[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2023] >> just a few things at the top and i will get rht to your questions. first of all, i would like to highlight u.s.-european

statement confirming to russian su27 aircraft conducted unsafe and unprofessional intercept with a u.s. air force intelligent unmanned aircraft that was operating within international air space over the black sea. to recap at approximately 7:03 a.m. central european time one of the russian aircraft struck the propeller of the mq9 forcing forces to have to bring it down. several times before the collision the s.u.27 dumped fuel on and flew in front of the mq9. this demonstrates a lack of compensation. u.s. air forces in europe. africa routinely fly aircraft over sovereign territory and international air space in tkaord nation with applicable

hocks nation and international laws to bolster defense and they support allied partner and u.s. national objectives. as the u.s. favorss in europe, air force africa commander u.s. and allied aircraft will continue to operate in internatiol air space and call on the russians to conduct negligence professionally and safely. in separate news the secretary concluded a successful visit to the memes with leaders in majority, iraq, israel. it served to deepen partnerships and enable the exchange of views on shared regional and global challenges. specific topics of discussion included ongoing coalition led defeat isis operations in ira and syria, concerning range of threats posed by iran including destabilizing regional activities and provision of unmanned ariel systems to russia to use in their war against ukraine and implementing

commitments by israeli and palestinian in deskhaeuting violence ithe west bank. the secretary had the opportunity to talk to a number of u.s. service members serving in the central command area of responsibility and thanked them and their families for their commitme to mission, service appear safe guarding our nation. secretary austin and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff will host the 10th meeting of the ukraine defen contact group tomorrow virtually in the pentagon and will allow for the seetary, chairman and senior defense leaders to discuss ongoing efforts to provide tkroeupb with the means -- ukraine with the means to defend itself. with that i will take your questions. we will start with route reuters. >> has anyone reached out to their counterparts from russia

regarding the mq9. what can you detail more what the mission was and where it was being piloted from? >> sure. in terms of secretary austin talking to his counterpart, not at this point to my knowledge. d.o.d. officials have not spoken specifically to russian authorities on this particular incident. i do know the state depament is raising our concerns about the incident directly with the russian government so i would refer you to them for the details. in terms of the mission of the mq9 it is an isr platform and they have been flying over the plaque sea including before the cuent contradict started. it is an important waterway so it is not appearen common miion for us to be flying in international air space. >> can you tell what precautions are going forward with an armed

aircraft? >> i'm not going into get into the specific profile of this particular aircraft. the mq9 hashe ability tbe armed. it was again conduing an isr mission in international space something we have been doing for some tim in terms of the times of tactic, technies and procedure we take to protect our aircraft i won't get into the spefrls. the key point here is while intercepts in and of themselves are not that uncommon the fact that this type of behavior from the russians pilots is uncommon and you fortute and unsafe an uld echo the call on the russians to continue to fly safely. >> was this collision itself an accident on russia's behalf and is the u.s. responding as such? >> we are continuing to accession exaly what happened,

but i think based othe anxiouses of the russianilots it is clear thawas unsafe, unprofessional and i think that the actions speak for themselves. what we saw again were fighter aircraft dumping fuel in front of this u.a.v. and getting so close to the aircraft that it actually damaged the propeller on the mq9 we assessed that it likely lled some damage to the ssian aircraft as well, to our knowdge. we know that the aircraft, the russian aircraft, did land. i won't go into where know landed but it is demonstrative of very unprofessional airmanship. >> will the u.s. try to rever the drone? >> ion't have anything right now to provide in terms of revery operations. if i have any we will update it.

>> is this video of the incident? are u going to release the video? where in the block sea did it -- black seaid it happen and how close trussian air space? and did you say that this particular one was unarmed? >> i didn't say whether it was or not. i won't get into the mission profile. it was conducting an isr mission. in terms of the ecifics, david, i c't get me specific other than the black sea region innternational air space well clear of any type of -- it was international air space. i'm sorry, the other part of your question. >> video? >> we are going through the declassification process and we will updaylight you in terms of

imagery witthis incidt. i'm laser focusedn your question. >> this is a quick one. u haven't said reaper but is it accurate to say it is an mq9 reaper? >> i wl stick with mq9. joe. >> an mq9 potentially conins sensitive technolo. is the u.s. mitary undertaking any effort to recover the mq9? is it in the waters of the black sea? has russ recovered it? is there a u.s. naval asset that could undertake that recovery? >> again i won't get into the specifics of what is on this particular aircraft other than again it is an isr platfm. because of the damage, we were in a position to have to

esseially crash it into the black sea. to my knowledge athis point in time the russians have not recovered that aircraft. but again, in terms of our recovery efforts, don't have any updates to provide right now. i would refer you to nav air in terms of assets in that region. >> thank you. regarding north korea as somebody with cruise missiles, is possible to monitor a nuclear warhead on a cruise missile. what is the situation of escalating provocation such as nuclear provocation by north korea? >>et me make sure i tnk so. what ithe readiness of the u.s. to respon to a nuclear

provocation by north korea? i think we have been very clear that we are -- were north korea deploy a nuclear weapon it would be the end of the north korn region but we are working to der aggression and preserve securitynd that will continue toe our focus. we will go to carl. >> a quick clarification. what did the fighter strike the mq9 with? feels it the wing? >> i can't tell you specifically whatortion of the aircraft, but the fact at it essentially ran into the mq9. >> and separately on ukraine, there's a report from the battlefield that the ukrainians are running out of munitions. is that a concern for the pentagon and what is the pentagon doing to alleviate that problem? >> since beginning of this

campaign we are doing everything we can to meet ukraine's needs whether it is ammunition, air defense, armor. you have heard us talk that. tomorrow's discussion will be anher opportunity to bring the international community together to focus on ukraine's most urgent needs to include ammunition. that will continue to be our focus and you have heard secretary austin and others say we are committed to making sure they have what they need to be successful. >> is there an assessment that the pentagon has of why they are running out of ammunition? is it because they are expending it too fast? is it not making it to the battlefield in time. >> i wouldave to refer you to the ukrainians about their specific efforts to supply tv individual unitsment we are working closely with them and our international partners to get them what they need. and it is important to take a step back and look at the

progress that has been made. while recognizing that there's a tough fight ahead into the spring and summer, our focus will be working with national armaments directors and ukrainians to get them the ammunition they can and get it to the front lines as quickly a poible. >> you gots through theime line of the m interpt. we have that the aircraft wa struckt 7:03 eastern but how long were they with the aircraft beforehand and were there any radio communations from the russians or the united states? >> on the latter part of your question, no, none that i'm aware of. and i would ask that you go back and confirm this withcon but based on t information i have here it seems like appromately to 40 minutes they were flyi in the vicinity of this

mq9 and that at 7:03 is when -- 7:30e a.m. central is when they collided with iausing it to crash. >> the u.s. forces had to bring down the aircraft. does that main that the united statesiloted it to the crash site? >>e brought it down. >> and is there any u.s. naval assets currently in the block sea? -- black sea. >> iould have to referou to nav air forthat. laa. >>an you talk more about the damage to the mq9? was unfliable and that is why yohad to bring it down? and can you say more about how often this kind of things

happens that russian aircraft harass u.s. drones and aircraft? >> i don't have any statistics in terms of interceptsut as i highlighted the fact that inrcepts of aircraft are not unmmon in and of themselves, its not a daily occurrence, the vast majority of those intercepts are what we would consider safe and professional. just wanting to see what is there, you are flying alongside it to see what is there. in this particular se, again, they collided with the airaft, damaging the propeller and essentially putting it in a situation where it was unfly believe and uncontrollable and we took it down. >> i just want to confirm any communication with alies such as turkey about potential recovery

of the drone? and is there anyoncern >> will be a hypothetical. russia does not have the drone. that would be a hypothetical queson. in terms working with allies and partners i don't have anything to announce but if we do i will be sure to let you know. >> i know you don'want to share lo of information. are you able to say whether the into nine was flying near ukraine or near the peninsula? i believe you said the russians did not recover the drone. have you seen any effo by the russian navy to try to recover the drone? >> on your latter question i am

not going to get into that. in terms of where it was flying, it was well clear of any territory in ukraine. it was in the international airspace over international water. >> during secretary austen's visit to egypt, he helped that she held meetings with officials even though all press was banned. in a similar situation they refused to proceed. the biden they want to keep -- when presented with a choice of autocrats and those who stand withemocracy, can you explain why he decided to proceed with those trips? >> our relationship with egypt is an important, strategic partnership. the secretary communicated a reason to meet with counterparts.

when it came to the press conference of that portion, having looked further into it, the egyptians lived up to what they had agreed upon. some of the lessons learned out of that was in terms of making sure that we weron the same sheet when it came to understanding press access. we will continue to work that. >> they also agreed beforehand there would be a ban on journalists? >> we did not agree to a ban on journalists. we agreed to an official phographer that would come into sessions. a portion that was open to the press was subsequently not held so therefore there was not an opportunity to cover that. sometimes these meetings are very small, sometimes there is not the opportunity for media to come in. it is something that we have noted and we will continue to work closely with governments to ensure there is press access. >>egarding the budget, the

last few years of services have pursued to invest strategy and congress hasn't necessarily bought into that. this year the air force is looking to retire more than 300 aircraft, doubled the amount last year. congress, last year it didn't give that full amount. is there a sense things have changed on the hill, that there is a willingness to improve greate divestments or is this becoming a cat and mouse game of shoot with a higher number knowing you are going to get less, to try to get to where you want to be? >> when it comes to the air force budget specifically, we will refer you to them to talk specifics. i don't want to answer for congress. having observed this process i think like anything there is a continuing dialogue in terms of what the services -- the service is required to meet the

requirements and working closely wi congress and the department of defense to identify what those offsets might be to ensure we can modernize throughout all the services. in a lot of ways, that communication has increased. you are seeing some of the fruits of that labor. i >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including comcast.

comcast supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front r st to democracy. here is a look at what is coming upoday on the c-span nwork. on c-span 10:15 a. eastern white house budget director testies before a senate committeon president biden's proposed 2020 four budget. th at three :00 p.m. committee looks at the defense department's personnel program and challenges facing the military. on c-span two at 10:00 a.m. the senate returns to vote on president biden's ecutive nominations, includingormer loangeles mayor, toe u.s. ambassador to ina. these events also ream live on the c-span now video apps or online at c-span.org. >> up