Joe Wilson Touts ‘Golden Dome’ Missile Defense Amid Growing ‘Deadly Capabilities’ From Adversaries

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During a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Wednesday, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) spoke about the need for the ‘Golden Dome,’ an air defense system designed to protect against inbound missile attacks.

Transcript

00:00The chair now recognizes the distinguished gentleman from South Carolina, Mr. Wilson.

00:06And thank you very much, Dr. Chairman Desjolies.

00:11And we appreciate all of your service, and what an important time in history,

00:15what a great opportunity, I believe, we have in history to protect the American people.

00:20And we thank you all for being here today.

00:23And sadly to me, we're in a conflict we didn't choose,

00:26and that is dictators with rule of gun invading democracies with rule of law.

00:31It began February 24, 2023, the invasion by war criminal Putin of Ukraine.

00:36October 7, the invasion I consider of Israel by Iran, its puppets.

00:44And so we've just got to be prepared.

00:46And we know that earlier this month that Russia launched over 70 missiles

00:52in the capital of Kyiv against civilian targets that had catastrophic effect

00:58on 35 people killed on a bus over and over again,

01:03just war crimes that should never occur.

01:06And then Tehran has directly fired missiles itself directly from Iran

01:13and with its puppets against civilian targets in Israel.

01:16And then we have the Chinese Communist Party continuing to expand their arsenal

01:21of median and intermediate-range ballistic missiles,

01:25posing a significant threat to the United States and our allies across the Pacific.

01:30And it's my view that we must be prepared to strengthen our capabilities

01:35to deter the adversaries so that we can establish peace through strength.

01:40And, General Ganey, as we modernize to deter and defend ourselves against the adversaries

01:47with increasingly deadly capabilities,

01:49we are moving towards setting up a revolutionary new missile defense system,

01:54the Golden Dome, which has been so advocated and appreciated by President Donald Trump.

02:00With that in mind, General Ganey, as the service representative on the panel

02:04with the, quote, organized, trained, and equipped responsibilities,

02:08are you providing input on the personnel and training requirements

02:13that would be associated with the options under the consideration for Golden Dome?

02:19Congressman, thank you for that question.

02:22I have not been part of the architecture work to date,

02:26so therefore I have not had any input on the organizational training aspect of it.

02:31but what I can say is I have significant input into the Army's organization,

02:37modernization, and way forward,

02:39and any elements of the Army that may be part of that architecture

02:43will have already have been vetted.

02:45And as the operational, potential operational component for NORTHCOM

02:49doing the ground-based mid-course defense system,

02:53as we ingest additional technology into the architecture,

02:59my team will be prepared to advise NORTHCOM and assist as necessary.

03:03Well, we certainly have faith in you and your colleagues.

03:06With that in mind, too, General Ganey,

03:07as war criminal Putin's unprovoked invasion,

03:11which is to actually reestablish the failed Soviet Union,

03:15we see the axis of evil of the Chinese Communist Party,

03:20war criminal Putin, DPRK, North Korea, and the regime in Tehran

03:25continue to build up their missile capabilities

03:28with a threat against the United States and our allies continuing to grow.

03:33And, General, what is the Army's position on foreign military sales

03:37for the lower-tier air and missile defense sensor?

03:41Does the Army support partner nations purchasing the system

03:45as a standalone item?

03:48Again, Congressman, thanks for your question.

03:51The LTAM's radar is an exportable system currently,

03:56and it's currently part of our foreign military sales system,

04:02and Poland has purchased the system already.

04:07And, yes, it is available as a standalone option.

04:10However, we continue to encourage it to be purchased

04:13as part of the integrated battle command system

04:15because that promotes the interoperability

04:18between our allies and the U.S. as we move forward.

04:21And that's exciting.

04:22It's so exciting to see Poland come to life and be free.

04:27And, Secretary Yaffe,

04:29I'm very concerned about the weaponization of space

04:32by war criminal Putin and the Chinese Communist Party.

04:36And with the potentiality of overriding or evading the ground

04:41and sea-based missile defense systems,

04:43how can this be addressed of the weaponization of space?

04:48Sir, thank you for the question.

04:53I think we're tracking China and Russia's developments in space very closely.

04:56They've both put up a number of capabilities of concern

04:59designed to hold our critical space-based assets at risk,

05:02and that's part of the discussion.

05:04At the same time, we hope to leverage space

05:05to enable our sensors to be most effective

05:07in the future Golden Dome system.

05:09Well, thank you again for your service.

05:11I yield back.

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