Advertisement
54:15
Unexplained drones, UFOs and the state of the Navy | 60 Minutes Full Episodes
60 Minutes
·
May 11, 2026
Open on YouTube
Transcript
0:12
last month. The head of Nurad and
0:14
Northcom, the military commands that
0:17
defend North America, told Congress some
0:20
of those mysterious drones seen flying
0:22
inside the United States, may indeed
0:25
have been spying. He did not say for
0:28
whom. 60 Minutes has been looking into a
0:31
series of eerily similar incidents going
Advertisement
0:33
back years, including those attention
0:36
getting flyovers in New Jersey recently.
0:38
In each drones first appeared over
0:41
restricted military or civilian sites,
0:44
coming and going, often literally under
0:47
the radar. The wakeup call came just
0:50
over a year ago when drones invaded the
0:52
skies above Langley Air Force Base in
0:55
Virginia over 17 nights, forcing the
0:58
relocation of our most advanced fighter
Advertisement
1:00
jets. Our story starts with an
1:03
eyewitness and an iPhone.
1:06
Close around 7:00, I would say, I
1:08
started seeing these reddish orange
1:12
flashing lights that were starting to
1:14
come in from the Virginia Beach area. It
1:17
began slowly, like one at a time.
1:20
Jonathan Butner's close encounter with
1:22
drones came on December 14th, 2023. He
1:26
was at his family's cabin on the James
1:28
River in Virginia, about 100 miles south
1:31
of Washington DC with a commanding view
1:34
of several military installations across
1:37
the water. They started really coming in
1:40
like almost like on a conveyor belt. How
1:42
many in total? I probably saw upwards of
1:44
40 plus. When I first saw that, I was
1:47
like, th those are going directly over
1:50
Langley Air Force Base. Langley is one
1:53
of the most critical air bases on the
1:55
east
1:56
[Applause]
1:57
coast. Home to dozens of F-22 Raptors,
2:02
the most advanced stealth fighter jets
2:04
ever built. Butner says from his perch,
2:08
he has seen it all. I'm very familiar
2:10
with all the different types of military
2:12
craft. We have Blackhawks. We have the
2:14
F-22s. And these were like nothing I've
2:17
ever seen. Butner took these iPhone
2:20
videos of the objects coming and going
2:22
for nearly an hour and a half. These are
2:25
the only public videos of the drones
2:27
over Langley. From each other. Yes. He
2:31
shared this video with the FBI for its
2:33
investigation. And another Yes. The
2:36
reports were coming in 20 to 30
2:39
sightings, same time every evening, 30
2:41
to 45 minutes after sunset. Retired
2:44
four-star General Mark Kelly was the
2:46
highest ranking officer at Langley to
2:48
witness the swarm. A veteran fighter
2:51
pilot, Kelly went up to the roof of a
2:53
squadron headquarters for an
2:55
unobstructed view of the airborne
2:57
invaders. So, what did you see? Well,
3:00
what you saw was different sizes of
3:02
incursions of aircraft. You saw
3:05
different altitudes, different air
3:06
speeds. Some were rather loud, some
3:08
weren't near as loud. What was the
3:11
smallest one? What was the largest one?
3:13
The smallest, you know, you're talking
3:15
about a commercial size quadcopter. And
3:18
then the largest ones are probably size
3:21
what I would call a bass boat or a small
3:23
car. The size of a small car. H. At the
3:26
time, General Glenn Van Herk was joint
3:29
commander of NORAD and Northcom, the
3:32
military commands that protect North
3:34
American airspace. He has since retired.
3:37
I actually provided support in the form
3:39
of fighters, uh, airborne warning and
3:41
control platforms,
3:43
uh, helicopters to try to further
3:46
categorize what those drones were at the
3:49
time.
3:50
10 months earlier, he ordered an F-22
3:52
from Langley to shoot down that Chinese
3:55
spy balloon over the Atlantic after it
3:57
had sailed across the US. But this time,
4:00
he found himself ill equipped to
4:03
respond. NORAD's radar systems designed
4:06
during the Cold War to detect high
4:08
alitude air, space, or missile attacks
4:11
were unable to detect low-flying drones
4:15
that could be seen with the naked eye.
4:17
Why don't we just shoot them down?
4:19
Well, first you have to have the
4:21
capability to detect, track, identify,
4:24
make sure it's not a civilian airplane
4:27
flying around. If you can do that, Bill,
4:30
then it becomes a safety issue for the
4:32
American public. Firing missiles in our
4:36
homeland is not taken lightly. We're not
4:38
able to track them. We're not able to
4:42
see where they originate. No, it's a
4:45
capability gap. Certainly, they can come
4:48
and go from any direction. The FBI is
4:50
looking at potential options, but they
4:53
don't have an answer right now, and
4:54
there haven't been answers for similar
4:56
encroachments for more than 5 years.
4:59
There are multiple UAS in vicinity up
5:01
Hamilton CPA 100 ft in altitude off the
5:04
bow. In 2019, naval warships training
5:07
off the California coast were shadowed
5:10
for weeks by dozens of drones. We have
5:13
visual of four probable unidentified
5:16
drones with course unknown and speed
5:19
unknown. For years, the Pentagon did
5:21
little to dispel speculation these
5:24
images taken with night vision equipment
5:26
were UFOs, but ship's logs show they
5:30
were identified as drones at the time.
5:33
And the Navy suspected they came from
5:35
this Hong Kong flagged freighter sailing
5:38
nearby, but couldn't prove it. Since
5:41
then, the defense news site, the war
5:43
zone, has documented dozens of drone
5:46
intrusions at sensitive infrastructure
5:48
and military installations. In 2019, the
5:52
Palo Verde nuclear plant in Arizona, the
5:55
largest power producer in the country.
5:58
In 2024, an experimental weapons site in
6:01
Southern California, where defense
6:03
contractors are building the next
6:05
generation of stealth bombers. Last
6:07
December, the Army confirmed 11 drone
6:10
sightings over the Pikatini Arsenal in
6:13
northern New Jersey, where advanced
6:15
weapons are designed and built. What is
6:18
that? Which ignited a public frenzy with
6:21
sightings of unidentified flying objects
6:23
all over the region. New Jersey remains
6:26
the epicenter of the drone mystery.
6:29
While much of the country was fixated on
6:31
New Jersey, another swarm of drones was
6:34
disrupting operations at an air base in
6:36
the UK where US nuclear weapons have
6:39
been stored. Clearly, uh there is a
6:43
military intelligence aspect of this.
6:46
Republican Senator Roger Wicker of
6:48
Mississippi is chairman of the Armed
6:50
Services Committee that oversees the
6:52
Pentagon. We talked to him this past
6:55
December. Do you believe that these
6:58
drones are a spying system, a spying
7:02
platform? What would a logical person
7:04
conclude
7:07
that that these are spying incursions?
7:11
And yet I I can tell you I I am privy to
7:17
to classified briefings at the highest
7:20
level. I think the Pentagon and the
7:23
National Security Adviserss are still
7:25
mystified. Still mystified? Yes. More
7:29
alarming, with drones overhead, some of
7:32
the F-22s stationed at Langley were
7:35
moved to a nearby air base for their own
7:38
protection. There's a new wartime
7:40
reality. Drones that can spy can also
7:43
destroy. Deep inside Russia, advanced
7:47
aircraft have been destroyed by
7:49
Ukrainian drones. General Van Herk told
7:52
us drones could do the same thing here.
7:55
I have seen video of drones in various
7:58
sizes flying over uh the F-22 flight
8:02
line at Langley. What's your reaction to
8:04
that? They
8:05
could drop ordinance on them, drop bombs
8:08
on them. They could crash into them to
8:10
disable them. Was that a concern?
8:12
Absolutely. It's a concern. Small UAS or
8:16
drones can do a myriad of missions.
8:19
President Biden was informed of the
8:21
Langley intrusions and meetings were
8:23
held at the White House to figure out
8:25
how to bring the drones down, but after
8:28
17 nights, the drone visitation stopped.
8:32
A senior official in the Biden White
8:34
House later downplayed the incident to
8:36
60 Minutes, saying it was likely the
8:39
work of hobbyists. From what you
8:42
saw, did you rule out that these might
8:46
be hobbyists sending these drones up?
8:49
No. It would be my assessment they
8:51
weren't hobbyists because of the
8:53
magnitude of the events, the sizes of
8:56
some of the drones, and the duration.
8:58
So, what's going on? Well, I wish I had
9:01
the answer. It certainly could have a
9:03
foreign nexus, a threat nexus. They
9:06
could be doing anything from surveilling
9:08
critical infrastructure
9:10
uh just to the point of uh embarrassing
9:13
us from the fact that they can do this
9:15
on a day-to-day basis uh and then we're
9:17
not able to do anything about it. In
9:20
overseas war zones, the US military has
9:23
broad authority to bring down menacing
9:25
drones with gunfire, missiles, and
9:28
electronic jamming. Here at home, any of
9:32
those actions would pose a threat to
9:34
civilians on the ground and in the air.
9:37
Well, we certainly need new systems to
9:40
to counter this threat. A year ago,
9:43
General Gregory Guo, a combat veteran,
9:46
took control of NORAD and Northcom. He
9:49
ordered a 90-day assessment of
9:51
operations and says the drones, or UAVs,
9:54
at Langley became the centerpiece. We're
9:57
the most powerful military on the face
10:00
of the earth and yet drones
10:04
could fly over a major air force base
10:09
and we couldn't stop them. How is that
10:12
possible? Well, I think the uh the
10:15
threat got ahead of our ability to uh
10:18
detect and and track the threat. I think
10:21
all eyes u were rightfully overseas
10:24
where UAVs were being used on oneway
10:26
attack to attack US and coalition
10:30
service members and the threat in the US
10:34
probably caught us by surprise a little
10:36
bit as it stands
10:38
today. Could you detect a swarm of
10:43
drones flying over or flying into the
10:46
airspace at at Langley? Could you detect
10:48
that today?
10:50
at at at low altitude. Uh probably not
10:55
with your standard uh FAA or um uh
11:00
surveillance radars complicating his
11:02
efforts bureaucracy. When the drones
11:05
flew outside the perimeter of Langley
11:08
Air Force Base, other agencies had
11:10
jurisdiction. The Coast Guard, FAA, FBI,
11:14
and local police. There was no one
11:17
agency in charge. So, what did you
11:19
determine went on at Langley? Well, that
11:22
that uh that investigation is still
11:25
ongoing. Uh so, I don't think we know uh
11:29
entirely what happened. You know, when
11:31
we hear things from the White House that
11:32
it's not deemed a threat. It it seems to
11:36
me that this is alarming. I mean, this
11:40
is kind of hair on fire time. It it is
11:42
alarming. And uh I would say that our
11:46
hair is on fire here in in Northcom in a
11:48
controlled way and we're moving out
11:50
extremely quickly. This past November,
11:53
General Guo was given the authority to
11:55
cut through the red tape and coordinate
11:58
counter drone efforts across multiple
12:00
government agencies. He says new, more
12:04
sensitive radar systems are being
12:06
installed at strategic bases and
12:08
Northcom is developing what it calls
12:11
flyaway kits with the latest anti- drone
12:14
technology to be delivered to bases
12:16
besieged by drones. My goal is inside of
12:19
a year that we would have uh the flyaway
12:22
kit capability to augment uh the
12:24
services and the installations if
12:26
they're necessary. So within a year,
12:28
were Langley to happen again, there'd be
12:32
some ability to respond. That's my goal.
12:37
His predecessor, Glenn Van Herk, says
12:39
the Pentagon, White House, and Congress
12:42
have underestimated this massive
12:44
vulnerability for far too long. It's
12:47
been one year since Langley had their
12:51
drone
12:51
incursion, and we don't have the
12:54
policies and laws in place to deal with
12:56
this. That's not a sense of urgency. Why
12:58
do you think that is?
13:01
I think it's because there's a
13:03
perception that this is fortress
13:05
America, two oceans on the east and west
13:08
with friendly nations north and south,
13:11
and nobody's going to attack our
13:13
homeland. It's time we move beyond that
13:15
assumption.
13:25
Earlier this summer, the Director of
13:27
National Intelligence and Secretary of
13:29
Defense released a highly anticipated,
13:32
unclassified report about something the
13:34
Pentagon calls unidentified aerial
13:37
phenomena or UAP, more commonly known as
13:41
UFOs. The government's grudging
13:43
acknowledgement of 144 mysterious
13:46
sightings documented by our military,
13:49
comes after decades of public denial.
13:52
But as we first reported in May,
13:54
whatever is trespassing in our skies and
13:57
seas poses a serious safety risk to our
14:00
service men and women as well as our
14:02
national
14:04
security. So what you're telling me is
14:08
that UFOs,
14:11
unidentified flying objects, are
14:14
real. Bill, I think we're beyond that
14:16
already. The government has already
14:18
stated for the record that they're real.
14:19
I'm not telling you that. The United
14:20
States government is telling you that
14:23
Luis Alzando spent 20 years running
14:25
military intelligence operations
14:27
worldwide in Afghanistan, the Middle
14:30
East, and
14:31
Guantanamo. He hadn't given UFOs a
14:33
second thought until 2008. That's when
14:36
he was asked to join something at the
14:38
Pentagon called the Advanced Aerospace
14:41
Threat Identification Program or ATIP.
14:44
The mission of ATIP was quite simple.
14:46
was to collect and analyze information
14:49
involving anomalous uh aerial vehicles.
14:52
What I guess in the vernacular you you
14:53
call them UFOs. We call them UAPs. You
14:56
know how this sounds. It sounds nutty,
14:59
wacky. Look, Bill, I I'm not I'm not
15:02
telling you that that it doesn't sound
15:04
wacky. What I'm telling you is real. The
15:06
question is what is it? What are its
15:08
intentions? What are its capabilities?
15:11
Buried away in the Pentagon, ATIP was
15:13
part of a $22 million program sponsored
15:17
by then Senate Majority Leader Harry
15:19
Reid to investigate UFOs. When Alzando
15:23
took over in 2010, he focused on the
15:26
national security implications of
15:28
unidentified aerial phenomena documented
15:30
by US service members. Imagine a
15:34
technology that can do 6 to 700 G-forces
15:37
that can fly at 13,000 miles an hour
15:40
that uh it can evade radar and that can
15:43
fly through air and water and possibly
15:46
space and oh by the way has no obvious
15:49
signs of propulsions, no wings, no
15:51
control surfaces and yet still can defy
15:54
the natural effects of Earth's gravity.
15:56
That's precisely what we're seeing.
15:57
Alzando tells us ATIP was a loose-nit
16:00
mix of scientists, electroloptical
16:03
engineers, avionics, and intelligence
16:05
experts, often working part-time. They
16:08
combed through data and records and
16:11
analyzed videos like this.
16:15
[Music]
16:18
A Navy air crew struggles to lock on to
16:20
a fastmoving object off the US Atlantic
16:23
coast in 2015.
16:25
[Applause]
16:28
Recently released images may not
16:30
convince UFO skeptics, but the Pentagon
16:32
admits it doesn't know what in the world
16:35
this is, or this or this.
16:41
So, what do you say to the skeptics?
16:43
It's refracted
16:44
light, weather balloons, a rocket being
16:49
launched, Venus. In some cases, there
16:52
are are simple explanations for what
16:54
people are witnessing, but there are
16:56
some that that are not. We're not just
16:59
simply jumping to a conclusion that's
17:01
saying, "Oh, that's a UAP out there."
17:03
We're going through our due diligence.
17:05
Is it some sort of new type of cruise
17:06
missile technology that China has
17:08
developed? Is it some sort of high
17:10
altitude balloon that's conducting
17:12
reconnaissance? Ultimately, when you
17:14
have exhausted all those what-ifs and
17:17
you're still left with with the fact
17:19
that this is in our airspace and it's
17:21
real, that's when it becomes compelling
17:24
and that's when it becomes problematic.
17:27
Former Navy pilot Lieutenant Ryan Graves
17:29
calls whatever is out there a security
17:32
risk. He told us his F-18 squadron began
17:36
seeing UAPs hovering over restricted
17:39
airspace southeast of Virginia Beach in
17:42
2014 when they updated their jet's
17:44
radar, making it possible to zero in
17:47
with infrared targeting cameras. So,
17:50
you're seeing it both with the radar and
17:52
with the infrared, and that tells you
17:55
that there is something out there.
17:57
Pretty hard to spoof that. These
17:59
photographs were taken in 2019 in the
18:02
same area. The Pentagon confirms these
18:05
are images of objects it can't identify.
18:08
Lieutenant Graves told us pilots
18:11
training off the Atlantic coast see
18:13
things like that all the time. Every
18:16
day. Every day for at least a couple
18:19
years. Wait a minute. Every day for a
18:21
couple of years. Mhm. You know, I don't
18:23
see an exhaust pool. including this one
18:26
off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida
18:28
in 2015. Captured on a targeting camera
18:31
by members of Graves Squadron. If
18:33
there's another thing, it's rotating.
18:38
My
18:39
gosh. They're all going against the
18:42
wind. The wind's 120 knots
18:44
west. Dude, you can sort of hear the
18:47
surprise in their voices. You certainly
18:48
can. They seem to have broke character a
18:50
bit. Uh, and we're just kind of amazed
18:52
at what they were seeing. What do you
18:54
think when you see something like this?
18:56
This is a difficult one to explain. You
18:58
have rotation, you have high altitudes,
19:01
you have propulsion, right? I don't
19:03
know. I don't know what it is, frankly.
19:05
He told us pilots speculate they are one
19:08
of three things. Secret US technology,
19:12
an adversary spy vehicle, or something
19:15
otherworldly.
19:16
I would say, you know, the highest
19:18
probability is it's a threat observation
19:20
program. Could it be Russian or Chinese
19:23
technology? I don't see why not. Are you
19:26
alarmed? I I am worried. Uh, frankly,
19:29
you know, if these were tactical jets
19:30
from another country that were hanging
19:32
out up there, it would be a massive
19:33
issue. But because it looks slightly
19:35
different, we're not willing to actually
19:37
look at the problem in the face. Uh,
19:39
we're we're happy to just ignore the
19:41
fact that these are out there watching
19:42
us every day. The government has ignored
19:45
it, at least publicly, since closing its
19:47
Project Blue Book investigation in 1969.
19:51
But that began to change after an
19:53
incident off Southern California in
19:55
2004, which was documented by radar, by
19:58
camera, and four naval aviators. We
20:01
spoke to two of them, David Fraver, a
20:04
graduate of the Top Gun Naval Flight
20:06
School and commander of the F-18
20:09
squadron on the USS Nimttz. And flying
20:11
at his wing, Lieutenant Alex Dietrich,
20:14
who has never spoken publicly about the
20:16
encounter. I never wanted to be on
20:19
national TV. No offense. So why are you
20:22
doing this? Because I was in a
20:24
government aircraft because I was on the
20:27
clock and so I feel a responsibility to
20:30
to share what I can and it is
20:32
unclassified.
20:35
It was November 2004 and the USS Nimtt's
20:38
carrier strike group was training about
20:41
100 miles southwest of San Diego. For a
20:44
week, the advanced new radar on a nearby
20:47
ship, the USS Princeton, had detected
20:49
what operators called multiple anomalous
20:52
aerial vehicles over the horizon,
20:55
descending 80,000 ft in less than a
20:57
second.
21:00
On November 14th, Fraver and Dietrich,
21:02
each with a weapon system officer in the
21:05
back seat, were diverted to
21:07
investigate. They found an area of roing
21:10
white water the size of a 737 in an
21:14
otherwise calm blue sea. So, as we're
21:17
looking at this, her backseater says,
21:20
"Hey, Skipper, do you?" And about that
21:23
got out. I said, "Dude, do you do you
21:25
see that thing down there?" And we saw
21:27
this little white tic-tac- looking
21:29
object and it's just kind of moving
21:31
above the white water area. As Dietrich
21:33
circled above, Fraver went in for a
21:36
closer look. Sort of spiraling down. The
21:39
tic tac still pointing north south. It
21:41
goes and just turns abruptly and starts
21:44
mirroring me. So, as I'm coming down, it
21:46
starts coming up. So, it's it's
21:48
mimicking your moves. Yeah. It was aware
21:50
we were there. He said it was about the
21:52
size of his F-18 with no markings, no
21:55
wings, no exhaust plumes. I want to see
21:58
how close I can get. So I go like this
22:00
and it's climbing still and when it gets
22:03
right in front of me, it just
22:04
disappears. Disappears. Disappears like
22:07
gone. It had sped off. What are you
22:10
thinking? So your your mind tries to
22:13
make sense of it. I'm going to
22:14
categorize this as maybe a helicopter or
22:17
maybe a drone. And when it disappeared,
22:20
I mean, it was just Did your back
22:22
seaters see this, too? Yeah. Oh, yeah.
22:24
There was four of us in the airplanes
22:26
literally watching this thing for
22:28
roughly about 5 minutes. Seconds later,
22:30
the Princeton reacquired the target 60
22:33
miles away. Another crew managed to
22:36
briefly lock on to it with a targeting
22:38
camera before it zipped off again. You
22:41
know, I think that over beers, we've
22:43
sort of said, "Hey, man, if I saw this
22:46
solo, I don't know that I would have
22:48
come back and said anything because it
22:49
sounds so crazy when I say it." You
22:52
understand that reaction? I do. I've had
22:55
some people tell me, you know, when you
22:56
say that, you can sound crazy. And I'll
22:58
be hon.
23:05
Yes. Oh, there's there's definitely
23:07
something that I don't know who's
23:09
building it, who's got the technology,
23:11
who's got the brains, but there's
23:12
there's something out there that was
23:15
better than our airplane. The air crew
23:18
filed reports. Then, like the mysterious
23:21
flying object, the Nimtts encountered
23:24
disappeared. Nothing was said or done
23:26
officially for five years until Lou
23:29
Alzando came across the story and
23:32
investigated. We spend millions of
23:34
dollars in training these these pilots
23:37
and they are seeing something that they
23:38
can't explain. Furthermore, that
23:41
information is being backed up on
23:42
electrooptical data like gun camera
23:44
footage and by radar data. Now, to me,
23:47
that's compelling. Inside the Pentagon,
23:49
his findings were met with skepticism.
23:52
AIP's funding was eliminated in 2012.
23:55
But Alzando says he and a handful of
23:58
others kept the mission alive until
24:00
finally frustrated, he quit the Pentagon
24:03
in 2017, but not before getting these
24:07
three videos declassified. And then
24:10
things took a stranger turn. I tried to
24:13
help my colleague Lu Alzando elevate the
24:15
issue in the department and actually get
24:16
it to the Secretary of Defense.
24:18
Christopher Melon served as deputy
24:20
assistant secretary of defense for
24:22
intelligence for presidents Clinton and
24:24
George W. Bush and had access to top
24:27
secret government programs. So it's not
24:29
us. That's one thing we know. We know
24:32
that. I can say that with a very high
24:33
degree of confidence in part because of
24:35
the positions I held in the department
24:37
and I know the process. Melon says he
24:40
grew concerned nothing was being done
24:42
about UAPs. So he decided to do
24:46
something. In 2017, as a private
24:48
citizen, he surreptitiously acquired the
24:51
three Navy videos had declassified and
24:55
leaked them to the New York Times. It's
24:58
bizarre and unfortunate that someone
25:01
like myself has to do something like
25:03
that to get a national security issue
25:05
like this on the agenda. He joined
25:07
forces with now civilian Lou Alzando and
25:10
they started to tell their story to
25:12
anybody who would listen to newspapers,
25:15
the History Channel, to members of
25:17
Congress. We knew and understood that
25:19
you had to go to the public, get the
25:21
public interested to get Congress
25:22
interested to then circle back to the
25:24
defense department and get them to start
25:26
taking a look at it. And now it is. Last
25:30
year, the Pentagon resurrected ATIP.
25:33
It's now called the UAP Task Force.
25:36
Service members now are encouraged to
25:38
report strange encounters, and the
25:41
Senate wants answers. Anything that
25:43
enters an airspace that's not supposed
25:45
to be there is a threat. After receiving
25:48
classified briefings on UAPs, Senator
25:51
Marco Rubio called for a detailed
25:53
analysis. This past December, while he
25:56
was still head of the intelligence
25:58
committee, he asked the director of
26:00
national intelligence and the Pentagon
26:02
to present Congress an unclassified
26:05
report by next month. This is a bizarre
26:08
issue. The Pentagon and other branches
26:10
of the military have a long history of
26:12
sort of dismissing this. What makes you
26:15
think that this time is going to be
26:16
different? I mean, we're going to find
26:18
out when we get that report. You know,
26:20
there's a stigma on Capitol Hill. I
26:21
mean, some of my colleagues are very
26:23
interested in this topic and some kind
26:25
of, you know, giggle when when you bring
26:27
it up, but I I I don't think we can
26:29
allow the stigma to keep us from having
26:31
an answer to very fundamental question.
26:32
What do you want us to do about this? I
26:35
want us to take it seriously and have a
26:36
process to take it seriously. I want us
26:38
to have a process to analyze the data
26:40
every time it comes in. That there be a
26:42
place where this is cataloged and
26:43
constantly analyzed until we get some
26:45
answers. Maybe it has a very simple
26:47
answer.
26:49
Um, maybe it doesn't.
26:53
A few weeks after our story aired, the
26:55
director of national intelligence
26:57
released an unclassified report saying
27:00
UAP probably lack a single explanation,
27:03
but that some quote appear to
27:05
demonstrate advanced technology meriting
27:08
further analysis.
27:19
The United States Navy helped secure
27:21
victory in two world wars and the Cold
27:24
War. Today, the Navy remains a
27:26
formidable fighting force. But even
27:28
officers within the service have
27:30
questioned its readiness. While the US
27:32
spent 20 years fighting land wars in
27:35
Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon
27:37
watched China, its greatest geopolitical
27:40
rival of the 21st century, build the
27:43
largest navy in the world. China has
27:46
threatened to use that navy to invade
27:48
Taiwan, an important American ally. As
27:51
tensions with China continue to rise, we
27:54
wanted to know more about the current
27:56
state of the US Navy, how it's trying to
27:58
deter China. And as we first reported in
28:01
March, preparing for the possibility of
28:04
war,
28:08
the Navy's always on alert. Onethird of
28:11
the Navy is always deployed and
28:14
operating at all times. The Navy's
28:16
mustering right now about 300 ships and
28:19
there are about 100 ships at sea right
28:21
now all around the globe. Admiral Samuel
28:24
Paparro commands the USPacific Fleet,
28:27
whose 200 ships and 150,000 sailors and
28:31
civilians make up 60% of the entire US
28:34
Navy. We met him in February on the
28:37
aircraft carrier USS Nimmits, deployed
28:40
near the US territory of Guam, southeast
28:43
of Taiwan and the People's Republic of
28:45
China or PRC. You've been operating as a
28:48
naval officer for 40 years. How has
28:51
operating in the Western Pacific
28:53
changed? In the early 2000s, the PRC
28:56
Navy mustered about 37 vessels. Today,
29:00
they're mustering 350 vessels. In March,
29:04
China's new foreign minister, Chin Gong,
29:07
delivered a stern warning to the US. He
29:10
said that if Washington does not change
29:12
course in its stance towards China,
29:15
conflict and confrontation is
29:17
inevitable.
29:18
This past August, when then Speaker of
29:20
the House Nancy Pelosi became the most
29:23
senior US political figure to visit
29:25
Taiwan in 25 years, China called it a
29:28
blatant
29:30
provocation. The People's Liberation
29:32
Army fired ballistic missiles into the
29:35
sea around Taiwan and encircled the
29:37
island with aircraft and warships. So,
29:40
are Chinese warships now operating
29:43
closer to Taiwan after Nancy Pelosy's
29:45
visit? Yes.
29:48
The best guess anyone has about China's
29:51
ultimate intentions for Taiwan comes
29:53
from the CIA. According to its
29:55
intelligence assessment, China's
29:57
President Xi Jinping has ordered the
30:00
People's Liberation Army to be prepared
30:02
to take back the island by force by
30:05
2027. And if China invades Taiwan, what
30:09
will the US Navy do? It's a decision of
30:12
the President of the United States and a
30:13
decision of the Congress. It's our duty
30:16
to be ready for that. But the bulk of
30:20
the United States Navy will be deployed
30:23
rapidly to the Western Pacific to come
30:26
to the aid of Taiwan if the order comes
30:29
to aid Taiwan in thwarting that
30:32
invasion. Is the US Navy ready? We're
30:34
ready. Yes. Uh I'll never admit to being
30:39
ready enough. Yes. President Biden has
30:42
declared four times, including on 60
30:44
Minutes, that the US military would
30:47
defend Taiwan, which is a democracy and
30:50
the world's leading producer of advanced
30:52
microchips. 604. To reach the USS
30:56
Nimmitz, we first traveled to America's
30:58
westernmost territory, the island of
31:01
Guam in the middle of the Pacific.
31:04
Guam was taken by Imperial Japan two
31:07
days after the attack on Pearl Harbor in
31:10
1941. US Marines recaptured it two and a
31:13
half years later. And the island about
31:15
the size of Chicago became an
31:17
indispensable strategic foothold in the
31:20
Western Pacific as it remains
31:22
today. From Guam, we boarded a Navy C2
31:26
Greyhound. The Cold War era transport
31:28
plane takes people and supplies back and
31:30
forth from land to the carrier.
31:35
It was a short flight to the ship and an
31:39
even shorter landing.
31:43
Incredible. First COD landing. Yes. Oh,
31:46
very nice. Certain operations before
31:48
Admiral Paparo rose to lead the Pacific
31:51
Fleet. He flew jets and graduated from
31:54
the school known as Top Gun. When you
31:56
talk about ships, what's the most
31:58
powerful in the US Navy? It's an
32:00
aircraft carrier and its airwing is
32:03
capable of 150 strike or air-to-air
32:06
sorties per day with uh at its surge
32:09
levels the ability to deliver 900
32:12
precision guided munitions every day and
32:16
reloadable every night. So even though
32:19
China now has the largest navy in the
32:21
world, they don't have anything like
32:23
this in terms of aircraft carriers. They
32:25
do not. but they're working towards it
32:27
and they have they have two operational
32:29
aircraft carriers right now. That's
32:31
China's two dieselfueled carriers to the
32:34
US's 11 nuclearpowered ones that can
32:37
carry a total of about a thousand attack
32:40
aircraft, more than the navies of every
32:42
other nation on Earth combined. I'll
32:45
tell you this, we are here to stay right
32:48
in the South China Sea and in this part
32:49
of the world. And I think that's the
32:51
message that we really want to convey to
32:53
not only China but the entire world. We
32:56
will sail wherever international law
32:58
allows.
32:59
Lieutenant Commander David Ash flies an
33:01
FA18.
33:05
Do you get briefed on China's growing
33:08
military threat and the progress that
33:12
their navy is making? Absolutely. Yeah,
33:15
absolutely we do and they are making
33:16
great progress in a lot of key areas of
33:19
the Chinese. the Chinese are from a
33:20
military standpoint. This video from
33:23
weapons systems officer Lieutenant
33:25
Commander Matthew Carlton shows his FA18
33:29
strafing ground targets with a machine
33:31
gun on a US weapons range near
33:36
Guam. The pilots on the Nimmits also
33:39
conduct air-to-air combat or dog
33:41
fighting drills daily.
33:45
How aggressive has China become in the
33:48
air? aggressive. And uh just some
33:50
examples include unsafe, unprofessional
33:53
intercepts where they move within single
33:56
digits of feet of other aircraft,
33:58
flashing the weapons that they have on
34:00
board to the air crew of the other
34:01
aircraft, operating in international
34:03
airspace, maneuvering their aircraft in
34:06
such a way that denies the the ability
34:09
to turn in one direction. If they're
34:11
safe and professional, then there's no
34:14
problem. Everybody has the right to fly
34:18
and sail wherever international law
34:20
dictates. But the Chinese are pushing
34:22
that. They are pushing it. China's
34:25
increasingly aggressive moves in the
34:27
Western Pacific, encroaching on
34:29
territory, illegal fishing, and building
34:32
bases in the middle of the South China
34:34
Sea have pushed nations like Japan and
34:37
the Philippines to forge closer military
34:40
ties to the US. And earlier this year,
34:43
Britain, the US, and Australia signed a
34:47
landmark deal to jointly develop
34:49
nuclearpowered attack submarines to
34:51
patrol the
34:53
Pacific. This is how China and Taiwan
34:56
appear on most maps. This is how the
34:59
Chinese Communist Party sees the Western
35:01
Pacific, including the South and East
35:04
China seas from Beijing. Taiwan is the
35:07
fulcrum in what China's leaders call the
35:10
first island chain. a constellation of
35:13
US allies that stretches across its
35:15
entire coast. Control of Taiwan is the
35:19
strategic key to unlocking direct access
35:22
to the Pacific and the seal lanes where
35:25
about 50% of the world's commerce gets
35:28
transported. China has accused the
35:31
United States of trying to contain them.
35:34
What do you say to China? I would say uh
35:37
do you need to be contained? Are you
35:40
expanding? Are you an expansionist
35:42
power? To a very great extent, the
35:44
United States was the champion for
35:47
China's
35:49
rise. And in no way are we seeking to
35:53
contain China. What we are seeking for
35:57
them to play by the rules. China's Navy,
36:00
a branch of the People's Liberation
36:02
Army, is now the world's largest. China
36:05
is also using its 9,000mi coastline to
36:09
rewrite the rules of fighting at sea. As
36:12
these images from Chinese state media
36:15
show, its military has invested heavily
36:18
in long range precisiong guided weapons
36:20
like the DF-21 and DF-26 that can be
36:24
used to target ships.
36:28
China's People's Liberation Army Rocket
36:31
Force calls them carrier killers and has
36:34
practiced shooting them at mock-ups of
36:36
American ships in the desert that look a
36:38
lot like the Nimmits. Since the United
36:40
States has been operating in the Western
36:43
Pacific, China's backyard, they've been
36:46
developing missiles to attack our
36:49
assets, haven't they? Specific missiles.
36:51
Absolutely. Yes. First, I'll
36:53
say the United States is also a Western
36:56
Pacific nation. So, it's not it's not
36:58
China's backyard. It's, you know, it is
37:02
a free and open Indo-Pacific that
37:05
encompasses numerous partners and treaty
37:08
allies. And yes, we have seen them
37:11
greatly enhance their power projection
37:13
capability. How much do you worry about
37:15
the PLA rocket force? I worry, you know,
37:17
I'd be a fool to not worry about. And of
37:19
course, I worry about the the LA rocket
37:21
force. Of course, I work every single
37:24
day to develop the tactics and the
37:26
techniques and the procedures to counter
37:27
it and to continue to develop the
37:30
systems that can also defend uh against
37:32
them. About how far are we from mainland
37:35
China? 1500 nautical miles. They can hit
37:37
us. Yes, they can. If they've got the
37:40
targeting in
37:41
place, they could hit this aircraft
37:43
carrier. If I don't want to be hit,
37:46
there's something I can do about it. US
37:48
Navy planners aren't just plotting how
37:50
to evade China's rocket force, but also
37:53
how they could effectively fight
37:55
back. From the vicinity of Guam, none of
37:59
the aircraft on this ship has the range
38:01
to approach Taiwan without refueling in
38:04
the air.
38:06
Ships like the US destroyer Wayne E
38:09
Meyer, part of the Nimtt strike group,
38:11
would need to sail much closer towards
38:13
China to fire their missiles at any
38:16
force invading Taiwan. One naval scholar
38:20
we spoke to likened it to a boxing match
38:23
in which a fighter, in this case
38:26
China, has much longer arms than their
38:29
potential opponent, the US. I'll give
38:32
you a lot of examples where a shorter
38:34
fighter was able to prevail over a long
38:37
firearm fighter by being on their toes
38:40
by maneuvering and we can also stick and
38:44
move uh while we're developing those
38:47
those longer range weapons. There is
38:50
another area of modern naval warfare
38:52
where the US had a head start and
38:54
retains a deep advantage over China. I
38:57
just noticed out of the corner of my eye
38:59
this this is a 688 class of Los Angeles
39:01
class attack submarine. This is the most
39:04
capable submarine on the planet. You
39:06
know with the exception of the Virginia
39:08
class, our newer class of submarines.
39:11
The exact number is classified, but our
39:14
best estimate is that there are about a
39:15
dozen nuclearpowered fast attack
39:17
submarines patrolling the Pacific at any
39:20
time. They are difficult to detect and
39:23
track, something China is trying to
39:25
solve. How much more advanced is US
39:29
submarine technology than Chinese
39:32
capability? A generation. Generation.
39:34
And u by a generation think 10 or 20
39:38
years. But broadly, I don't really talk
39:40
in depth about submarine capabilities.
39:42
It's the silent service. Since Nancy
39:44
Pelos's visit to Taiwan, China's
39:47
military leaders have themselves been
39:49
mostly silent and ignored efforts by the
39:52
US military to keep the lines of
39:54
communication open, even when a Chinese
39:57
spy balloon breached American airspace
39:59
and was shot down by the US. If the US
40:03
and Chinese militaries can't communicate
40:06
over a Chinese spy balloon, then what's
40:09
going to happen when there's a real
40:10
crisis in the South China Sea or with
40:13
Taiwan? We'll hope that they'll answer
40:15
the
40:17
phone else we'll do our very best
40:21
assessment based on the things that they
40:23
say in open source and based on their
40:25
behavior to define their intentions and
40:29
we'll act accordingly.
40:30
Doesn't that make the situation even
40:33
more dangerous if US and Chinese
40:36
militaries are not talking? Yes.
40:39
Several sources within the Pentagon tell
40:42
60 Minutes that if China invaded Taiwan,
40:45
it could very well kick off in outer
40:47
space with both sides targeting the
40:49
others satellites that enable precisiong
40:52
guided weaponry. Cyber attacks on
40:54
American cities and the sabotage of
40:57
ports on the west coast of the US
40:59
mainland could follow. One recent
41:02
non-classified war game had the US
41:04
prevailing but losing 20 ships including
41:07
two carriers. Does that sound about
41:10
right? That is a plausible outcome. I
41:13
can imagine a more pessimistic outcome
41:16
and I can imagine a more optimistic
41:18
outcome. We should be cleareyed about
41:21
the costs that we're potentially
41:24
incurring.
41:25
There are about 5,000 Americans on board
41:28
the Nimtts. The ship is nearly half a
41:31
century old. Given the Navy's current
41:34
needs in the Pacific, and because
41:36
there's fuel left in its nuclear
41:38
reactors, the carrier's life at sea is
41:41
going to be extended. Is it your hope
41:44
that the power of the US Navy, the force
41:47
posture of the US Navy will deter a
41:51
Chinese invasion of Taiwan? It's not my
41:53
hope. It's my duty in conjunction with
41:56
allies and partners to deliver
41:58
intolerable costs to anybody that would
42:01
upend the order in violation of the
42:03
nation's security or in violation of the
42:05
nation's interests. the saying which is
42:08
see PC paravevel which is if you want
42:11
peace prepare for war. Since our story
42:15
first aired in March, China has
42:17
intensified its aggressive military
42:19
tactics in the Western Pacific. In June,
42:22
a Chinese warship nearly collided with a
42:25
US destroyer in the Taiwan Strait. When
42:28
we return, critical questions about the
42:31
state of the US Navy and its readiness.
42:42
60 Minutes spent months talking to
42:45
current and former naval officers,
42:47
military strategists, and politicians
42:49
about the state of the US Navy. One
42:52
common thread in our reporting is
42:54
unease, both about the size of the US
42:57
fleet and its readiness to fight. The
43:00
Navy ships are being retired faster than
43:02
they're getting replaced. While the Navy
43:05
of the People's Republic of China or PRC
43:08
grows larger and more lethal by the
43:10
year, we first asked the commander of
43:13
the US Pacific Fleet, Admiral Samuel
43:15
Paparro, about this on our visit earlier
43:18
this year to the USS Nimttz, the oldest
43:21
aircraft carrier in the Navy.
43:24
We call it the decade of concern. We've
43:27
seen a t-fold increase in the size of
43:32
the PRC Navy. Technically speaking, the
43:35
Chinese now have the largest navy in the
43:38
world in terms of number of ships.
43:40
Correct. Do the numbers matter? Yes. As
43:43
the saying goes, quantity has equality
43:45
all its own. At some point, are they
43:48
going to reach numbers that we can't
43:51
prevail over? I'm not comfortable with
43:53
the trajectory. If you look at a map of
43:55
the Indoacific, one thing becomes clear.
43:58
There's a lot of water on that map. And
44:00
so ours has to be a maritime strategy.
44:04
Republican Mike Gallagher and Democrat
44:06
Elaine Lauria served together on the
44:08
House Armed Services Committee in the
44:10
last Congress. What is it about the US
44:13
Navy that has allowed the two of you to
44:15
find common cause? I think we share a
44:17
sense of the urgency of the moment. We
44:19
see increasing threats from China in
44:22
particular in the Indoacific. We feel
44:24
like we're not moving fast enough to
44:25
build a bigger navy. Congressman
44:28
Gallagher is a Marine veteran who
44:30
represents Green Bay, Wisconsin. He
44:32
chairs the new House Committee on China.
44:35
He's concerned that under the Navy's
44:37
current plan, the fleet will shrink to
44:40
about 280 ships by 2027, the same year
44:44
the CIA says China has set for having
44:47
the capability to take Taiwan by force.
44:50
So, we will be weakest when our enemy is
44:52
potentially strongest. China's increased
44:54
rhetoric and potential aggression
44:56
against Taiwan. We're going to have to
44:58
be ready to respond today with the
44:59
forces we have today. Former
45:02
Congresswoman Elaine Lauria represented
45:04
Virginia Beach until this past January.
45:07
Anapapolis graduate, Lauria had a
45:10
20-year naval career before being
45:12
elected to Congress. What would you say
45:14
the state of the US Navy is today? I
45:17
think the Navy has not received the
45:18
attention and resources that it needs
45:20
over two decades. I mean, I served on
45:22
six different ships. Every single one of
45:23
those ships was either built during or a
45:26
product of the fleet that was built um
45:29
in the Cold War. Both Mike Gallagher and
45:32
Elaine Lauria have lobbyed for
45:34
government money for the shipyards in or
45:36
near their districts, but they say this
45:38
is less about jobs and more about
45:40
national security. Yeah, if we don't get
45:42
this right, all of these other things
45:44
we're doing in Congress ultimately that
45:45
might not matter. If you think about
45:46
what a coherent grand strategy visa v
45:48
China would be, hard power would be the
45:50
most important part of that and the Navy
45:52
would be the most important component of
45:53
your hard power investments.
45:56
Over the last two decades, the Navy
45:58
spent $55 billion on two investments
46:02
that did not pan out. The first was a
46:05
class of destroyers known as the
46:07
Zoomwalt. The futuristic fighting ships
46:10
were supposed to revolutionize naval
46:13
warfare. 32 were ordered, but only three
46:16
were ever launched. The cost of each
46:19
ship, by one estimate, was upwards of 8
46:22
billion, making them the three most
46:25
expensive destroyers ever put to sea.
46:30
Another example is the latoral combat
46:32
ship or LCS designed to be a fast
46:35
all-purpose warship for shallow
46:38
waters. $30 billion later, the program
46:41
ran a ground after structural defects
46:44
and engine trouble. Within the Navy, the
46:47
LCS earned the unfortunate nickname
46:50
little crappy ship. The Navy's last few
46:53
decades have been described as a lost
46:56
generation of ship building. Is that
46:57
overly dramatic? I don't think so. We're
47:01
still struggling to build ships on time,
47:04
on budget, and that's something we
47:05
absolutely need to fix going forward.
47:07
This past March, we spoke with Admiral
47:09
Mike Gilde at the Pentagon. He is the
47:11
chief of naval operations and is
47:14
responsible for building, maintaining,
47:16
and equipping the entire US Navy. Is the
47:19
Navy in crisis? No, the Navy is not in
47:22
crisis. The Navy is out on point every
47:26
single day. Is it being outpaced by
47:28
China? No. Our Navy is still in a
47:31
position to prevail, but um that's not
47:34
blind confidence. We are concerned with
47:36
the trajectory that China's on with
47:38
China's behavior, but we are in a good
47:41
position right now uh if we did ever get
47:43
into a fight against them. How would you
47:45
describe what China has been able to do
47:48
militarily over the last 20 years? The
47:51
most alarming thing is the growth of not
47:53
only their conventional forces but also
47:55
their strategic nuclear forces, their
47:57
cyber capability, their space capability
48:00
and how they are using that to force
48:03
other nations uh navies out of certain
48:06
areas in the South China Sea. Instead of
48:08
recognizing international law, they want
48:11
to control where those goods flow and
48:13
how. What lessons did the US Navy learn
48:17
from some of the ship building mistakes
48:19
of the last 20 years? I think one of the
48:21
things that we learned uh was that we
48:23
need to uh have the design well in place
48:26
before we begin bending metal. And so we
48:29
are going back uh to the past to what we
48:32
did in the 80s and the '9s. The Navy has
48:35
the lead. There is a tendency among the
48:38
great powers to look at each other's
48:40
naval buildups with deep suspicion.
48:42
Toshi Yoshihara of the Center for
48:45
Strategic and Budgetary Assessments may
48:48
know more than any scholar in the West
48:50
about China's Navy. China will have
48:52
about 440 ships by 2030 and that's
48:56
according to the Pentagon. Why is China
48:59
able to build more warships more quickly
49:02
than the US? China has clearly invested
49:05
in this defense industrial
49:06
infrastructure to produce these ships,
49:09
which allows them to produce multiple
49:11
ships simultaneously, essentially
49:13
outbuilding many of the Western navies
49:16
combined. China's Navy piggybacks on a
49:19
booming commercial ship building
49:20
industry kept afloat by generous state
49:23
subsidies, inexpensive materials, and
49:26
cheap labor. In the United States, it's
49:29
a different story. After the Cold War
49:32
ended, the ship building industry
49:34
consolidated and many of the yards where
49:36
ships were both built and maintained
49:39
closed down. What do you see when you
49:41
see China's ship building program? It's
49:43
very robust. Do we have enough
49:44
shipyards? No. I wish that we had more
49:47
commercial shipyards. Over my career,
49:49
we've gone from more than 30 shipyards
49:51
down to about seven that we rely upon a
49:54
day-to-day basis to build ships. One of
49:56
those yards is run by Huntington Les
49:59
Industries, which built the
50:01
state-of-the-art new Ford class aircraft
50:07
carrier. After controlled explosions in
50:10
2021 to prove it could withstand combat,
50:14
the Ford got closer to deployment, 6
50:17
years late and billions of dollars over
50:19
budget. The Navy's not just struggling
50:22
to build new ships on time. According to
50:25
the Government Accountability Office, or
50:27
GAO, there's a multi-year backlog
50:30
repairing the ships in the fleet. Our
50:33
maintenance backlog is one of the
50:35
primary things that I'm working on to
50:37
correct. So, just three years ago, we
50:40
had 7700 delay days. That is extra days
50:45
in a shipyard by ships when they weren't
50:47
operational. We have cut that down to
50:50
3,000. We are not satisfied. Maintenance
50:53
delays mean sailors can't come home
50:56
because the ship that's supposed to
50:57
replace them is not ready. It means
51:00
longer deployments. It means away from
51:02
your family more. That's a big strain on
51:04
the workforce. The more ships that we
51:06
can have available to send at sea
51:09
alleviates many of those problems that
51:11
you pointed out. Sailors join the Navy
51:13
to see the world. And so it's my job to
51:17
make sure that those maintenance delays
51:19
go to zero and we can get those ships to
51:21
sea as quickly as possible. In the last
51:23
year alone, at least 10 sailors assigned
51:26
to ships undergoing maintenance or
51:28
working at maintenance facilities have
51:30
died by suicide. It is a problem that
51:34
we're taking very, very seriously. And
51:37
down to every leader in our Navy,
51:39
everybody has a responsibility to look
51:41
out for each other, take care of each
51:43
other. There is no wrong door to knock
51:45
on when you need help. Admiral Gilde
51:48
says the US Navy's main advantage over
51:50
China is America's sailors. His goal is
51:53
to modernize the US fleet and have those
51:56
sailors serving alongside hundreds of
51:59
unmanned vessels by 2045. I think
52:02
unmanned is the future. And so I think
52:04
that uh some 40% of our fleet in the
52:07
future I believe is going to be
52:08
unmanned. Are these like underwater
52:10
drones? Some of them are highly capable,
52:13
capable of delivering mines and perhaps
52:16
other types of weapons. Admiral Gilde is
52:18
talking about the Orca, an extra-large
52:21
unmanned undersea vehicle. Can you say
52:24
what it will do or is that classified?
52:26
Well, uh, at a minimum, it'll have a
52:28
clandestine mine laying capability. So,
52:30
it'll be done in a way that is very
52:32
secretive, uh, but very effective. But
52:35
the GAO reports that it's already a
52:39
quarter of a billion dollars over budget
52:41
and three years behind schedule. Uh that
52:44
particular platform is behind schedule.
52:47
It's the first of a kind. When it
52:49
delivers, I see a very high return on
52:51
investment from that particular platform
52:54
because because uh it will be among the
52:57
most lethal and stealthy platforms uh in
53:01
the arsenal of the US military. The
53:03
Navy's total budget request for fiscal
53:06
year 2024 is over a quarter of a
53:10
trillion dollars, an 11 billion increase
53:13
from last year. The focus is on China.
53:17
The US defense posture is viewed as
53:20
aggressive by the Chinese. The foreign
53:22
minister just said, "Look, stop the
53:24
containment. This may lead to conflict."
53:27
Perhaps the Chinese minister doesn't
53:29
like the fact that the US Navy is
53:32
operating in collaboration with dozens
53:35
of navies around the world to ensure
53:37
that the Maritime Commons remains free
53:40
and open for all nations. The Chinese
53:44
want to dictate those terms and so they
53:46
don't like our presence, but our
53:48
presence is not intended to be
53:50
provocative. It's intended to assure and
53:53
to reassure allies and partners around
53:55
the world that those sea lanes do remain
53:57
open. The global economy literally
54:00
floats on seawater.
— end of transcript —
Advertisement
