Transcripts For CSPAN3 Navy League Sea Air And Space Exposition Part 3 20240714

Challenges in their respective countries. That was part of the Navy League Sea air and space composition held at the National Harbor earlier this month. Okay good afternoon, everybody. Well let folks continue to wander in here. The music stopped and the mic went hot. Im assuming its time to start. Good afternoon and welcome to the last panel of the first day but i think in my opinion its the most distinguished panel of the day. And certainly its the most vital. Which is the international navys panel. We have the unique opportunity to hear from leaders of our partner navies, in this case three, their perspectives, challenges and efforts in in very dynamic and changing Global Environment which were all living in now and which has been discussed at some of the earlier panels today. Im rear admiral frank morely. And i have the privilege of moderating this very unique and critical discussion. So before i introduce our panel members, i want to offer just a bit of context to our discussion today. Most if not all of the worlds security establishments i think recognize that we are at a historic inflection point. That the atypical moment in history of the past post cold war great power relative stability is waning and that we are entering a new, familiar, yet certainly with different challenges period of great power competition. This type of world and security challenge really brings back to the forefront navies and the maritime and maritime power in general. And as we all know no one navy can do it alone. And history has ternl touting us those navies that can Work Together for common goals prove to be the most successful. So our collective partners and allies are collective Strategic Center of gravity and thats why i feel this is the most vital discussion today. The theme of in years sea air and space is sustain ability, agility and superiority. All of which are necessary enablers for a successful and potent navy and all areas that im sure weigh on the minds of these gentlemen every day as they run their navies. So with that let me introduce our panelists up front and then ill hand it over to them for compensates and then we will conclude with discussions questions and answers. So ill introduce all three here and then get out of the but the first panelist vice admiral crouse. Chief of the german navy. He is a career submariner having commanded at all levels of Operational Command including Commanding Officers submarine u 22 commander of floelta one. Director of joint operations staff. Ministry of defense and Deputy Commander allied maritime napele processes he was a vice chief of the german navy before take the helm as chief back in 2014. Vice admiral kraus, welcome back, sir. [ applause ] our second panelist vice admiral chief of the roam yan he is a career surface officer. Having served in commanded mine sweepers. Corvettes, the black Sea Naval Cooperation Task Group and 56 frigate floelta. You a broad education he has indiana attend the surface wherefore Officers School here in the United States. Courses in canada and the netherlands, nato school in german, the joint Services Command in general Staff College in the uk and the royal london college. Viets mursu was appointed chief the roam yan naval staff in december 2013. Vice admiral mersu, well, sir. And our third panelist, rear admiral David Proctor chief of navy new zealand. Rear dmirld proctor assumed the reel of chief of navy on 29 november 2018 following numerous senior positions within the kneesland Defense Force including Deputy Commander joint forces new zealand and acting vice chief of Defense Force. In addition he is he has held a number of logistics positions within the new zealand navy. He molds graduate degrees in management and politics and policy and at graduate of the fellow certain for strategic sta in cam ber australia. Rear admiral proctor, welcome, sir. [ applause ]. And with that im going to grab the fourth water and ill turn it over to admiral kraus thank you very much. Admiral kraus, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, first of all i would like to thank our hosts and organizers of this symposium for inviting me again. Its an honor and privilege to be a member of this esteemed panel. It does not oem give me the opportunity to brief you on the current state of the german navy but also to contribute to the german American Friendship year together. With in initiative we are focusing on our robust relationship rooted in deep historic ties, shared values and bold visions for the future. We are also recalling how after the end of world war ii Transatlantic Partnership ushered in a unique era of peace, freedom and security. For us germans, the United States remains our closest partner outside europe. As someone who was born and raised very close to the border and fences which separated both parts of german for nearly 45 years, i know the value and the benefits of partnerships and alliances. I had the pleasure to grow up in a stable, free and peaceful part of europe which was predominantly the marriage of the United States, its commitment in europe and the leadership it provided for the transatlantic alliance. In transatlantic bond has been rock solid since. For almost 70 years. It has been vital for europe. And it is especially important now in times of serious challenges. Ladies and gentlemen, in our interconnected world, distances become of minor importance. Oceans turn countries far parity into direct neighbors. Partners but in some cases also competitors. Hence, even incidents far away might require attention as they were to happen in our own backyard. I will reflect on the latest developments of the german navy in light of the current geostrategic environment in europe. Certaintity that is we had before 1989 and still many believed in after 1989, have proven as wrong. The end of history as it was announced in 1992 after the collapse of the soviet union simply did not happen. The same goes for the dominance of liberalism, democracy and free economy. The development in recent years as for example the a annexation of crimea in addition to the existing crisis south of europe which has kept us busy for the last 20 years in the mediterranean and in the indian ocean have shown how fragile and volatile the political and economic landscape in our region east and south of nato and eu currently is. These developments resided in the nato summit declaration of 2014 and in a mantle change toward more security in and for europe. In addition we had to recognize that state actors are pursuing the strategic and political interests by the use of nonconventional or even hybrid means, including cyber operations. As a consequence, firstly, the north atlantic and north sea as well as the baltic sea region, the socalled northern flank, are again of particular interest with regard to our national and collective defense obligations as part of nato and the eu. We spoke with the necessity of safe and Global Communications on a global scale. They are of vital interest for germany as a nation engaged in worldwide maritime tried. Therefore secondly we continue our engagement in Crisis Response operations as for example at the horn of africaa to keep piracy contained. And thidly we are planning to be more present in the indopacific region. With the publication of the white paper in 2016 followed most recently by the concept of the bunds fachlt er and the capability profile we have started to adapt National Security policy. And by the way, the capability profile has been thoroughly synchronized with nato and will cover the time until 2031 in Different Levels of details. Since the wales summit in 2014 germany increased its budget by 40 . 40 more in less than five years. This year we spent a bit more than 48 billion u. S. On defense. Compared to 2014, the investment in defense capabilities in 2018 was 5 times higher. Next year it will be more than 50 billion that we spend for defense. And germany pays for about 15 of natos common budget. The second largest contributor behind the United States. It is the declared intention of the German Government to increase its defense expenditure by 2025 to 19. 5 of the gdp. And to remain a major troop contributor within the alliance. Ladies and gentlemen, besides cash, id like to focus on two other important seeds of burden sharing in nature of which is capabilities and commitments. Let me start with capabilities. Last year i briefed you on the modernization plans of the german navy and id like to inform you on the progress. We stood up doimarfur the german Maritime Force in january. The core sorry. The core for the the to follow baltic Maritime Component command which will foster natos c 2 capabilities. Its a National Headquarters that will offer 25 international billets for those who would like to join us. We laid the keel for the first of the second batch of another five more corvettes the week before. Which will bring us the total of 10 very capable k 130 class corvettes. The first frigate 125 will be commissioned in june this year. And as an optimist i hope for a second this year. The two more the remaining will follow in 2020. The tender process for the six next generation mighty roll combat ships it coming to its end for with a call for best and final offer by july 2019. First unit in service by 2027. And finally, the first two naval helicopters of the sea lion will Enter Service in the fall of in year. So let me turn to our commitments. Id like to ill stick to the maritime ones. But id like to mention the german leads the nato efp better group in lithuania and provides air policiesing over the Baltic States as well. The german navy is currently the only navy nato navy that deploys ships and boats to call four Standing Nato maritime groups which form natos Standing Naval force. The force is the maritime core of natos very High Readiness task force, the vgatf. This is all about real war fighting capabilities. In addition we are engage in three International Crisis management operations on an enduring basis. The nato activity in the ajean see. The mission off the coast of leb nan to prevent illegal flow of arms into rebound off and on and the eu counterpiracy off the horn of africa. Most of these operations we contributed to for the last 12 years plus. The eu operations sophia and the Central Mediterranean has been recently suspended for political and legal reasons. But we had permanently contributed to this mission and we are prepared to continue if and when required. Whenever possible we also support natos Maritime Security operations, sea garden in the midtanner. Together with with a dutch navy we provide nato task of 2020 which will be certified in year. And finally, we will contribute to the newsly established jfc norfolk within senior and flank level as we believe in the importance of the transatlantic link. Ladies and gentlemen, i hope i could give you a comprehensive but brief view on the performance of the german navy with regard to commitments and capabilities. If you a view that might be broad sometimes by the prevailing debate about cash only. And even more important we need to stand together because the strongest and most beneficial investment we could possibly make is the investment in a trustful and confidential mutual cooperation. No nato, no nation will be able to defend its freedom on its own. And we have been and we will be also in future a partner to rely upon. Thank you for your attention. [ applause ] admiral mercer. The sound is awful. Yeah. The sound is awful. Its really distracting. Ladies and gentlemen, first of all, please let give me the opportunity to thank our host, the navy league. And admiral morely for his comprehensive introduction. And next few minutes im going to tell you something about black sea region, the extended black sea region as well as the romain yan Navy Business which is based and doing the operations into the black sea and beyond that. And first of all id like to refer to the black sea before the 2014 crimeaen crisis and after that whats going to happen and whats actually happening right now in that part of the world. Before 2014, the black sea, which is a part of the mied ternen sea with a strategy quite peculiar im talking that because of the geographical situation because the asiaen a europe. Between asia ant northern africa. And the balkans. And in the geopolitical point of view, because in the black sea you can find three nato member countries as well as three nonnato countries. And here i mention romania, bulgaria, turkey, which are nato members. And ukraine eyeball georgia and the Russian Federation, which are not nato members. On the other hand, there are two European Union member countries, romania and bulgaria. As well as the other four countries which are not in this european organization. And in that period before 2014 a number of Regional Security initiatives were taking place into the black sea. And i mention here the black sea four which encompasses actually all the countries in this initiative. And proved to be quite successful putting the same table all the actors around the black sea and stepping forward and can and even had some successes in terms of interoperability. Among the nature oh o partner for peace countries as well as the Russian Federation on the other hand. In addition of that was the black sea harmony, based on information sharing among the nature crow and the csbms which is the confidence Building Measure initiative into the black sea that encompasses not only the navies but also the coast guards and Border Police of the river in countries. Unfortunately, and against all odds, 2014 seen spring march crimea crisis had occurred when crimea was illegally annexed by Russian Federations, against the ukrainian which it belonged to, and all those initiatives were suspended. The block li black sea four is frozen. Black sea harmony is working just between romania and turkey. And the cmbs just on paper sporadically some info beinged exchanged between the countries. And of course what was the International Opinion regarding that, everybody condemned the illegal annexation of crimea. But something consistent should be done. And the Romanian Navy was one of the first and in the front line organizations that has taken action in in one. So first of all we established a quasi permanent presence at sooi in order to show and send the message to everybody that our waters are patrolled are controlled. The sea line of communications were they are safe. And all the economical activities that are done in the economical exclusive zone is in legal and efficient way of working. What else . The nato, which romania is part of, increased its presence into the black sea. Of course, the black sea has particularity. And thats the montra convention. The convention signed and recognized internationally doesnt allow any navy ship, warship which is not part of the black sea to stay longer than 21 days into the black sea. So on in rotational principle, the nato Maritime Standing forces are deployed periodically into the black sea. And the other navies that are allies and friends with the countries that are into the black sea are deploying smips in the black sea. And the reason is that the cohesion should be demonstrated. The strength of the alliance should be demonstrated. And i would say the biggest message of that is that the black sea its an open sea. The black sea, its an international sea. Its for everybodys usage. And the all activities should be done in accordance with the United Nations laws as well as the international agreed procedures. Whats happened at the moment . At the moment, against again against all odds, the situation the security situation into the black sea is not going to be normalized because its not dialogue between the Russian Federation and alliance on the one hand or on the other river in countries on the other hand. So in this respect, we the Romanian Navy and allies countries into the black sea are organizing periodically exercises, naval exercises. In the mcm mine countermeasures in the domain as well as in the other sea warfare domains. I should emphasize that all the activities that we are doing and we are performing into the black sea are in no way provocative. Are in no way conducting in a way that can be interpreted as provocative. So all the behavior that we have seen and we have noticed regarding the Russian Black Sea fleet, regarding our exercises that are conducted into the black sea are somehow ununderstandable, because none of them are on in line or should be or can be interpreted as as provocative. Nowadays we like it owner looking at the black sea and not only the black sea but the old eastern, southeastern and eastern flank of nato, we can see a new iron curtain is already established. And we are looking at those three a 2, ad hubs that antiaxis ands area denial that one is established up north as admiral kraus mentioned here in kalen grad which covers the baltics and the north sea. The other one is in the crimea. And the last one the southern is in syria, which is newly established black sea russian fleet navy base into the east mediterranean where they can project power into the syria and Central Mediterranean as well. And one interesting point i should raise here is that, again, the montrose convention which everybody recognizes in the debate is that establishing naval base with submarine Maintenance Capabilities allows you or allows a country that possess submarines to transit in the turkish streets as they like in order to do the maintenance of this kind of assets. So they are using frequently this provision of the law in order to have freedom of movement for the antisubmarine forces from the black sea and into the black sea. Whats the future that we see . And whats the Romanian Navy are going to do and is doing right now . As i mentioned, we are organizing major exercises only this year we have organized two major exercises into the black sea. One called poe sidon 2019 which is focused on my countermeasure operations, with the regional allies as well as with the nato standing Maritime Force for mcm. And the second one was just a few weeks ago. It is called sea shield 2019, that implied as well be the nato Standing Maritime fies, the frigates and also the allies and our partners contribution. Is not neglecting that i have to mention and to stress that the presence of the us sixth fleet is present a constant presence into the black sea. And we are always or very often permanently i would say doing exercises and processes with their ships. And i should put a comma here. Romanian navy, i am committed to put at least one or two of my ships next to any third party ship that is coming into the black sea in conducting exercises and conducting activities in all the maritime domain just to send the message that nobody is alone, and nobody is going to be afraid of any other parties into the into the black sea. The black sea is not somebodys lake but the black sea is an international, as i mentioned. And open sea to everybody. For the future, we have allocated 2 from gdp for the defense. Which from from which consistent parties going for the navy we have some modernization programs. And i mention here the four corvettes Program Acquisition which is about to start, the modernization of type 22 frigates that weve got, the coastal batteries acquisitions, the modernization of the actual platform that is we have in service right now. And of course not the least, the submarine program nas going to be on a midterm. In this respect, we have our commitment to be a security provider, not a Security Consumer into the black sea, and not only into the black sea as member of nato we deploy ships into mediterranean as well as in the horn of africa in the atlantic where the Romanian Navy is present. And we are going to be part of the exercises, to be part of the activities. It doesnt matter if its under nato umbrella, eu umbrella, United Nations umbrella or in our agreements with Strategic Partners that we have it in place right now so i will conclude that the romania romania and the Romanian Navy its a reliable ali. Its committed to be part of all the security Maritime Security and not only initiatives. And once again i me and my navy are going to use until the last gallon of gas weve got in order to be part of the initiatives that are for good and for maintaining the normality and security situation into the black sea and not only. Thank you very much. [ applause ]. Okay. Admiral proctor. Yes. Thank you. In a manner in. [ speaking nonenglish language. New zealand is the proud of the heritage. Neuhaus sld a bi cultural country and marr yes is a second eligible i observed the authorities in the room. I spoke to those that have spoken to me and before me earlier on the stage. And those throughout the balance of the symposium. Observing all the affiliations in the room and then i said hello and greetings. And certainly, like my spread sess tors the navy league of United States, thank you for inviting me and my delegation to the symposium. For me its my first. There are some old hands on the stage beside me. And i look forward to gathering wisdom from them and the rest of you in the room. And likewise to all of you served past and present, thank you for your service. Ill quickly run through well i wont be that quick. New Zealand Navys current state and our view on partnerships. New zealand by nature and history and geoography is a large maritime nation. Albeit almost inland point is only 120 kilometers from the sea, and only 4 of our sovereign territory is above the high water mark, 99 of our trade travels by volume travels by sea and over 90 by value. We sit at the bottom of the world. And it does a few things for us. One of them it does allow us to have a fiercely independent approach to Foreign Policy. And thats something we have cherish from the beginning of our nation. Over 100 years ago. Now as nation with a large maritime stake we are very aware of the challenges we see in the maritime domain and in particular our front yard, the southwest pacific. As a navy, our business is usually restrictions from the antarctic shechl to the equator our closer neighbor is over 1,000 nautical miles away. And while all our neighbors i mean all of our neighbors are close friends, the Regional Water is not static. Its dynamic. The the navy is in a period of renewal and growth by 2025 well have fewer ships but paradoxically the totals tonnage will have increased as will ability to operate and support Attention International dpoepts to antarctica and southern nation. Carrying our nations name she will be commissioned early next year. Our frigate also return from combat systems upgrade occurs in canada in 2020. That will be credible, lethal and a combat capability we are very parade of. Inland hearts nuszland abltd to work with the partners and coalitions maintaining freedom of the seas. As i talk less than five days out from arriving in new zealand is a new dive hydrokpanlt for us to get within our capabilities within a year or so. She will be commissioned in june this year. I also note that im a defense capability review being undertaken by our government and has been approved will be released in early june. Its the government to release it. But ill observe here im quietly confident that i myself and the navy will be pretty dmvl with what comes from that. Youll see announcements on that in midjune. Now notwithstanding what i described as a large maritime domain. As i said from antarctica to the equator, the area we have a responsibility for. We are a small navy. Yet with a were the Second Largest Navy in our region. One way in which new zealand sustains the International System is by partnering with neighbors. We mutually support each others contributions in our wider region. We share cultural links with the pacific of which we are very parade. And in fact, auckland is the largest pacifica city in the world. And one thing we do do as a navy is we have the ability to bridge between small Maritime Forces in the pacific and larger navies such as the United States navy. Last year, the nuszland government released a strategic defense policy statement highlighting the National Security and Foreign Policy priorities within our evolving strategic environment. The policy statement included direction on many things, ill touch on four. First up, the government set a priority for the new zealand Defense Force to be able to operate within the South Pacific to the same lechl as if it is new zealand territory. That requires significant investment. The policy also stated the importance of our partnership was other maritime nations as you heard from my predecessors we cant do anything alone. So having that statement reaffirmed by government is useful for us as a navy. It also prioritized regional Maritime Security in the area. A made credible sanctions to strengthsen the international based order. Regarding our neighbors it ac knowledge strong cultural ties to the South Pacific and endures during focus on the region as our front yard and interest in ensuring knows nations are strong and independent nations. We also have strategic interest in fostering stability near us in the middle east and variety of interests in asia. Including commitments to the five power defense arrangement. However, in a broad context there are two main forces creating pressure on the foundation of the International Order and our region. The iris first is the increasing strategic competition especially within the pacific with nontraditional actors pursuing greater influence in the ways in ways that challenge international norms. In neocolonial type challenge to the established regional order is seen where nations go around well accepted for well accepted partnerships and well accepted alliances. It also includes the conduct of specific activities such as illegal unreported and unregulated fishing. Secondly, id like to highlight the challenge of Climate Change. In late 2018 the new zealand minister of defense released a defense assessment titled the Climate Crisis defense readiness and responsibilities. It supports the information that 2018 Pacific Islands forum that Climate Change represents a single greatest at least to the livelihood with well being of the pacific people. In the coming decades the impacts. Of kriemt change to Test Community resilience and heighten security challenge against across the culturely diverse pacific. The links between Climate Change and conflict are indirect but demonstrable. The impacts will require more humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. As well as Stability Operations and search and rescue missions. Navies around the world will be faced with frequent and concurrent commitments which stretch our resources. Occurring right now in the South Pacific defense minister meeting in fiji this we can new zealand will prepare to ly state we are going to host a climate working group. Leadership from the South Pacific in responding to issues it faces it important. Initiative such as the hougt pacific heads of Maritime Forces which will be held in fiji for the third time are folks are focused on bringing together maritime forepersons in the Pacific Island nations. Whether they are navy or police or other government groups. In grouping is also important for the pacific nations to demonstrate leadership of their own future in the pacific. The Pacific Environment Security Forum which is which is another body that we work with in the pacific this years could hosted by new zealand and endopacom. Its a program which seeks to increase understanding of Environmental Security topics and educate militaries on the environmental staurdship obligations. Running and wealth to 21 this im looking forward to the the activity with speakerers the u. S. , maldives, thailand, australia, france, sri lanka, the philippines, xao samoa. Papua new guinea. The solomon ieltds, fiji and new zealand. Interestingly, a number of topics involved in that forum is for agenda is how traditional and indigenous practice from the pacific nations is used can be used in modern Climate Change mitt facing. It will abtopic of interest. And as i stated by general neller he will earlier today who knows what innovation will come from working in an area where youd have to respond to that question you normally dont know the answer to. Well see what comes from that to improve resilience. And doing things together. Last year my predecessor john martin and the cno cyanide an u. S. New zealand and navy agement framework. Designed to strengthen the relationship between the u. S. Navy and my navy within the wider defense agreements with the u. S. The agreement provides for a range of areas of cooperation including Regional Force multipliers and more fighting readiness. That this engagement and commitment are i note that this engagement commitment is not unique and indeed similar arrangements occur with a number of other navies out and around. And i think you will a us agree that any of these arrangements are a good thing in relation to working together to solve those problems that no one is big enough to solve by themselves. Were we focuses on National Regional or interNational Security at the underlying level we need to end ensure cooperation and coordination. Maintain relationships between our nations, the this is done by Building Trust and fornging strong interpersonal professional relationships. Collectively we are guardians of the maritime domain. And whether big or small no one nation can or should do it alone. Lastly, new zealand recognize that is International Rules based order is a fundamental tool to our National Security. Independent Foreign Policy. And access to global markets. An a overt commitment to it accordings the rice rights to we need to sbrkt aen on the international station and the new zealand is always mindful its a small force to deliver lethality by a viable combat capability remains par amount. Without it maybe youre not a navy. And with that credible combat capability we are abel to advance new zealands interests from the sea. Ill conclude, again in mauri. [ speaking Foreign Language ]. Thank you. [ applause ] thank you, sir. Okay. Were going to enter the discussion q and a phase here. Before we do that, im going to start the discussion off with the first question. But then gets this highly sought after program coined i would like each of the panelists to touch the coin to tell us if it is a good coin and then you will have the opportunity to have a coin that has been tested by three heads of the navy. Not that bad. Okay. Acceptable. He is going to take the coin [ laughter ] we have more where those came from. Here is the coin work of the first one and asked the question. There are a couple of mics in the back and just for the panelists explained this audience a little bit so you understand who is who in the crowd. Upfront you will have those folks that have to be here. , your staff, the navy folks, my staff also you will have the attachi group that is taking notes and looking to get to the invite parties. They are in there. Over here on the side by the door you have the latecomers that have showed up late for those that are not sure if they want to. That is where i look to make sure we are holding their attention. So far it iswe are holding their attention so that is good. In the backand i am assuming in the middle people that are getting ready to ask questions. That is how i understand the crowd. Let me start off the discussion part mentioning in a couple of remarks this will be for everybody about the growing cooperative naval presence and exercise most notably the black sea and. Areas where the established International Law is being challenged and we mentioned there is a growing cooperative and do you see a positive effect from these efforts that cooperatively are may be dealing with it is too early to tell and is there more you think should be done . I will open it up. I think exercises are what keeps us together. If i go back to the board and i talked about the years between 1990 and 2014. I remember the u. S. Navy coming into the baltic sea exercising together with russia. It creates partnerships and commonalities and confidence. What we are doing we are operating this together and it is now a highend exercisei think it is one of the biggest in the baltic sea for many years. We are also hosting the northern coast and we are sharing it the office that is conducting the exercise. That is also very important so those neighboring nations are the ones taking the responsibility in addition to that the nato forces that form the spearhead of nato the place we can exercise those capabilities that we have been able to exercise enough. I can tell you the last 20 years i would say generations of young officersthey can do surveillance and all of that and be able to fulfill the highend threedimensional environment. I think we have to focus on that for us and natopolitical and military show a cohesiveness and that we are standing together at the same time offer Good Opportunity. I remember some years ago at that timeand somehow complaining about the written and the number of activities we were doing. Now, a short time ago i was asking rememberhe was going out every day, every week, every month doing exercises and activities and alsoalso in the working group and the importance is very clear. First of all about the ability that we have once across the alliance also with the partner nations as well as the others we come across the other operation. On the other hand i mentioned beforehow can the action be interpreted as provocative. That is one of the reasons we are practicing the operational procedures, the best practices that i can say in our maritime domain is common land. All the sailors are doing if you want to concede that. Everybody knows how to do or how to behave so that is very important to be understood for everybody. We have to look a little bit further because a few years ago we are in the core of maritime workfare activities and enhance the training and we shouldnt lose the momentum right nowand these domains into our domain and is cooperative approach and could be a cooperative approach to these activities in the Maritime Security domain. And forcing un sanctions we will continue to exercise apologies im not a naval officer attachi in washington d. C. Increasing readiness and rightly so. The second effort is strengthening alliances and partnerships. I guess this with the predistinguished partners is a good example of strengthening those partnerships. If you would advise the United States senior naval officer he could strengthen the alliances and partnerships with you. Give that man a coin. Anyone want to take that one . I will start on that. And in that time i have had two highlevel engagements with the u. S. Navy. At the end of last year. Those two gentlemen of made it clear that the United States is willing to assist us have work with us and this is the value of what they have done and that approaches to work with the specific partnerstand alongside the partners rather than leading from the front and the other is some of the discussions we have and we dont always agree. We explore things andi am pretty comfortable with how it is going. To me was very clear from the very beginning so just after march 2014 i received mail and committed to help support and be as cooperative and lucrative and what do we need at that time in order to be comfortable. And that was a very clear message for us and on the one hand that we are not alone and that we have seen the results and i mentioned before the Romanian Navy was coming here right away and doing all the exercises and on the other hand we develop the cooperation even of the other domain and exercises bringing in the boat and partner countries in that respect and soon after that we knew the contact and maintaining the momentum and the presence once again rotation and and all kinds of exercises and activities and our navythe message was very clear that no one is alone and the activities as much as possible and necessary. There have been contacts and all other activities and why not , many of them been done by seeing and doing on request that something was appropriate to be done. Look back the 30 years i think we can divided into three era until 89 was the cold where cold warafterfor many europeans we were following the ideawe realizedand extending to the southeast. We were concentrating on those operationsnato working together and i recall since 2014 it has started and it is not the same until 89. For sim very happy that this strengthening of nato is visible by establishing it enable the forces to be moved of nato. Think we are receiving positive signal from the allies and friends that they have realized we have to refocus at the same time for you more on a global scale and for the europeans and for those who are living on the eastern border mentioned what youre talking about and this device in the forefront of nato. Window how important it is that we have the United States committed. And if you would allow me how that translates down to change from the National Defense strategy and is kind of getting that mindset of we want to be a better partner and gain new partners. U. S. And europe no longer the only choice and getting that realization we are back in this competition is key to penetrate that down and as you hear we want to be no better friend were no worse enemy than they may oppose us and that translate down to someone like me who you know very clear they want me to lean so far forward and try to increase the effort to provide whatever we can provide they have to call me and tell me i am going to fast. Ive had other parts of the government tell me im going to fast and finally i would add and in contact about why we are not doing this and very clear and you s representative and the question is spica given those three phases how do you currently use the reserve member . You see that in the future and do you see any value having the reserve member . I think there is no doubt the reserve is more important and it will be different since 89 and we need those reservists because they are the ones providing capability that might not be present as we need them in the armed forces and we need also a reserve for safeguarding our own installations. I think in numberswere about 500,000 soldiers. The east and west now we are down to 180,000 and will increase the more than 200,000 and withoutwe will not be able to gain more thanwe will rely more on reserve and we are working on a new reserve strategy. Hope that answers your question. For us a hot issue on the table right now because of the young generation of activity for a military domain. That his recruitment and retentionand right now should be adjusted we should adjust the system for todays condition which are not longer than the older situation. We have a obsolete system and many of them are already abroad working somewhere out of the country and this freedom of movement that requires a new mechanism, the new system having been enlisted and no wind. We have fortified the legal system is the countrywe are in a transition from the older systemwe are looking for the solutions to be as efficient as possible and as attractive as possible for people who wants to be in the arminian navy reserve. We havent hadwe dont have a reserve history. That could be amongst a group of 100 and what we have realized may also be an avenue with the mobility of employment and the modern generation. Going off and doing something and coming back and doing more work. I will get to the next question. Related to that regarding recruitment and retention challenges, mentioned about we have hadmaintaining our recruitment and retention and some reasons why that and i know that last year you talked about some of the challenges there and you just mentioned one of the ways to make service more attractive was the flexibility. Maybe talk about those challenges. Last year it was a challenge and i can tell youfor the last 1 1 2 years we are growing and complicatedthose jobs in industry between the readings in the old systemnowadays we are recruiting people and they stay for more than 10 years as a rating. In the middle the petty officer to be a superior at the same time was only little more money than a petty officer. We are in some areas where we adjust the need for the petty officer. We are growing. And the recruitment and quite difficult from the very beginning i would say an increasing number of young personnel that already serve in the navy to remain in the navy as a professionalthe whole economy and we were very happy that we didnt lose any more young personnel. We are somehow there. Tried to initiate again some legal initiativerely mainly this is the area where we can work right now. We have the initiative and can be debated in the society to have some benefits provide them a long career into the navy and not just something briefly for a few years can be secure for the future and regarding the amount of money and possibilities for the future and still waiting. Annual recruitingattrition andthis year we are under 11 . That is a big jump for us. I think we lost a question. I will get to you next. On demand air vehicle, how do you see your navy, their future operationswork along with, and place of current helicopter . We are exploring our nation and environment which does a lot more. We have two programs running in that area. Maritime rotary for us as part of not just i and ships and i see no reason why this change this. We had a successful trial. They need those and by the end of this year becausei personally see we are looking as well for introducingand both domain and maritimealsoit is a Good Opportunity as well as giving us the opportunity to overlap and go into the Technological Development let me ask some specific questions if you dont mind and the emerald proctor, i have read some stuff that you have talked about with regards to change and certainly that is a topic that we all talk about quite a bit. Interesting how you relate that to the specific challenges of the navy as regards to Climate Change. Expand on that a little bit. A number of nations that are being inundated right now and we heard earlier today thank you. Since last year they have put up the staff and i think the intent is to provide a nucleus a baltic maritime and maybe talk about how that effort is going . Mentioned in my intervention we set that up as a core part of the staff and the infrastructure is going very well and we will satisfy the National Staff and this summer and will go along the normal timeline and we will go and offer this headquarters for the long time in order to contribute to maritime headquarters. Believe certainly priority as you modernize your navy is on the multipurpose and believe there is threat of establishing further capability to counter that. Maybe talk a little bit about the longterm asw counter . Well,already approved in the parliament and already budgeted and we have commitment from the political level so we can relate some consistent programs so these multipurpose is going to be four of the remaining navy take account and majority obsolete and needs to be modernized in terms of weapons and just after submission of the program we are looking forwardin order to be able to be present not only in the black sea and also in nato and Alliance Commitments deployable andbeyond 2030 and everybody for the moment show the flag and as Everybody Knows we dont neglect this issue. I think that is the time for this panel is coming to an end. It is late in the day so let me close with this. Let me start by putting a plug in following this panel at the conclusion there will be and International Reception at the Cherry Blossom festival foyer outside and a great networking venue and opportunity to carry on the discussions we have been having with these nations or many of the other partner nations. I encourage you to take advantage of that and lets think the navy league for their efforts to coordinate this panel and also for the International Reception that follows and for this entire symposium and this is the culmination of a year long effort done by many loyal maritime supporters. It is an effort of passion and dedication. To the navy thank you very much for your support. Let me think our fantastic audience spent the last 90 minutes and obviously those that had to be here have an appreciation for the Strategic Center of gravity that this partnership truly is and it is a complex Global Environment. I appreciate everybody here for having that understanding and, finally, the biggest thanks to our panelists thank you. Welcome to washington d. C. Where at George Washington University Home to 26,000 students former alumni include the former first Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and the former director of the fbi k edgar hoover. He has been interrogating the complex relationship between politics and the law