Rep. Gallagher on China testing hypersonic missile: 'This should be our Sputnik moment'
Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) warned the U.S. will 'lose new cold war' in the next 10 years if the Biden administration does not change course.
Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., slammed the Biden administration, saying, "This should be our Sputnik moment" after China reportedly tested a hypersonic missile with nuclear capabilities. Gallagher discussed the issue on "Fox & Friends First" on Tuesday, warning the United States will quickly fall behind Chinese defense advancements if the Biden administration does not change its course.
"We really need a wake-up call, this should be our Sputnik moment," Gallagher warned. "But I hate to say it, Secretary Austin and the Biden administration are trying to cut defense. They're trying to cut our conventional capability."
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"That's what their budget did, particularly for the Navy. That's unacceptable at a time when Communist China is growing more aggressive, more bellicose and out-innovating us in certain areas."
Over the weekend, reports surfaced suggesting China tested a hypersonic missile back in August, an announcement that has remained largely unaddressed by the Biden White House. The announcement allegedly surprised U.S. officials despite consistent warnings Beijing is reportedly in the process of building around 100 nuclear missile silos.
"You have a rocket carrying a hypersonic glide vehicle that flew into low orbit space before landing," Gallagher explained. "What makes that so dangerous is not only the speed at which these missiles travel, but the fact that they can maneuver midflight."
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"They're extremely difficult to track, which completely undermines our early warning and our missile defense system, so you can imagine the Chinese using conventional weapons against our homeland to target bases, ports and key sites like precision-guided munition plants."
The GOP representative also noted his concern surrounding China's ability to infiltrate and "profit off of" American technology and what that could mean for the future.
"The other thing that I think makes this so troubling is that we know that the Chinese benefited in part from American technology in order to outpace us here," said Gallagher. "There was a Chinese firm called Phytium that uses American semiconductor technology in order to power a supercomputer at a hypersonic test facility that models the heat and drag on these missiles.
"Here's yet another instance of the Chinese profiting off American technology in order to build things that could be used to kill Americans in the future. It's a very perverse and dangerous situation."
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Gallagher's remarks come after the Biden administration pushed to cut funding for the Department of Defense for fiscal year 2022, which ultimately garnered bipartisan backlash.
Despite this push, the House Armed Services Committee adopted an amendment in September that boosted funding for the DOD by $25 billion, which is a $37.5 billion increase from fiscal year 2021.
Meanwhile, China continues to bolster its military funding and implemented a nearly 7% increase in defense spending this year, which is expected to funnel money into various scientific, technological and industrial projects to modernize its military.
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