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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) held a hearing today to review the posture of the Department of the Air Force, which encompasses both the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Space Force. Members heard testimony from Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink, Chief of Staff of the Air Force General David Allvin, and Chief of Space Operations General Chance Saltzman.

U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Chair of the SASC Airland Subcommittee, questioned the witnesses about the weaponization of space. Cramer also discussed concerns surrounding cuts to the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program and the Air Force’s plan for maintaining airborne intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.

Cramer referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin and People’s Republic of China (PRC) President Xi Jinping’s joint statement labeling President Trump’s Golden Dome plans as “deeply destabilizing,” arguing such new U.S. defenses would weaponize space.  

He asked General Saltzman if America’s enemies have weapons in space right now.

“Yes, Senator, they do. Over the last few years, we've observed, for instance, the Russians have performed some very aggressive on-orbit capabilities, in terms of plane matching, getting very close to some of our most sensitive satellites in aggressive ways,” said General Saltzman. “They've released what could be presumed to be kinetic kill vehicles that we've watched on-orbit. The PRC has demonstrated the ability to use a grappling arm to grab a satellite and pull it out of its operational orbit, [then] return it. All of these are demonstrated capabilities that could be used as anti-satellite technology.”

Cramer also asked if the Space Force is adequately funded to meet this kind of threat in space. General Saltzman said the department is not adequately funded for the new missions he has been given in space superiority. 

“Scale matters, right?” said Cramer. “If we have the world's greatest weapons, but not enough of them to defeat the enemy, then we're not adequately funded.”

The conversation shifted toward the importance of MQ-9 Reapers to U.S. military operations worldwide. Earlier this year, Cramer led a bipartisan letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth expressing concern regarding the Air Force’s plan for maintaining airborne ISR capability. The rate of investment and divestment leaves the Combatant Commanders accepting greater risk and provides civilian policy makers with less input to make informed decisions or conduct effective missions. He led a similar letter last year to then-Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. 

“My commitment is, we need to do more to make sure we’re not falling backwards anywhere, and that we’re projecting forward everywhere,” said Cramer. He then asked General Allvin if the department has enough MQ-9s to meet the present demand. General Allvin said they have lost several MQ-9s in combat and in operations. 

“It is getting to the point where we need to ensure that every one of them is […] as survivable as possible, and that some of the areas where…we're looking to improve on are putting the capability for the enhanced, proliferated LEO [low-Earth orbit] architecture, to be able to put that on the MQ-9,” stated General Allvin. “This is where I might make my pitch for more funding flexibility, because right now it's a $17 million ask. Because that is above the [threshold for] reprogramming, we're having to go through a longer process with us in Congress to get that approved. But the more we can have that flexibility to be able to […] accelerate the fielding of the proliferated LEO architecture on those MQ-9s, it'll make them more survivable.”