The Unexpected Manoeuvre
Chinese officials are accused of using a surveillance balloon that first entered US airspace on January 28 north of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. At the time, American officials thought there was a significant probability the balloon would continue north through sparsely populated areas.
However, the balloon made an unexpected manoeuvre two days later: it slowed down, nearly lingered, over Canada. Then, according to officials, it made a U-turn and started moving south on a new route that would eventually take it over the US state of Idaho.
The suspected Chinese spy balloon was shot down by US authorities (Photo: Reuters file)
Under the condition of anonymity, a US official stated, “That’s when we understood this was different.”
Chinese spy balloons have already entered US soil, but this one’s manoeuvring and directing towards vital US locations, according to sources, alarmed the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).
In Montana, a state that shares a border with Idaho, the US maintains a military installation with nuclear missile silos.
The emergence of the Chinese balloon sparked political unrest in the US and forced Antony Blinken, the senior US diplomat, to postpone a trip to Beijing that was scheduled for February 5–6 and was intended to help both nations’ tense relations.
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden requested military options to address the escalating but unnamed situation.
On Wednesday, when the balloon was flying over Montana, military officials devised a plan to shoot it down.
Planning was so far along that Billings Airport issued a ground stop on Wednesday to clear the area’s airspace while the military prepared F-22 fighter jets in case Biden gave the order to shoot down the balloon.
A senior US defence source told reporters on Thursday that “even with those protective steps taken it was the judgement of our military commanders that we didn’t drive the danger down low enough, therefore we didn’t take the shot.”
Under the condition of anonymity, a second US military officer claimed that the debris would have landed within a radius of at least seven miles (11 km), posing a fatal risk to Americans and possibly harming infrastructure.
Officials came to the conclusion that it would be best and safest to bring the balloon down over water, which may also aid US intelligence in retrieving the Chinese equipment for analysis.
Balloon Maneuvers
Which locations the Chinese balloon examined have not been disclosed by the US authorities. It appeared to pass through important American locations like Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, which houses U.S. Strategic Command, which is in command of the nation’s nuclear assets, and Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, which is in control of 150 intercontinental ballistic missile silos.
Additionally, it looked to pass above Missouri’s Whiteman Air Force Base, home to the Air Force’s B-2 bomber.
The balloon was allowed to stay in the winds above particular regions, according to a US official who spoke on the record but requested anonymity.
“We observed it do that. It lingered at specific locations. Left and right it went. It moved through the jet stream while we watched it. That was how it was functioning “The official stated that the vessel had rudders and propellers.
An administration official said that Blinken decided on Thursday to formally postpone his trip to China after sightings along the balloon’s route and growing public outrage. The Pentagon predicted that the balloon would continue to soar over the United States for several more days on Friday.
Ready to Shoot
But after making those statements in the open, the balloon picked up speed and moved closer to South Carolina’s shore.
On Friday evening, while he was in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden authorised a plan to shoot the balloon down, launching 24-hour military planning for the mission.
Based on the balloon’s trajectory, the weather, and its anticipated “payload” of sensors, NASA examined and evaluated the debris field as a US military action took place on land and at sea.
At a height of between 60,000 and 65,000 feet (18–20 miles), it pierced the balloon, causing the payload to plummet into the water. As expected, the debris field covered about seven miles (11 km), although the majority of it fell into relatively shallow water, only 47 feet (14 metres) deep.
Regarding the recovery operation in the Atlantic, a military official noted, “That will make it fairly easy, actually.”
The US government informed China of the mission’s conclusion, and the State Department told American allies.
China denounced the measure, saying it was “clearly overreacted” on the part of America.