During a House Appropriations Committee hearing last week, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) spoke about the Pentagon's modernization program for Blackhawk helicopters.
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00:00Laura.
00:02Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member and my colleagues.
00:07I apologize.
00:08It's a day filled with hearings.
00:10There are five of them.
00:12And this is three.
00:14But I really wanted to be here today.
00:17Let me just say, first of all, I represent the 3rd District of Connecticut.
00:21And Connecticut has historically been known as the Arsenal of Democracy.
00:25So these are issues that are very critically important to me.
00:29We make the finest aircraft in the world, including the Black Hawk,
00:32which is manufactured at Sikorsky in Stratford, Connecticut, which I represent.
00:39You know, you all know this.
00:42It's the Army's vertical platform, par excellence.
00:45Versatility, safety, effectiveness.
00:48Our soldiers know it wherever I travel.
00:51Overseas, et cetera, I always ask about the Black Hawk.
00:55And our service people, our soldiers, sing its praises.
01:00So because of this, the Black Hawk will play an integral role in Army aviation operations for decades to come.
01:08Secretary Driscoll, does this assessment of the Black Hawk's capabilities and importance sound right to you?
01:14Congresswoman, directionally, yes, with the disclaimer being, again, if we look at all of our platforms and all of our systems, the right mixture of what we need in the future.
01:26We are learning these lessons daily and want to share them with you, your office, and this subcommittee.
01:31And so the problem with an all Black Hawk formation would be it cannot go far enough and fast enough to survive in some parts of the world, like Indo-Pacom, like your colleague referenced.
01:43And so we do think that for the next sizable portion of time, the Black Hawk will be part of the mix, though.
01:49Well, I just want to be sure that you're talking about a key piece of the puzzle of the Black Hawk for the future of the Army, given that it has a cumulative five million combat hours, flown critical missions in diverse theaters and conditions.
02:06I think it is a critical tool, and I hope you agree with me that that is the case with the Black Hawk.
02:13I agree.
02:16Okay.
02:17So you noted in your testimony that the Army must remain agile, able to adapt to new challenges.
02:24I agree with that.
02:26The Black Hawk is adaptable, not just in the field, but technologically as well, with Army and industry having recognized the need to modernize
02:35key systems on the Black Hawk to ensure that it continues to work for the future.
02:40And I've had many conversations, all in the affirmative of making sure that the modernization of the Black Hawk continues.
02:51I would like to hear more about your forward-looking vision for the Black Hawk.
02:56How will the Black Hawk's utilization change and grow in the coming years?
03:00How does the Black Hawk factor into the Army's new transformation initiative?
03:07Congresswoman, I appreciate that your constituency involves Black Hawk and the Americans who have made it.
03:14Our constituency is the American soldier and the taxpayer whose dollars we spend.
03:19Well, let me just interrupt for one second.
03:21It's not just a constituency issue here, though it is.
03:26It is about the Black Hawk and what it has meant to the safety of our soldiers and the national security of this country.
03:34That is my primary goal in addressing this issue.
03:40This is not just willy-nilly a constituent question.
03:44This is overall the national security of this nation and the role and, quite frankly, the promise of a modernization of the Black Hawk
03:54and that it will be a major piece going forward.
03:58So, I'm sorry to interrupt you, so please, you know, please continue.
04:03I'll comment a little bit.
04:04Please.
04:05I've been, you know, in the Army for close to 40 years.
04:08I've been flying on Black Hawks, got a lot of hours on the Black Hawk.
04:12It's a great aircraft.
04:15I think that what right now what we want to do is actually we are going to take some of the older Black Hawks out of our formations,
04:22the Lima and Victor models.
04:25We have updated to the Mike model.
04:27We continue to upgrade.
04:29We have to upgrade all of our aviation to make sure that they can defend themselves, understand threats.
04:35So, those kinds of things will continue to happen.
04:38I think the Secretary said we're going to continue to have Black Hawks.
04:42I will tell you that what we are looking, that there are ways that you can build, like for example,
04:48I do think I see drones in the future being able to pick up and actually move artillery tubes.
04:55We've done that with Black Hawks in the past and I've been on artillery raids with those.
05:01So, I think that there's other things that are going to change on the battlefield.
05:04I see Black Hawks are going to be with us for a while, but I do think we're going to have to adapt what we're doing.
05:10There just may be less Black Hawks.
05:12This is very, very troubling because the overall commitments and conversations with the Army over the last year,
05:19including when they weren't part of the modernization piece going forward,
05:25that the Black Hawk would be a singular, not singular in that there's nothing else out there,
05:33but that that modernization of the Black Hawk and providing the multi-year contracts.
05:38So, I'm going to ask you this question, but again, very, very troubling as to your comments on, you know,
05:48not reassuring those of us who have had this commitment about where the Black Hawk stands in our national security,
05:57and its modernization, and the investment in that modernization for the future.
06:02And I can give you a chapter and verse of conversations that I've had over the last year about the Black Hawk helicopter.
06:09But that then gets me to multi-year contracts.
06:11Congresswoman, I'm not, I'm not aware, I'm not aware that we're making any adjustment.
06:14Well.
06:15To the Black Hawk contract, what I was basically describing you is how I see the battlefield evolving,
06:20and how I would see us being able to do things.
06:24You were asking me if, you know, future, and it's hard to predict.
06:28Again.
06:29But we know we have autonomous systems that can do that.
06:31That is, that is troubling, because folks who preceded you were very, very clear.
06:38about the role of the Black Hawk going forward in the future.
06:44So, again, I have continued conversation about this.
06:49But, you know, that gets me to, you know, the Army needs stability.
06:54Our workers need stability here.
06:56Multi-year contracts for the Black Hawk have been delivered.
07:00They generated significant savings for the government.
07:04Now, again, I'm concerned that if the current multi-year contract is allowed to expire in 2026,
07:10without any certainty around the next steps, that the industrial base is not going to be able to pick up and move back.
07:17So, let me just ask you clearly about a multi-year contract to ensure that there is no gap in production that threatens our readiness.
07:30I mean, I wouldn't, I think we're going to have to come back and talk to you, Congresswoman.
07:38I'm not sure I would, you know, make a commitment.
07:40So, you can't, you can't say that.
07:41I wouldn't make a commitment to say that we're going to build things, you know, the same thing forever.
07:45You know, we have, have to come back and look at that.
07:49Obviously, we'll have a discussion on that.
07:51And Congresswoman.
07:52I'm asking you about the 26 budget.
07:55Multi-year contract.
07:57I think we have, from what we have learned and what we have seen being around soldiers,
08:02I think we have had this conversation with many of our largest companies in the last week.
08:06We are unwilling to make commitments that are, in our opinion, in the best interest of soldiers,
08:11and their lethality and keeping them safe if we deploy them anywhere in the world to bring them home.
08:15And so, we can follow up with your office, but right now we can't answer that.
08:19But we're going to need to have a conversation offline.
08:21Again, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member, this is a very, very troubling conversation.
08:26And I will produce the background and information that I've been given about the future of the Blackhawk
08:32for our national security and the modernization and investment in that modernization.
08:39So that I will yield back.
08:41I thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning.
08:44And I will put into the record, if I can, because I also head up the aviation subcommittee here
08:54with a colleague on this committee, Congressman Strong.
08:57And we need to have answers about that.
08:59But this is very, very troubling.
09:01And I'll get back to you, but you need to get back to me.
09:05We need to have a serious conversation about going forward and what this budget will look like for 2026.
09:12Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
09:13Thank you, gentlemen.
09:14Mr. Joyce.
09:15Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
09:16And gentlemen, welcome.
09:18I want to follow up.