 All right we'll get afternoon everyone. Just a few things pass along and we'll get right to your questions. So first Secretary Austin, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Under Secretary of Defense Comptroller testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense yesterday to underscore the importance of passing the Defense Department's Fiscal Year 2025 budget request. During the hearing the Secretary emphasized the urgent need for approval of the department's supplemental request highlighting the DOD's critical role in demonstrating American resolve to protect our nation and our national security interests, supporting America's allies and partners, and investing in our defense industrial base. If approved the funding request will provide essential aid to our partners in Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific. It would provide nearly 60 billion dollars for the Department of Defense with about 50 billion of that sum flowing through the nation's defense industrial base in turn creating American jobs in over 30 states. As the Department actively works to address today's most pressing national security challenges confronting our nation, immediate passage of the supplemental remains the most important thing Congress could do to assist our warfighters in defending our country and enabling DOD to support our allies and partners like Israel and Ukraine. Speaking of Ukraine tomorrow, Secretary Austin will participate in a virtual NATO-Ukraine Council meeting with fellow NATO defense ministers. The Secretary and his fellow defense ministers will discuss the international effort to meet Ukraine's urgent needs to include air defense and artillery. Additionally, Secretary Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General C. Q. Brown Jr. will host the Ukraine Defense Contact Group virtually next week on April 26. Both meetings underscore the unwavering commitment of the United States and the international community to support the people of Ukraine as they continue to fight for freedom and protect their sovereignty from Russian aggression. We'll have more information to provide on the UDCG next week. Shifting gears, Secretary Austin also hosted the Norwegian Defense Minister Bjorn Allard Graham here in the Pentagon today. The two leaders discussed long-term plans for supporting Ukraine, and Secretary Austin expressed his gratitude for Norway's swift assistance to the Ukrainian people. A readout of this meeting will be posted to defense.gov. Moving to the Indo-Pacific region, on Monday, more than 16,000 service members of the armed forces of the Philippines and the United States will commence Exercise Balakaton 24, our largest annual exercise with the Philippines. This year will be the most complex Balakaton to date, including combined joint all-domain operations such as maritime security, air and missile defense, dynamic missile strikes, and cyber defense training. In the spirit of working shoulder to shoulder, 16 other nations will participate or observe to include France for the first time. For more information, please reach out to U.S. Indo-Pacon Public Affairs. And finally, I'd like to take a moment to recognize one of our OSD Public Affairs teammates who will be departing the pattern and retiring from the Air Force after 22 years in uniform. Colonel Brooke Brander has served in assignments around the globe during her career, but most recently as the OSD Public Affairs Director for Strategy Plans and Assessment for the last two years and has done an amazing job. Her exceptional leadership and contributions have been instrumental in enabling the Department to develop effective communication strategies and keep U.S. and international audiences informed about the role of DOD in defending our nation. On behalf of the entire OSD Public Affairs team and Air Force Public Affairs community, we want to congratulate Colonel Brander on her retirement and thank her for her superb leadership and dedicated service to our nation, the Department of Defense, and the U.S. Air Force. We're all grateful to have had the opportunity to serve alongside her and wish her all the best as she embarks on her next chapter. And with that, we'll take your questions. We'll go to Associated Press. Tara, welcome back. Thank you. I wanted to ask about Ukraine. If the bill is passed by the House and Senate and signed into law, just how quickly can the Department of Defense get weapons moving to Ukraine and have you done anything to speed that along, such as pre-position some things in Europe? Sure. Well, obviously, as I'm sure you can appreciate, I can't get into any specifics on timelines as it relates to pending legislative proposals. We obviously do look forward to an upcoming supplemental vote. But in the meantime, we're the supplemental to get passed. We are poised to respond quickly with a security assistance package via our presidential drawdown authority. As you know, we have a very robust logistics network that enables us to move material very quickly. As we've done in the past, we can move within days. Again, for operation security reasons, I'm not going to be able to get into the specifics of what that security assistance package could look like, other than to say it would, of course, include likely important things like air defense and artillery capabilities. But again, we'll have much more to follow and we'll keep our fingers crossed. You describe in general terms like so it moves to the Ukrainian border at that point, do the Ukrainians take custody and then move it in via rail? Or how will that flow work? Again, for operation security reasons, force protection reasons, I'm just not going to be able to go into those details. But I think we've demonstrated over the last two years that we do have a very robust system in place, which is effective in ensuring that we can get Ukraine what it needs, not only from the United States, but from the broader international community. Thank you. Matt. First, I have a follow up on that. Can you say whether or not the department is considering maybe a larger drawdown that we've seen in past in packages since it's been some time and that Israel is in such great need of things like artillery and air defense? Yeah, thanks Matt. I really can't at this stage get ahead of the process other than to say again, we certainly understand and appreciate the urgency and our poise to move quickly if the supplemental is passed. Okay. Secondly, we've heard from an Israeli source that the Israelis have made significant progress in preparations to evacuate roughly a million people out of Rafa ahead of any possible operations there and that the U.S. is aware of these efforts, which include preparing areas to the north with repairing pipes and setting up tents. Can you speak to those efforts and does the relocation of these people meet with the sort of recommendations the U.S. is making to the Israelis as they proceed? I really can't. That's a question that's best addressed by the Israelis. As you're probably aware, the White House was hosting a session today with senior Israeli representatives to discuss the Rafa situation. So, you know, I'd refer you to that readout once it comes out. Again, our position has not changed in terms of the importance of ensuring that humanitarian assistance and civilian safety are taken into account as Israel conducts its operations against Hamas. Can you say who was representing DOD in those meetings today? I can. As I understand it, three representatives we had performing the duties of Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Melissa Dalton, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East Policy, Dan Shapiro, and then also Major General Joseph McGee, the Joint Staff Vice Director for Strategy Plans and Policy. Thanks. Good follow-up on this. Thank you, General. So, as you said, we're going to wait for the readout from the White House. But as far as you know, have you been presented by Israeli plan for an operation in Rafa, whether limited or a major invasion? Again, I'd refer you to the readout. As I understand it, Fadi, at this point, there's been discussions, you know, ongoing technical discussions in terms of, you know, enabling the Israelis to understand the key points that we're making and incorporating those into any plans. And, you know, beyond a broad concept is what I'm tracking right now. But again, we'll see what comes out of the meeting. Are you able to say, like previously, the answer has been we haven't received any plan. Do you, is your sense there's been some progress on the issue of Rafa and discussions between you and Israelis? I think the discussions continue in terms of, again, enabling the United States to share with Israel what our concerns are and to provide lessons learned that we've gleaned over the years in conducting these type of operations. And I think we'll have those conversations going forward. Again, our position has been pretty clear. We understand the need for Israel to go after Hamas and to eliminate or defeat Hamas as a threat. And so we believe there's a way to do that while also taking into account civilian safety and ensuring humanitarian assistance. Thank you, Lara. Thanks, Pat. So, CIA Director Bill Burns said in testimony today that without additional aid, Ukraine could lose by the end of 2024. Does DOD share that assessment? You know, I'm not going to speak for the CIA. I know from a DOD standpoint, what we're focused on right now is ensuring that we can get Ukraine the assistance that it needs. We're focused on working with international allies and partners to ensure that Ukraine gets what it needs, not only in the near term, but also for the long term. And this is through mechanisms like the capability coalitions, which are looking at the long term defense of Ukraine so that it can deter future aggression from Russia. You know, the Ukrainians have demonstrated their resilience and their courage under fire. We have no reason to think that that's going to change, but we also understand the dire situation there right now, which is why, again, we would like very much to see the supplemental past. And we would like very much to be able to rush the security assistance in the volumes that we think they need to be successful. And then as a follow-up, you said there would be a meeting coming up with NATO. Is NATO, is it possible that NATO is going to take control of the Ukraine defense contact group? Is that something that's, is that plan one that's moving along now? You know, right now the Ukraine defense contact group continues to be hosted by the Secretary. That's the plan into the foreseeable future, so I don't have anything to announce in terms of any potential changes. Thanks. Thank you. Constantine. Thanks, Pat. On Belikatan, are there any concerns that the USS Boxer, which is, I believe, by all accounts, slated to participate in the exercise, but had to turn around last week and cut his deployment short, won't be able to make it, it's important. Are there any concerns over that? I'll have to refer you to the Navy in Indo-Paycom to talk about that. Thanks. All right, let me go to the phone here real quick. Idris from Reuters. Do you have any updates on when the Secretary last spoke with Minister Galant and, you know, what the conversation was about? And do you have any update on the findings of the strike, Israeli strike, against the world central kitchen? Have you gone through it? Do you have an understanding of whether that Israeli initial investigation is something you agree with? Yeah, thanks, Idris. So the last phone call that the Secretary had with Minister Galant was on Tuesday, which I believe we read out and sent no phone calls since then. And then in terms of the world central kitchen, I don't have any updates to provide. As you know, NSC was reviewing that, and so I'd refer you to them for any updates on their review. Thank you. Come back into the room here. Yes, sir. Thank you. And the proposed House bill on Ukraine, there is a non-biting requirement to provide Ukraine with the longer-range attack arms. Is this something that the Pentagon might be looking into? I don't have anything to announce. You know, we've provided readouts in terms of the capabilities that have been associated with the PDAs. Of course, as you know, we've always said nothing's off the table, but I don't have anything to announce today. And one more, do you have an update on the training and the Morris Bay's of the Ukrainian pilots? What stage are they now? Can we approximately talk about the graduation time from here? I'd refer you to the Air Force for the specifics. In terms of the status, as I understand it, things are progressing well. They are, you know, in the advanced stages of their training. I don't have a specific date to highlight other than everything seems to be on track and on schedule on that front. And of course, certainly as we get closer to that, we'll have much more to provide. Thank you very much. Tony. A couple questions. One, you talked about the 30 states would benefit from the supplemental. Can you get a chart that lays out what states and roughly the dollars, this is a repeated claim from the Pentagon. It'd be useful to have a chart that shows the states that would benefit. Yeah, we actually have one posted to defense.gov right now, so we can get you that link. This is on the supplemental. This isn't like past aid that's gone to states. I'll double check, but yeah. On Iran. The world's fixated on a potential Israeli retaliation. Do you have any sense of the state of Iran's air defense system in terms of how well integrated it is? DIA about four years ago had a report that came out and said they had the S 300. They're fairly well integrated, but fast forward four years later. Do you have any thumbnail assessment of how well their air defense system is integrated radar, human observation posts, and missiles? Yes. For understandable reasons, I can't get into specific intelligence. Clearly, Iran has an integrated air defense system as you highlight, but I'm just not able to go into the specifics of what advanced capabilities they may have. I'm not prepared to do that from the podium. Do they have the S 400? There's always been rumors that they may or may not get it. That's pretty sophisticated as a system. Can you address whether they had the S 400? I really can't. Thanks, Tony. Chris. Thanks, Pat. If I could just pull up on the F16 question. Is the training timeline affected by the lack of supplemental at all? Not to my knowledge. Do you have funding? Would you need a supplemental to continue funding that going forward for, say, the next cadre? So the funding, as I understand it, Chris, in a lot of ways, what this is about is enabling us to replenish our own stocks, which then enables us to draw down from our own inventory to be able to provide security assistance to Ukraine. So that's one piece of it. The other piece, of course, is the USAI piece in terms of being able to let contracts to work with industry to provide them with capabilities. So on the training front, while certainly there's a budget aspect to that, really what we're talking about here is working with the Ukrainians, working with the air coalition, capability coalition in order to identify the pilots, to identify which partners are going to contribute, aircraft, munitions, those kinds of things. So the supplemental, of course, is incredibly important. But as I understand it, we're able to continue to do some things when it comes to training of pilots, with, of course, one of the long pulls in the tent, being working with Ukraine to identify those individuals who they want to nominate for that training. And again, because you have multiple nations involved, the training pipeline has some flexibility built into it in terms of being able to absorb those pilots and train the numbers that Ukraine has. Just a quick ball from what you mentioned, looking at munitions among the coalition. Is there been any progress on that? Yeah, I don't have any updates on that front. But again, as we get further down the road, and again, for operation security reasons at this point, I can't go into the specifics, but we'll certainly keep you informed. Thanks. Yes, sir. Thank you, General. So on Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed a resolution that deeming the slogan from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free, is anti-Semitic, and it's you should be condemned. Does the Pentagon have a statement on this passing or that slogan, and whether it's problematic or not? I don't. Thanks. Sure. The other topic, US and China. So why was the discussion between the Secretary of State and the Chinese Defense Minister Don Zheng held by video teleconference instead of just calling? So which side made the offer to like a video style? Sure. You know, on your latter question, we've been working at the staff level for months ever since the President Biden held his meeting with Xi Jinping to arrange a call. And so oftentimes, you know, in terms of whether that's a phone call, whether it's a video teleconference, that's coordinated between the two staffs. The key point here, though, is that they had the opportunity to communicate and so, again, we'll continue to look for opportunities to continue communicating in the future. Thank you very much. Yes, sir. Thank you so much, General. Regarding to Rafa, what do you expect to have any updates from the Israeli sides about their plan? They want to do unoperations, military operations, and Rafa? Well, again, when it when it comes to timelines, that's really a question for the Israelis to address. As I mentioned earlier, our discussions continue to be ongoing with the Israelis in terms of what their thoughts are as it relates to Rafa, again, and it affords us an opportunity to highlight our concerns and our key points, which are that we want to see humanitarian assistance and civilian safety taken into account in going after Hamas. Another question about another topic regarding to the nature. Does there any change to the U.S. military footprint in Niger? And have you seen their reports that the Russian sent some troops to the region there? So would you give me an update about that? Thank you. So our footprint in Niger has not changed at this time. And as it relates to media reports of Russian forces going into Niger, certainly where are those reports, but I don't have any comment to provide. Go here and then I'll come back. Thanks so much. The U.S. 7th Street announced their aircraft transit through the Taiwan Strait one day after the Secretary's phone call with the Chinese Defense Minister. And China criticized this transit through the Taiwan Strait as provocative. So do you have any response to China? And what was the U.S. message by conducting the transit just after the Secretary's phone call with its Chinese counterpart? I'm going to look at the transit was long scheduled. And as we've made clear on multiple occasions, the United States is going to sail, fly, and operate wherever international law allows, and we're going to do that safely and responsibly. Thank you. Yes, sir. Thank you, General. According to some reports, U.S. forces have deployed a self-secret air defense system in Syria and Kurdistan region of Iraq. And the defense system intercepts tons of Iranian missiles and drones in your last attack. What do you have on this? Just let me make sure I understand. You're asking if we've deployed defense system capability in both Syria and Iraq. So what I would tell you is I don't have any specifics to provide. Broadly speaking, throughout the Middle East region, we have deployed air defense capabilities and is part of our efforts to ensure force protection, as well as to defend our interests and our allies and partners throughout the region. As I'm sure you can appreciate, I'm not going to get in any specifics for Operation Security reasons in terms of particular locations other than to say that that is a capability that we maintain in the Middle East. One more question, if you don't mind. Did the Iraqis in their meeting with Secretary Austin last Monday discuss withdrawing U.S. forces in Iraq? They were able to have a discussion about the transition from the coalition, the international coalition mission to defeat ISIS to the enduring bilateral security relationship between the United States, Iraq, and other coalition partners. So I don't have anything to announce today in that regard, but that was part of the discussion. Thank you. Yes, sir. Thank you. Can you tell us whether Israel has actually decided to respond to Iran? I mean, at the end of the day, that's really a question for Israel to answer, right? So, you know, you've seen publicly that they've said they're going to do something. I don't know what that could be or what it could look like. Certainly, we are maintaining close communication with our Israeli partners. You know, and as I mentioned earlier this week, we do not want to see escalation in the Middle East region, but we won't hesitate to defend Israel or our forces if they're threatened. What kind of conversations are you having with Israeli officials about this? And do you have a sense that they're listening to your advice? Well, you've seen the readouts that we put out from Secretary Austin as it relates to his discussions with Minister Galant. Importantly, I would highlight that he's also spoken to many other leaders throughout the Middle East to get their sense of the situation. And, you know, if you again take a step back, ever since October 7th, we've been working very diligently to prevent a wider regional conflict, and that continues to be a priority for this department and for the U.S. government. We don't seek conflict with Iran. We're going to continue to work with partners to de-escalate the situation. But at the same time, just to be clear, if Israel is attacked, we will defend Israel, and we will defend our forces if they're threatened. So, I'll leave it there. All right. Thanks very much, everybody. Appreciate it.