Washington, D.C. — Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today questioned CENTCOM Commander nominee Vice Admiral Charles B. Cooper and EUCOM Commander nominee Lieutenant General Alexus G. Grynkewich on the importance of having the world’s best industrial base and munitions production and the rising threat of drone attacks on U.S. troops at home and abroad.
A video of the exchange may be found here. The full exchange is below.
Senator Tom Cotton: Gentlemen, congratulations on your nominations. Thank you to your families for their sacrifice over the year, and most important, thank you to the men and women you represent your organizations and will represent for their service as well. I want to commend you both and commend everyone who was involved in the exceptionally successful mission against Iran over the weekend. Admiral Cooper, I want to return to a brief point you made with Senator Wicker, although we have dealt a massive setback to Iran's nuclear threat, which is the worst kind of threat they could pose to us, Iran still poses a severe threat to our troops and to Americans around the world, right?
Admiral Brad Cooper: They do. They possess considerable tactical capability, one element of which we saw yesterday, which we thwarted in defense of Al Udeid Air Base.
Senator Tom Cotton: And as the next commander of Central Command, one of your top priorities will be to continue the aggressive defensive posture and to continue the deterrence that's now been re-established against Iran, to defend our troops in the region, as well as all of our friends in the region, Israel and the Arab nations.
Admiral Brad Cooper: Absolutely, sir, it would be an important priority– deterring Iran and proxy–
Senator Tom Cotton: And I know that President Trump is mindful about this. Just because they had a very weak response yesterday, which they telegraphed in advance, doesn't mean that there might not be another response in a day, or a week, or a month, or a year, or three years. And it could be missiles or rockets against our troops, or it could be trying to blow up an embassy around the world, or targeting American citizens for terrorist attacks—something that we have to be constantly on guard against, because Iran has been terrorizing America and the civilized world for 46 years. Is that right?
Admiral Brad Cooper: Completely agree, sir, we've got to be in a three-point stance, ready to go every single day.
Senator Tom Cotton: And at bottom, Iran didn't become a terrorist state because the United States bombed their nuclear bunkers. The United States bombed their nuclear bunkers because they're a terrorist state. Is that right?
Admiral Brad Cooper: I would agree.
Senator Tom Cotton: Thank you. The strikes over the weekend showed the importance of having the world's very best industrial base and best munitions. The first time those had been employed in combat operations, they were incredibly successful. But the wars, both in the Middle East since October 7, and in Ukraine, have also revealed the fragility of munitions production in this country and the defense industry. Would you agree that we need to do a lot more to increase capacity for our munitions industrial base?
Admiral Brad Cooper: I would, sir. It's an area of significant concern. I know this is an area that senior DoD leadership is focused on right now. It's not a new issue; it's been around for some time, but clearly, it's one we need to focus on right now.
Senator Tom Cotton: And General Grynkewich, I assume both in your current role in the Joint Staff and also your anticipated role in Europe, you would agree as well that we need to significantly expand munitions production in this country.
General Alexus Gregory Grynkewich: Senator, I would. As the Director for Operations on the Joint Staff, with the responsibility—along with my colleagues in logistics and sustainment—for managing those munitions and pushing them to the fight, I'm acutely aware of some of the limitations that we have. And if confirmed, I would continue to advocate for strong investment on both sides of the Atlantic in the industrial base.
Senator Tom Cotton: And our industrial base includes our defense contractors– companies that make this in the private sector– but it also includes our organic industrial base within the department. Given the track record over the last three years, would you agree that we really need an all-of-the-above strategy? We need to push both the private sector and lean on the assets we already have in the Department of Defense to produce the munitions our warfighters need?
General Alexus Gregory Grynkewich: Senator, I would. The organic industrial base does need that investment and attention. And on the private sector side, I would say we need to focus not just on traditional prime contractors, but also expand the competitive space to new entrants to get as much production capacity as possible.
Senator Tom Cotton: Thank you, Admiral Cooper, I think I saw you vigorously nodding your head in agreement. Would you like to state that for the record?
Admiral Cooper: Absolutely. I think the characterization of an all-of-the-above strategy is the appropriate characterization.
Senator Tom Cotton: Okay. The operation last weekend– I guess a couple of Thursdays ago in Iran– with the use of drones launched from inside the country, as well as a few weeks ago by Ukraine inside Russia, has revealed once again the threat that drones can pose to our bases here in the United States. I've worked with Senator Gillibrand and a lot of other senators to address that threat here in the U.S., and we're going to try to pass legislation to expand the department's authorities on it. But General Grynkewich, it's also a real threat in Europe– the prospect of NATO or American positions being attacked by drones, as we saw in Iran or as we saw in Ukraine. How do you assess the drone threat right now in the European theater?
General Alexus Gregory Grynkewich: Senator, I think it's an acute threat. It's a new technology, and our investment in both counter-UAS capability and the ability to do the same sort of activities with our own drones needs vigorous attention.
Senator Tom Cotton: Thank you. I agree it's an acute threat. If Israel can do it to Iran, if Ukraine can do it to Russia, we need to assume that the bad guys could do it to us– and to our troops and our bases as well– whether overseas or even here at home. And we need to counteract it rapidly. Thank you.