Hicks: Today’s Russia Problem Mustn’t Distract from Tomorrow’s China Problem
An increasingly complex security environment is complicating the Pentagon’s efforts to ease tech firms’ frustrations.
PATRICK TUCKER | APRIL 7, 2022 11:58 AM ET
LOS ANGELES—As terrible as Russia’s war in Ukraine is, it pales in comparison to a potential fight against China, the Pentagon’s No. 2 civilian said.
The Ukrainian conflict “is not the degree of difficulty that we are looking at in terms of what we need to have to fight in the future,” Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks told reporters traveling with her to visit startups and technology partners in California this week. “You even see the Ukrainians asking for more and more advanced systems themselves. But, the [United States], we're very focused on how to make sure we have a really combat credible capability,” to deter China.
Hicks said that’s why the new 2023 defense-spending proposal seeks historically large allocations: $146 billion to buy weapons of today and $130 billion for research and engineering to develop the systems of tomorrow: better and cheaper hypersonics, more secure communications, cyber defenses, and artificial intelligence to guide autonomous drones and help commanders react more quickly to complex problems.
“We really took kind of a three-step, five-year-increment look, with a lot of near-term investment going in, in alignment with what the INDOPACOM commander says he needs, in alignment with what [U.S. European Command commander Gen. Tod Wolters] says he needs in Europe,” she said, adding,“We're going to keep adjusting as we go.”
https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2022/04/hicks-todays-russia-problem-mustnt-distract-tomorrows-china-problem/364156/
