or how concerned is the Pentagon?

Well, again, I’m not going to be able to get into any specifics regarding this particular threat due to the classification. On any given day, the Department of Defense monitors threats from around the world. We work hard to mitigate those threats, and we’ll take appropriate action and defense of the nation. And so today is no different.

And separately, could you please give an assessment of how effective the US-led campaign has been at degrading Houthi capabilities?

In terms of?

Well, we’re still seeing numerous attacks and then self-defense strikes. The idea of this was to, obviously, act as a deterrent and also to degrade the capabilities. So-

Well, the idea was to respond to a threat that the Houthis have been presenting since mid-November, right, when they started to attack international shipping. And so the United States in concert with over 20 different nations have come together to help protect international shipping through the Red Sea, as well as work with international partners to conduct strikes against Houthi capability and degrade those capabilities.

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And so we do assess that we have degraded some of their capability, and again, we will continue to take appropriate action to prevent attacks against international shipping. As you’ve seen and as you’ve highlighted, we continue to see those attacks occur, and we’ll continue to take appropriate action. Our focus here though, is not on fighting the Houthis. It’s on two things. One, ensuring that international shipping and mariners are able to transit the Red Sea safely and securely. And two, as necessary, degrading their capability to mitigate and prevent these kinds of attacks from happening.

Have you done an assessment of the extent to which that degradation has occurred because the attacks are still happening.

We’re continually assessing.

But you can’t put a-

Well, I mean-

… Describe it.

Again, we’re going to continue working closely with the international community to help degrade and disrupt their ability to conduct these attacks. And ultimately, again, as I’ve highlighted before, the Houthis have to ask themselves what price are they willing to pay to take on the international community and have these capabilities degraded, and ultimately put their own people in danger? Fadi.

Thank you, General. So in the last twenty-four hours, there’s been escalation and a series of attacks by Israel in Lebanon that led to the death of, in one incident, a family of seven, including two children, and another one, mother and her two children. First of all, is the department concerned about this escalation going beyond what we’ve seen so far between Lebanon and Israel? And my question is, despite everything we hear from you, from the secretary, from the department about the need to protect civilians, the toll keeps on growing, whether in Gaza, the West Bank and or Lebanon. Does the Secretary think he needs to have a different approach to his Israeli counterparts to maybe make his message clearer on this issue?

Yeah, thanks Fadi. So on your first question, we’ve been concerned about escalation along the Israel-Lebanon border since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th, as you know. And so we have continued to maintain a very focused effort to prevent that escalation from happening. As you’ve seen in many of the readouts that Secretary Austin has had with his Israeli counterpart, this has been a topic of discussion. And you’ve heard others like the National Security Advisor just yesterday, talk about the efforts that are underway to de-escalate that situation. So again, we’ll continue to stay focused on that.

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As it relates to civilian casualties, as we’ve said, the loss of any innocent lives is tragic, whether it’s Palestinian or Israeli. At the end of the day, this is Israel’s campaign. It’s Israel’s operations, so I’m not going to speak to their operations other than to say we can’t be any more clear that we do not want to see the loss of innocent lives. We also recognize the fact that Israel has an inherent right to defend itself against future terrorist attacks, and that they’re fighting an adversary that has embedded itself among the civilian population.

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So we’re going to continue to encourage them and continue to expect them to abide by the Law of Armed Conflict and the International Humanitarian Law. And we’ll continue to, again, as you saw in the readout last night, that the secretary had with his counterpart, talking about the importance of taking civilian safety into account in advance of any operations.

Excuse me. But when the department provides advice, intelligence, weapons, and support like this, and you talk about an enemy that is embedded among civilians, I guess you’re referring to Gaza. What about the West Bank? What about Lebanon? And then to say that it’s up to Israel to decide what to do. Isn’t this department taking, actually, an important role in enabling Israel’s actions?

We’re taking an important role in helping Israel defend itself, but also encouraging and helping to facilitate humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people. Again, at the end of the day, the goal here is that Hamas is defeated and so that peace and security can return to this region. And as you’ve heard, not only the White House say, but us say, work toward a two-state solution so that Israelis and Palestinians can live in this area with security guaranteed for both. Let me go into some other questions here. Jeff.

General, thanks very much. Given the deals that Russia has made and the help that it’s gotten from countries like North Korea, Iran, support from China, is there any concern at the Pentagon that the new space-based anti-satellite capability it’s developing is result of collaboration with any other US adversaries? And is there a concern perhaps that, because of other deals to get help with the war in Ukraine, might have shared any of this technology with other US adversaries?

Yeah. Thanks Jeff. Again, as it relates to this particular threat, beyond what Mr. Kirby provided in his briefing earlier, I’m just not going to have any additional details to provide. Thanks. Chris.

On the Houthi capabilities that have been degraded, Senkom’s interdicted vessels with weapons bound for Yemen, are the Houthis regenerating any of these capabilities? Are they being successfully resupplied?

Look, I’m not going to go into any specific intelligence, but we do know that the Houthis are resourced and supported by Iran. And so, again, that obviously is highlighted in the statements that Senkom has put out. And so again, that’s something that we’re going to continue to take seriously and continue to attempt to mitigate. Thank you. Let me go to the phone here. Jeff Schogol, Task & Purpose.

Thank you. I know this may be a question for Soviet Premier Putin, but the godawful thing that the Russians want to put into space, is it like Goldeneye the thing from the 1995 Bond movie, and is it time for all of us on the ground to join Jed and the Wolverines?

Jeff, I’m not sure how to respond to that. I guess we just have to live and let die. All right, let me go on to J.J. Green, WTOP.

Sorry. General, thank you for doing this. Again on the Russian advance regarding space-based weapons. I don’t want to ask you about intelligence or details about what’s known about it. I want to ask something different, but related. Russia has been pretty aggressive in space for a while now. And going back to 2020, when Russian satellites were stalking US satellites. In 2022, a Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said that commercial satellites might be legitimate targets. So my question is, what approach does the Pentagon take routinely to, one, protecting US satellites and US military, I guess assets, et cetera. But in general, it’s just keeping an eye on what Russia is up to in space because of its aggressive and somewhat reckless behavior in the past.

Yeah, thanks, J.J. It’s a great question. And as I alluded to earlier, there is a recognition that space has continued to become more congested, as you highlight, all the capabilities that are there. But also more contested in terms of seeing strategic competitors like China and Russia putting capabilities into space that could threaten, not only national security capabilities, but also commercial and private capabilities that are in space.

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And so again, you have US Space Command, which provides the operational capability to integrate national or military space capabilities, national defense space capabilities, which can include ensuring that we’re able to maintain our operations, but also looking at protecting and defending capabilities in space.

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I’m not going to go into discussing any classified capabilities, but part of this includes looking at things like how we present capabilities in space. And what I mean by that is disaggregating, right? Previously in a simpler time, you would put a large exquisite satellite into space that had lots of capabilities, that’s a single point of failure, versus going to much more numerous, smaller satellites that are less expensive, that can be replaced more quickly, thus making it harder to take down a system in one fell swoop.

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So there’s multiple different ways that we look at this, but that’s what the US Space Force comes to work every single day looking at to ensure that our national interests are protected in space, as well as working with allies and partners on that same issue. All right. Ma’am.

Thank you. According to US Ambassador to Turkey, Jeffrey Flake, the Department of Defense is building three munition lines in Texas together with one of the Turkish state-owned defense corporations. The demand for especially 155 millimeter rounds increase after the invasion of Ukraine, and the Mechanical and Chemical Industrial Corporation of Turkey produced them in some capacity in Turkey. What are the details of the cooperation and what is the expected monthly production capacity of this Texas compound? And the last one is, do you have details, such as chances for a US sale or delivery of this to Israel in the future?

I apologize. I’m not sure I fully understand your question. There was a lot there.

Yeah, sorry. Yeah, the Department of Defense is building three munition lines in Texas with Turkish defense corporation. What kind of cooperation is there? Can you give us some details on that?

Yeah, I just don’t know. I’d have to take that question for you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. Yes, ma’am.

Thanks, Pat. This is Tima from Al Jazeera English. I just wanted to see if you could give us anything further on Guyana and the urgent US military assistance that has been reportedly headed over there. Do you have anything further on that for us?

I don’t, and I don’t want to wing it from the podium here. So let me take that question. Yeah, we’ll come back to you. Okay. Time for a couple more. Yes.

Moving back to that anti-satellite weapon Russia’s developing. Did releasing this national security threat publicly yesterday hurt national security in any way or put anyone from the Defense Department at a disadvantage in speaking with their Russian counterparts?

Well, look, I’m not going to characterize it. It is what it is. Mr. Kirby addressed this from the podium today in terms of the declassification processes and procedures. So I will do my part in terms of protecting classified information and referring from commenting any further on that particular topic. Leigh Ann.

Is there a timeline for Secretary Austin to review the internal review on his hospitalization and how that was handled?

Yeah, I don’t have a timeline as we’ve highlighted. He does have it for review, and certainly, again, we’re committed to providing as much information about that review as we can. And so we’ll continue to keep you updated on that front. Thank you. And last question. I’ll go to Mike.

Thanks, Pat. The Atlantic Resolve IG report that just came out, the IG noted, that Ukraine is still operating under basically a Soviet-style doctrine in the field. I was wondering, since I was under the impression over the last several months, that the US has been trying to train them to operate under a more Western, US-style of war. Has that been a success, since they’re still fighting the same way and have not moved in seven, eight months?

Well, there’s a lot there in that question, obviously, depending on how deep you want to go. I would say broadly speaking, I think the results that Ukraine demonstrated after being invaded almost two years ago, speak for themselves in terms of their ability to improvise, overcome and adapt on the battlefield. Had that not been the case, we’d be in a much different place right now instead of Ukraine having taken back 50% of the territory that the Russian military occupied at one point.

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That said, as you’ve seen today, it continues to be a tough fight, and the Russians continue to throw a significant amount of capability into the fight, consequences be damned. And so we are going to continue to support them. We’re going to continue to advise as best we can, but at the end of the day, it’s up to Ukraine to plan and execute its operations.

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But what we will do and what we are doing is continuing to work very closely with the international community. We just had the Ukraine Defense Contact Group yesterday to ensure that we understand what their most urgent needs are, ensure that we can work together to get that to them as quickly as possible, but then also importantly, work with the Ukrainian military on what its future force looks like, so that they can deter future aggression from Russia and prevent another invasion from happening. Thanks very much everybody. Appreciate it.