Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh Holds a Press ConferenceContracts for Aug. 29, 2024DOD Chief Digital, AI Office Launches Open DAGIR Challenge on Tradewinds

DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY SABRINA SINGH: Welcome back. All right. Good afternoon, everyone. Just a few things at the top and then happy to take your questions. First, Secretary Austin welcomed Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense, Kosiniak-Kamysz to the Pentagon today. The two leaders discussed the ongoing war in Ukraine and how Putin's war of choice continues to threaten our shared security.

The secretary commended Poland for its exceptional leadership on Ukraine, including providing vital logistics support and substantial security assistance. The secretary also thanked the deputy prime minister for supporting the nearly 10,000 American troops deployed in Poland that ensure NATO can deter, and if necessary, defend against aggression.

Secretary Austin also spoke by phone with his Romanian counterpart Minister of National Defense Tilvar earlier today. They discussed the strength of the US Romania bilateral defense relationship, our partnership within NATO and Russia's war in Ukraine. The two leaders reaffirmed their unwavering commitment to bolstering the defense of NATO's eastern flank and reiterated their continued support for Ukraine to defend itself against Russian aggression.

A full readout of both the Secretary's bilat and phone call will be posted later today on Defense.gov. Speaking of Ukraine, tomorrow, Secretary Austin will host Ukrainian Minister of Defense Umerov here at the Pentagon. While I won't get ahead of that meeting, I will say that you can expect the secretary to reaffirm the United States' unwavering support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.

He will also receive a battlefield update including on Kursk and looking to next week, Secretary Austin will travel to Ramstein to host an in-person meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. This will be the 24th meeting of the UDCG since Secretary Austin formed the group in April 2022. The secretary will be joined by Chairman Brown and Ramstein and will convene ministers of defense and senior military officials from nearly 50 nations to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine and the continued close coordination by the international community to provide Ukraine with the necessary means it needs to defend itself.

Switching gears to the Middle East. Earlier this week the Cape Trinity arrived from Cyprus to the port of Ashdod and has begun the process of unloading the remaining pallets of humanitarian aid and that's approximately six million pounds of aid to be distributed within Gaza. The offloading process is expected to take between four to six days.

Once complete, the Cape Trinity is slated to make a stop in Greece to unload a portion of its crew and then will depart for its home station.

Switching gears again, the Department of Defense recently received a request for assistance from the Department of Homeland Security for additional military support capabilities to be afforded to major presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

The secretary of defense approved the request and directed the commander of US Northern Command to plan and provide and execute increased support to the United States Secret Service at various locations across the United States during the 2024 election campaigns. The Department of Defense will provide protective support and that will continue through the election on November 5th, 2024, with anticipated continued support to the president elect and vice president elect through the inauguration of January 20, 2025. And finally, yesterday the 2024 Paralympic Games officially kicked off with opening ceremonies in Paris.

This year, the department is proud to be cheering on three US service member athletes who will be competing in these Paralympic Games. US Army Sergeant First Class John Ross and US Army Staff Sergeant Kevin Nguyen will compete in the 50 meter mixed rifle event. And US Army Sergeant First Class Elizabeth Marks will compete in seven different swimming events.

On behalf of the department, we're rooting for you. Go team USA. And with that, I'd be happy to take your questions. Tara?

Q: Sabrina? All right. I've got three topics for you, but first on the extra support to Secret Service.

MS. SINGH: Sure.

Q: What does that mean in practical terms? Are we going to see National Guardsmen patrolling sites? What's been asked for?

MS. SINGH: For more specifics on that, Tara, I would direct you to the National Guard and Secret Service. I don't have that level of specificity. So actually, I think Secret Service could better speak to their request on that, so I'd direct you there.

Q: All right.

And under what authorities are they operating?

MS. SINGH: I direct you to Secret Service on that.

Q: OK. Secondly, to get back to the third anniversary of Abbey Gate and the Trump campaign's appearance at Arlington National Cemetery, US federal law says that Army National Cemeteries will not be used in partisan or political activities. Did the Trump campaign break the law by filming an ad there?

MS. SINGH: Look, for anything regarding any campaign ads, I would direct you to the campaign to speak to that, to the Trump campaign. What I can tell you is that, and I think the Army recently put out a statement earlier today, that kind of went through what exactly happened in the incident. You can go on Arlington National Cemetery's website.

It's very clear the rules and regulations. What I'll say about the mission of those that work at Arlington National Cemetery, these are people who are dedicated to honoring our fallen heroes and they maintain that hallowed ground. They work with the families in honoring those who have had their loved one lost.

I'm just not going to go beyond what the Army has said, other than that there was a report that was filed. But subsequently, that person decided not to press charges and so we're just going to-we stand by the Army's statement that this matter is closed.

Q: Why would the Army close the matter? If the person has decided not to press charges, the Army could still pursue it without that person pressing charges. But secondly, the fact of filming an ad on a national cemetery, if the Army doesn't further pursue this with either civil penalties or whatever can be done, what's to stop the next person from filming a political ad there?

MS. SINGH: Well, what I would say is the rules are very, very clear. They're also online and available on the Arlington National Cemetery website. That is really a decision that the Army has to make. That's not one that the department is making. That's for the Army to make. The Army considers this matter closed. The department stands behind the army on that. Jen?

Q: So Sabrina, I'm trying to understand. In your understanding, what happened at the cemetery.

MS. SINGH: Yeah, and also, I'm sorry, you had also, just to go back to your earlier question on under the authorities, I direct you to the National Guard on that because it's going to vary on location. So I'm sorry, I should have been a little bit more specific. I would just-the National Guard under what authorities those guardsmen are going to operate. In terms of your question on what exactly happened, I'd refer you to the Army to speak more to the actual incident itself. My understanding is that the families had invited a few guests to attend a ceremony earlier this week. And there was some type of incident that happened between an employee at the ANC and a member that was traveling with another group's party. For more details on that, I'd refer you to the army to speak to that incident.

Q: Incident is a very sanitized word. What actually happened?

MS. SINGH: From my understanding -

Q: -Was it verbal assault? Who did what?

MS. SINGH: From my understanding and from what the army said is that an ANC employee who attempted to ensure adherence to the rules of the ANC was pushed aside. The employee acted with professionalism and decorum, but there was a bit of an incident that did happen.

Q: So, there are two different issues here. There's a potential assault charges that the person has decided not to bring, but there's also federal law that was broken, as Tara mentioned, filming a campaign ad or using campaign propaganda with the backdrop of these - of the cemetery. Can't the department refer that to the Justice Department for pursuit?

MS. SINGH: That's really - yes, that can happen, but that is a decision that the army would have to make and that's not - my understanding is that the army is considering this matter closed. But in terms of - just to get to your broader question on political ads, that's not something that the department has a say over. That's something that gets adjudicated at the FEC level and between campaigns. So, that - for anything that's used in an ad, I would refer you to the campaigns to speak to that.

Q: It is a federal law not to use what is essentially a base that is controlled by this department and the Defense Secretary could overrule the Army. Why is he deciding not to overrule or get involved in this?

MS. SINGH: Look, what we want to focus on is the fact that the people that work at the Arlington National Cemetery every single day do so with dignity, work to preserve the memories of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, and ultimately work with the families who visit Arlington National Cemetery. And you know, there are nearly - I think it's like 3,000 public ceremonies that are conducted at Arlington National Cemetery every single year without incident.

The rules and regulations are very, very clear. What happened earlier this week is very unfortunate. It's really the decision for the army to make and to pursue any other path forward. The department right now is not doing that and the army, we stand behind the army in considering this matter closed. Okay.

Q: Sorry, but on the National Guard Association appearance by former President Trump, there were National Guardsmen in uniform who stood up and cheered what was a political speech at the event, a campaign style speech. Is that against the rules?

MS. SINGH: I believe that was a - I don't know enough about that event honestly, so I just don't want to speak to it from here. I'm happy to look into that and come back to you, yeah, if it is against the rules. Oren?

Q: Ukraine lost an F-16. Has Ukraine communicated that to the US? Does the US have any sense of whether it was downed by Russian fire or by something else? And has Ukraine asked the US for any assistance in the investigation?

MS. SINGH: I've seen the reports, I'm not aware of any assistance or requests for assistance from the Ukrainian side to us about this particular incident. But I'd refer you to the Ukrainians more to speak to any specifics on this pilot. Yes?

Q: Thank you, Sabrina. A little bit of background on the question is American troops are being attacked in Syria, Iraq and from Yemen. Terrorists in those countries are also attacking Israel. So, whose responsibility is it to stop the attack - the attacks and the attackers? And I have a follow up.

MS. SINGH: That's a pretty broad question, but as you know, since October 7, we have been postured to defend Israel. I'm not going to go through the - all the things that we have done in terms of moving our forces to the region to deescalate tensions. What I can tell you is that our forces, as you probably are aware, we have two carrier strike groups in the Central Command AOR. We also have assets in the Eastern Mediterranean.

They're there to protect our forces. They're also there to help defend Israel should we need to defend Israel. And of course, we will always take care of our troops, whether they be in Iraq and Syria, and we've maintained the force protection to do that. And you had a follow up?

Q: Yeah, the follow up is since terrorist groups within Syria, Iraq and Yemen are proxies of Iran, then why isn't the Pentagon stopping the source which is Iran?

MS. SINGH: So, I will tell you that we always reserve the right to respond at a time and place of our choosing when we have been attacked, whether it be in Iraq or Syria, we have responded and I'm just going to leave it at that. I will go to the phones and I'm happy to come back in the room. Idrees, Reuters.

Q: Hey, Sabrina, just, I mean, you know quite well getting a statement through the different layers can be quite tricky. Given that this was quite an extraordinary statement and quite rare for the army to come out and say what it did say, did they go through OSD? Did they go through the White House before putting the statement out? Or were you not aware of it and was the secretary not aware of it before it was put out?

MS. SINGH: You want us to go through an approval process checklist of internal deliberations, Idrees? I'm just not going to do that. But we are aware of the statement that the army issued and we support what the army said. All right, next question, J.J. Green, WTOP.

Q: Thanks, Sabrina, for this. To the question about the F-16 that crashed in Ukraine killing the pilot. Can you say how many F-16 - US made F-16s are in Ukraine or are on their way or will be sent there? And what, if anything, can you say about that incident more than what you said to Oren?

MS. SINGH: JJ, unfortunately this will not be very satisfactory to you, but I'm just not going to get into numbers of how many F-16s are in Ukraine. That's something for them to speak to. That opens up a lot of operational security issues as well. So, I'm just not going to be able to speak to that. In terms of the incident and the pilot that has been referenced in that Oren had asked about earlier, I'm just not going to be able to provide more. That's really something for Ukraine to speak to. We have been, as you know, training pilots here in the United States.

I will say that, broadly speaking, combat aviation is incredibly complex. And we've been very proud to train some of the pilots here in the United States and not just here, but our partners and allies through the UDCG are also training Ukrainian pilots on F-16s. And every day that they fly those aircraft, these are brave men and women going up there to defend their skies and to defend their country.

And so, we're very proud to have been part of training some of those here in the United States, but I just don't have more to add on that particular incident, I'll take one more from the phone and then happy to come into the room. Sorry, I think Eric Schmitt, New York Times. Charlie.

Q: Thank you, Sabrina. Going back to the F-16, American trained pilot, American equipped F-16s, including I think a new electronics warfare package, American advised, which is still going on, are you telling me we're not tracking? We don't have the reason for what happened when it has consequence for the United States?

MS. SINGH: I'm just telling you that I cannot confirm the incident. I'd refer you to the Ukrainians to speak to their own operations.

Q: But we, as the United States, are tracking the F-16s that we -

MS. SINGH: -Appreciate the question, but I'm just not going to get into any more specifics about the incident.

Q: Changing gears, as you say, it seems the Houthis have been acting up again. Do we have a force presence in the Red Sea?

MS. SINGH: Through Operation Prosperity Guardian between the US and our allies and partners, we always maintain a presence within the Red Sea. I can't speak to specific ships that are there right now, but we do have, through partners and allies, a presence there. Janne?

Q: Thank you, Sabrina. Two questions. It is reported that North Korea registered 13 submarines with the International Maritime Organization. This can be seen as an intention to wage war overseas. What do you think of the background to this?

MS. SINGH: I'm not aware of that report, Janne, so I just don't have anything to offer on that one. Yeah, sure you have a follow up? Yeah.

Q: North Korean Kim Jong Un declared support for Putin's war in Ukraine and could this be seen having international military training in mind such as with North Korea, Russia or China?

MS. SINGH: That's really for North Korea to speak to. It's not a surprise that North Korea has pledged support to Russia. We've spoken about that pretty publicly. We've spoken about the fact that DPRK continues to provide capabilities to Russia that they're using on the battlefield in Ukraine. We can only really speak to what we're doing.

And you know what we're doing, Janne, is through the UDCG. The Secretary convenes 50 countries and partners around the world to support Ukraine on what it needs on the battlefield. There's going to be another meeting next week. That's another opportunity for allies and partners to come together to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs on the battlefield, but I'm just not going to speak for the DPRK. Yeah?

Q: Thank you very much, Sabrina. There have been domestic criticism that USA is spending too much as compared to its allies, to protect the interests of allies. Even Donald Trump said that it will insist NATO members to spend at least three of their GDP on defense. Do you think so that is this because of the leading role of the US, that Ukraine is able to do such advances and able to resist such attack till now?

MS. SINGH: You're talking about countries increasing their defense spending?

Q: Yes. Donald Trump said that I will insist NATO members to increase from two percent to three percent. Even NATO members are not spending two percent of their GDP on defense and US is spending measure [inaudible] defense.

MS. SINGH: We actually have seen an increase of NATO members spending more when it comes to committing to meeting defense requirements. That's actually something that this administration has been leading on and urging allies, part of the NATO alliance to do just that. You've seen commitments come out of Vilnius last year.

You saw the NATO summit here in Washington D.C. where multiple NATO countries announced further commitments to supporting Ukraine. So again, we're on the right track here. Countries are continuing to deepen their cooperation and knitting together their resources to support Ukraine.

And it's been incredible to watch and that's something that you really did see come together at the Washington summit here over the summer.

Q: Just one follow up. Turkey is also a NATO ally of the US. So Turkey has some kind of reservation, especially about the situation in Syria, some concerns in Syria. So has this administration able to address the concerns of Turkey?

MS. SINGH: We have a great partner in Turkey. I can't speak to their criticisms or concerns other than to tell you that we work with Turkey on a regular basis, including with what is happening in the Middle East. I'm just going to leave it at that. Joseph.

Q: Thanks. Secretary has routine conversations with his Israeli counterpart. Was he or anybody at the department notified ahead of the operations in the West Bank over the last 24 hours?

MS. SINGH: To my knowledge, we were not notified about operations in the West Bank. We are aware that Israel or the IDF is conducting some type of operations there. We're trying to get a better understanding of what they're doing. But to my knowledge, we were not notified beforehand.

Q: And then, yesterday there was a meeting between Arab military attaches and counterparts here at the Pentagon. Can you say anything more? Was that just a routine meeting? I mean, obviously with the context of everything and the backdrop of everything going on in the region, it seems to have come at a, I don't know, an interesting time.

MS. SINGH: Yeah, my understanding is this was a working level meeting that happens routinely. I wouldn't read too much into the timing. It's just something that does happen.

Q: General Ryder said that the ship that was attacked by the Houthis recently.

MS. SINGH: The Sounion?

Q: Yes, Sounion appeared to be leaking. The EU said yesterday and then today, they came out and said it's not leaking. So can you tell us anything about why the Pentagon assesses it to be leaking and the EU, not?

MS. SINGH: So there is-so what I will tell you is the tanker is carrying one million barrels of crude oil. Those barrels remain intact right now. The vessel itself is leaking some oil from where it was hit. There is still a fire going on, or multiple fires still burning on the ship itself. Those fires have not been able to have been put out by anyone because the Houthis are threatening to attack any type of salvage recovery mission right now.

So those fires have the potential to spread, which has the potential to get to those oil barrels, which will then obviously leak potentially, one million barrels of crude oil into the Red Sea, destroying major ecological systems and creating an environmental, I think, catastrophe is the only word to use. Yeah. Yes?

Q: Thank you for opportunity. State Department designated terrorist group Baluch Liberation Army attacked Pakistan's South Western Province on August 26th, killed almost 70 people, including security personnels. So this group is like, has strong ties with al-Qaeda, Daesh and TTP [inaudible] and other [inaudible] that has strong ties with the Afghan Taliban.

So it seems like the fault line that the US left in Kabul in a chaotic or traumatic withdrawal that are active now. So the question is US claimed many times, it builds Pakistani forces capacity to counter these groups. So at this moment, do you have anything for Pakistan. Any comments for Pakistan in this specific event?

MS. SINGH: We strongly condemn any terrorist attack like that and of course our thoughts are with those who lost their lives during that attack, but I don't have anything beyond that. I'm not aware of any US involvement or assistance to Pakistan at this time. But if that changes, I can certainly let you know.

Yeah.

Q: Just one more. Chinese armed forces commander visited Pakistan and he awarded with a higher military award. So both sides discussed military engagement, specifically the defense production. As I asked before from the last briefing that both countries have shared technologies, and they are also thinking to expand it, like I asked regarding the JF-17 [inaudible] technology shared to Iraq.

So the question is this administration left many loopholes with its Arab allies. We have seen with the Saudi Arabia. You left space over there. China gained there. They got normalization with Iran and Saudi Arabia. Now Pakistan is going closer with China. Anything on this, any reservation or any public reservation or private reservations you have?

MS. SINGH: I'm not aware of that meeting, so I can't comment on it. Yeah?

Q: Thank you, Sabrina. With regard to this Iranian attack in the region that we've been expecting for more than a month now and that hasn't happened. First of all, would you deem that as a success of the United States both in terms of diplomacy and military posture in the region that might have deterred it so far?

And are you still expecting it, is the threat as real as it was a couple of weeks ago? Are you still alert?

MS. SINGH: So a few things, as we've said, I don't have the prediction calendar crystal ball to predict and to forecast an attack. What I can tell you is I think we certainly got into the headspace of Iran and how they're making their calculations. You have two carrier strike groups in the region.

We have said both very publicly and privately that we are there to protect our forces and we'll of course always stand in the defense of Israel should we need to. Whether that's impacted Iran's calculation, I think it has affected their decision-making. Will there be an attack, I just, I can't predict the future.

I can't answer that. We remain postured though to protect our forces and of course if we need to, come to the defense of Israel.

Q: If I can one more? Earlier this week, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that since we've seen the Hezbollah attack, now we can say that there's less of a chance of a regional war. Do you share that assessment that Iran could also conduct an attack on a similar level, not something that's going to spark a regional war?

Do you think their hands are tied a little bit because of the US military posture? Do you feel like that attack is going to be limited?

MS. SINGH: Again, I can't predict what an attack would look like. What I can tell you is I don't think anyone wants to see a regional war. We certainly don't and that's why we've made the decisions, or the secretary has made the decisions to move different carrier strike groups throughout the region since October 7th to rotate different and to bolster our force posture and our force presence in the region.

We announced like a month ago, we have another squadron of F-22s in the region. So we're going to continue to take the steps that we need to, to send a message of deterrence because that's ultimately what we're sending. And all the capabilities that we're sending, they are there to be defensive in nature.

Beyond that, I can't predict what other actors will do, other than to say that we, the United States, do not want to see a broader regional war and we've said that from the very beginning. Yes.

Q: Thank you. My question is about China.

MS. SINGH: Okay.

Q: National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing yesterday and they agreed to have a telephone call of theater commanders in the near future. So can you give us a kind of a little bit more about the schedule of this phone call? And is secretary himself planning to have a phone call with his counterpart in the near future?

MS. SINGH: So I don't have any calls to announce or preview today, but we certainly welcome any time that there are high level mil to mil calls between the PRC and the United States. You saw the national security adviser say just that in some of his readouts from his meetings. But when we have more calls to announce, we will. But I just don't have more at this time. Yes, sir.

Q: Thank you very much. John Zevedy from Radio Pakistan. There were a series of terrorist attacks in Pakistan, and you just spoke about it. How the US can help Pakistan in rooting out terrorism from that region?

MS. SINGH: Look, we always remain willing to work with any nation that wants to root out a terrorist organization. We have good cooperation with the Pakistani government. But in terms of these attacks, I just - I don't have anything for you other than that we, of course, condemn them. And should anything change in our cooperation with the Pakistani government, I'm happy to keep you updated on that, but I just don't have more to provide at this time.

Q: Defense Minister was here and had meetings in this building. And a few months ago, he made a public statement that today's India goes to the safe havens [ph] of individuals who challenge India's territorial integrity and kill them. And after that statement, we have seen a killing of Sikh activists in Canada. And there was an assassination attempt on a US citizen, another Sikh activist in New York, [inaudible].

So, is there any discussion on that matter? Because India said they are still investigating that matter. There is one person arrested by the US authorities, Nikhil Gupta. So, any discussion about that?

MS. SINGH: I don't have anything for you on that specifically. There was a readout that we put out after the meeting, just not going to get beyond that. Yes.

Q: Thank you, Sabrina. Regarding the West Bank operation for the IDF, the United Nations Secretary Guterres described this military operation as like a dangerous development, and he asked to stop this, and he said already that's already an explosive [ph] situation. So, do you share with him his concerns?

And especially when we see all the readout from Secretary Austin when he called his Israeli counterpart, he'd always ask to deescalate and don't take any steps that maybe make the escalation higher. So, what do you say about that?

MS. SINGH: Well, that's - something that I'll reiterate here is that we certainly don't want to see an escalation. We want to see tensions to de-escalate in the region. We are aware that the IDF is conducting operations in the West Bank, but again we don't have an understanding of what that exactly is. We're trying to learn more about their operation.

The United States supports Israel's right to defend itself against threats to its security. But as always, and as we will continue to say, it has to do so in a way that limits civilian casualties and limits damage to civilian infrastructure. And that's something that will always be imparted. And you've seen that message come through in the secretary's readouts with his counterpart. Yeah, yes.

Q: Thank you. I have a couple on Ukraine. Today, Ukrainian foreign minister said that the Patriot systems announced for Ukraine previously by the partners have not yet been delivered. Could you speak more to that? What causes a delay here?

MS. SINGH: A specific system by partners?

Q: Those Patriot systems that were announced for Ukraine previously.

MS. SINGH: There are Patriot systems operating within Ukraine, I would defer to them.

Q: Most recently [off-mic].

MS. SINGH: We have - I don't have anything to read out or announce on the Patriot system. We've committed to providing them to Ukraine. Look, we continue to work with them when it comes to providing security assistance. The Patriot is quite a big system that we are sourcing different materials and component pieces from other countries to help Ukraine.

I'd let Ukraine speak to that more specifically, but what I can tell you is they are getting a regular supply and support of security assistance from the United States and other partners that are a part of the UDCG. So, I'm just going to leave it at that. You had other questions?

Q: Are those deliveries, given the recent massive attacks from Russia -

MS. SINGH: -I think we've certainly expedited delivery of not just the Patriot, but other systems and capabilities to Ukraine, including reordering some orders by - that were designated for other countries. We've prioritized Ukraine. So, I'd actually push back on the fact that we haven't prioritized Ukraine as a country that needs it most. Noah?

Q: I want to follow up on the CMC question. Was there any DOD involvement in that meeting whether through preparation or actually during the call or the meeting itself?

MS. SINGH: On the CMC meeting?

Q: Yeah, the vice chair.

MS. SINGH: I mean that was an NSC led meeting, that was - the national security adviser traveled to meet his counterparts. We of course engage at our level, but I'm not aware of any DOD participation.

Q: And I know in the past there's been confusion about who the vice chair's counterpart is in the US, whether that's Secretary Austin or whether his counterpart is actually the Minister of National Defense there. Is this a sign that you think the Chinese are seeing the National Security Advisor as a more natural counterpart than the Secretary of Defense?

MS. SINGH: I think it's a sign, Noah, that we are having broader and more frequent communications with the PRC, which is a good thing. We want to see that happen. The fact that the national security adviser, and again, I don't want to speak on behalf of the White House, but the fact that he was able to travel, engage with his counterpart, other officials, part of the government, that's a good thing that opens up communications lines here, allows us to maintain those mil-to-mil ties as well. I'm just going to leave it at that. Yeah.

Q: Just a quick follow up, back on the F-16. Ukraine has acknowledged the loss of the F-16 and former Rep Adam Kinzinger has acknowledged that the pilot lost on Monday was one known by his call sign is Moonfish. He was one of two Ukrainian pilots that were actually very vocal here in the US pushing for fighter jets, going to training in Arizona. Is there any chance that this F-16 was brought down by friendly fire by one of the Ukrainian Patriot missiles, for example?

MS. SINGH: So again, I can't confirm the - I've seen the reporting, I just can't confirm it. I don't have that level of fidelity right now. So, in terms of if this pilot was killed and it was brought down by friendly fire, that I just can't speak to. That would really be something for the Ukrainians to speak to. The United States has not been asked to participate in any type of investigation to look into this incident.

So, our role in this is that we continue to train and equip the Ukrainian pilots that come here for training. But I just - when it comes to this particular incident, and I understand the frustration, but I just - I don't have anything more to offer on it.

Q: A follow on. With the F-16s that have been delivered, is there any sort of ongoing relationship or is the US tracking the F-16s, are you providing ongoing maintenance? Are they, you know?

MS. SINGH: It's not just the United States. You have to remember that there's an air capability coalition that has been stood up that the US is, of course, a part of. So, it's not just the United States providing support. Absolutely the US military is working with the Ukrainians on what they need, whether it be maintenance or - and that's telephonic or remote maintenance support and help.

In terms of tracking the F-16s, I'm just - I'm not going to get into that level of detail. But we are certainly working with the pilots and the Ukrainian military to make sure that they are able to fly and operate these F-16s in the best way possible and making sure that they're doing safely - making sure that they're doing so safely. And we're providing that support and continuing to train. Okay, thanks, everyone. I'll leave it at that.

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