The U.S. military has shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon.
The suspected Chinese surveillance balloon, which travelled a southeast diagonal route from Idaho to the Carolinas for five days, had moved off the coast and was over the Atlantic Ocean by Saturday midday.
The Federal Aviation Administration had temporarily suspended departures and arrivals at airports in Wilmington, North Carolina and in Charleston and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in support of the Department of Defense’s national security efforts.
It’s appears that a Missile fired from one of the F-22s is what was used to shoot down the Chinese High-Altitude Surveillance Balloon. pic.twitter.com/Cn1IkplsXc
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) February 4, 2023
The high-altitude balloon was first observed over Billings, Montana on Wednesday. The Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that the balloon was a civilian weather airship meant for scientific research, but it had gone off course.
Since Tuesday, President Biden had been in discussions with the Pentagon regarding military options after being alerted by the Pentagon that a potentially hostile aerial object had entered continental American airspace near Idaho.
By Wednesday, the balloon was hovering over Montana.
Military leaders initially advised against shooting down the balloon due to concerns over potential harm to civilians and infrastructure while it was still over land. However, the extended presence of the balloon over American territory prompted strong objections from senior U.S. officials to their Chinese counterparts, and resulted in the cancellation of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s planned visit to China.
This reinforces the perception the Chinese have of Biden as being weak. That balloon was tracked all the way across the Pacific and should have been shot down as soon as it was identified for what it was. The excuse that they were worried about civilians on the ground is bogus; Montana is huge and very sparsely populated and the balloon could have been safely dispensed with. Instead, the Chinese blatantly violated sovereign U.S. airspace and Biden did…. nothing. Do you think the Chinese would let a US balloon fly across the entire breadth of China taking pics of their… Read more »
Well said.
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If it was indeed tracked in the Pacific even before it hit the Alaskan coast then why on Earth was it not shot down over that State even before it crossed the Yukon and British Columbia and then entering into Montana. Many Questions to be answered here.
Seems useful to make a show of indignance to wake the public up. Imdeed why not just deal with it & why an F22 with an expensive Sidewinder when any warplane with a few cannon rounds would down it?
BBC news heading towards an hour+ on nothing else.
Its a hell of an altitude to climb to. If the balloon is at 80k and an F-22 max out at 65k then M61 rounds wont do where as an AIM-9X will make that 15k climb.
I heard the balloon was at 20k – 30k feet.
Agree it travelled over some really sparsely populated areas unless US military were worried about a biological or chemical hazard? Otherwise agree should have been shot down much earlier
I guess shooting it down over the wilds of Alaska could, depending on the terrain, have made recovery of the payload v difficult. Over water was the best choice.
No they would have shot it down, and it does show that Biden is seen as weak (and feckless). Why is he still president?
Because they have elections in the US.
Short of the VP and most of the cabinet deciding the Command in Chief can’t fulfil his duties, he’ll stay that way. He doesn’t even have to fulfil them well. State of the Union, rubber stamping the appointment and acceptance of ambassadors, maybe pardoning a turkey or two on Thanksgiving and he’s pretty much unshiftable.
Err “democracy”, that’s why Biden is still president. His elected term of office has yet to end.
And what information exactly do you think that balloon could have collected that they don’t already have? They have spy satellites, and intelligence services, they know everything about our nuclear force’s. Its a game that’s been played out for decades. And now it’s been shot down over the sea, they have a better chance of salvaging some of it, and get a better look. Big load of fuss about nothing. International politics is a tricky game, and what might seem obvious to me and you, is different again when dealing for foreign governments.
Agreed mate.
Probable lead for USAF participation in examination/possible exploitation of mission package will be NASIC, HQ @ WPAFB. Other US organizations will seek representation in process. Uncertain re intelligence value to be gleaned, but certainly some nugget of info would be feasible. Reasonably certain final report will be circulated to ‘5 eyes’ members, not certain whether any other members will seek direct participation.
How does it show him as weak?
Biden IS weak. Telling Putin if he invaded Ulraine the US wouldn’t get involved(better leaving it ambiguous, better still matching every threat in kind. Boris said the same rubbish), pulling out of Afghanistan with empty Taliban promises. Trump is far worse, being a Putin fan boy & threat to democracy.
Didn’t Boris also state that, who also supported Putin in Crimea? Everyone at the time was worried about ww3 and Russia steam rolling Ukraine. Hindsight is a great thing. Admittedly if NATO as an alliance hadnt been weak, it would have stationed a big force in Ukraine under the banner of a training mission and the war wouldnt have happened. Even the UK alone doing it would have stopped Russia, but goes back to scared of ww3. If I was the PM in Jan 2021, I doubt I would have risked it by moving forces into Ukraine.
Come on, be realistic here. If the US really thought it was a threat they would have shot it down, the second it crossed into US air space they had full right to deal with it. Instead they let the story build and then made a public thing of shooting it down with their most flashy jet. It’s not about weakness or otherwise it’s about PR. Admittedly doing it earlier would have looked better. I assume they wanted to hack into the signal and test the Chinese electric warfare defenses. Would guess they were debating bringing it down in one… Read more »
Undoubtedly the USAF’s Sixteenth Air Force was tasked to collect all the information it could on the balloon. It’s not surprising that an F-22 from Langley was chosen to shoot it down over the Atlantic since there are major Sixteenth Air Force units at Langley and UIS Navy recovery units at Norfolk. What the US did makes a lot of sense from a military intelligence viewpoint; perhaps not so much from a pr standpoint.
Interesting detail: Account stated call signs for the two F-22s were Frank01 and Frank02, evidently in tribute to Frank Luke Jr., 2Lt, ASSC, WW I ace, aka “AZ Balloon Buster,” credited w/ 19 aerial victories, including 14 German surveillance balloons and awarded MOH posthumously for exploits. Namesake of Luke AFB, of course. Exhibit w/in NMUSAF, WPAFB. Recommend to anyone passing through SW OH w/ interest in military aviation.
Bidens scared of his own shadow. When ukraine kicked off all he could cry at the thought of taking on Russia was “that would be world war 3”. A stronger US president might have killed the whole thing off before it even started by leaving mad vlad under no illusions the world would not stand by and just watch. Look at his hesitation in supplying tanks. At supplying jets. He likes to portray himself as leading from the front, sure he can donate bigger numbers by virtue of being a superpower, but the US ain’t leading anything, they are just… Read more »
Except the pentagon has stated that this practice by the Chinese of flying these balloons over the US has been going on for years including during the last administration.
But imagine if that 90 foot long structure of solar panels, batteries, radio transmitters etc etc had by chance hit someone on the ground.
Extremely low chances, but the political fallout of people being killed because the President was ‘trigger happy’ would have been immense.
So would you like trumpski in power instead? the very man who congregated Putin on the invasion of Ukraine calling it a genius move 🙄
Who said anything about Trump? This is on Biden’s watch and he owns it.
Turns out there were 3 balloon flights when Trump was president and he hid that info from the public.
Biden gave the order to shoot it down on Wednesday, it was the USAF that deemed it should be shot down over water.
One reason might be that it offered the US an intelligence gathering opportunity as they could easily monitor transmissions from the balloons payload.
Ummm, there would be a massive stink by the US security establishment and the armed forces if it really were any threat. And yet there’s only been messaging that they are fine with how it has been handled.
The only ones making a stink are the Republicans and the Chinese…
And despite all that the Chinese are still acting all pissy. Pray tell, how that makes Biden look weak?
Surprised at the fuss made over this considering the frequent & widespread overflights of Russia/USSR & China since the 1950s by UK & USA. Though any increasing awareness of the CCP threat to us is welcome. Just deal with the baloons & make Russia & China starkly aware we’re not going to convenianty put up with any further agression or threats. Anything less is risking the future of free deomcracy worldwide. We’ve made life too easy for Putin & the CCP for too long. Naive is being too generous. BBC news has covered nothing else for the last 40 mins.… Read more »
About bloody time. Shame it wasn’t done before it had passed over the entire bleedin country…
Or, you know, they knew it wasn’t a threat and an opportunity to gather some intel on how Chinese systems work?
Only the Chinese and Republicans are upset with how this has been handled.
Hit it with an ASRAAM I’d say from that range. Missile would probably have torn through the loon making more than 1 hole.
I am surprise this wasn’t laser’Ed. We have the supposed flying lasers that can heat things up, ground based ones as well. And none of that was tried first?
O/T: the media are reporting that the PoW’s driveshafts are mis-aligned and have been since construction. If true, that is a very serious flaw in the manufacturing process.
If it’s a manufacturing fault, the Aircraft Carrier Alliance can pay for it.
More OT
Good. At last the red tops and broadsheets papers are paying attention to this and it will get into general population and finally governments will hopefully do something about it!
I do agree entirely with the sentiment however our fast air would make a significant difference. Understating the effect the RAF would have in this war would be foolish.
Can’t fire your thousands of shells if they can’t get them to the front line. Supply routes and ammo depots would be erased from existence.
It would be a different hot war with UK/NATO.
This has been in my head instead.
I have read a lot of the posts regarding not shooting it down displays weakness. Well if I were in charge I’d probably ask a few questions before hitting the trigger. 1. Is it transmitting any data either by upstream or down stream or is it a dumb device designed to be retrieved later once it has passed back over International waters. Don’t forget that is how the US used to do using C130’s. 2. Could it have any form of explosive self destruct device or other harmful systems on board ? 3. Is it under any control or just… Read more »
Maybe the only intelligence it was supposed to gather was on its own demise.
Why on earth would they need to use a balloon of all things? Can’t satelites just do the spying?
They can. But their orbits are known, so sensitive items would be brought inside. Maybe they thought this would be missed? And Sats time on station is limited, this can remain eyes on longer. They will also be dirt cheap to use compared to satellites and can be launched easily.
I laugh, lots, saves screaming. What we have for “leadership” in the west is a lamentable sign of the plunge into woke mediocrity. Soundbite “politicians”. I mean forget about Biden’s links with the Chicoms, his appalling son’s laptop, sexual activities, and dodgy business dealings that include daddy apparently…Let’s forget about Fauci, gain of function, and Covid and Wuhan. No, let’s celebrate decisive action with an assertive Potus shooting down a balloon. That, after it has spent days flying over the silos sending God, knows what back to Chicom intel. Then there is the little proxy war in Europe that is… Read more »
People like you are insufferable and add nothing to the discourse.
Just bog off.
“Do one yerself wee man” 😂
I don’t get the anti Biden talk.
He comes across as weak, but is that not better than reckless?
I’m no supporter of his, btw, over his attitude to Brexit and NI. That said I’m no fan of Trump either.
Statesmanship appears in a sad state of affairs at the moment. That and military cuts emboldens other countries like Russia and China.
I think the anti-Biden views are fully justified, as are the anti-Boris views. Add Macron and a fair few others. At least the socialist Jacinda jumped ship. Perceived weakness suits the likes of Putin and Xi. Like them or loathe, the likes of Reagan and Thatcher had a pair. You are right, there is no statesmanship. The greased piglet THINKS he is Churchill. Trump is dangerous. The French Canadian is a WEF shill. Only Modi strikes me as having any leadership skills atmo. His refusal to be dictated to as to what stance India should take is admirable. It is… Read more »
Oh, and who would be a good leader then?
Ron or Rand Paul for a start. Now be a good little sausage and stop being so triggered, scroll on past if you don’t like it dude.
Was this balloon dirigible ? If so, how did that work exactly ?
I used to be an expert on balloons when I was five years old, but I’ve got a bit rusty since then.
For those who wanted the balloon shot down ASAP, often seen as a typical gung ho shoot before thinking US reaction.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/why-shooting-down-chinas-spy-balloon-over-the-u-s-is-more-complicated-than-it-seems
Some other interesting news from a Sky news article which also explains the difficulties to shoot down such a high slow moving object, but also that the area of the Atlantic it has been shot down over is also pretty shallow water, and they have a good weather window for a few days to run a salvage operation. Nothing is as simple as it seems, and a huge amount of thought will have gone into this before deploying those two F22’s.
Yes I read that mate, 400 foot of water I recall.
I think I read that the water depth is in the region of 40/50 ft, not 400, which will make using divers a whole lot easier. It can be very shallow off the Carolina’s
Ah, I added a zero too many. Even easier then.
That’s the one 👍
14m ≠ 400 foot.
Nowhere (with a good reputation) has it been reported as 400 feet.
Aside from the physical challenges that the article speculated on I was against shooting it down for the other reasons. A few post mentioned that this made Biden look weak but I think caving to the public uproar was a mistake as it basically gives China or any other country an excuse (They already have the right) to shoot down any balloon or similar aircraft, military or scientific going forward. This sets a bad precedent where every country can just go all wild wild west and shoot down other countries aircraft without seeking some diplomatic solution first. What’s to stop… Read more »
I’m interested in the details concerning the previous ones too now.
Not sure what the big deal. Chinese spying is nothing new, and they arent the only ones ie sats, 5 eyes etc… it’s a long established game played by all behind closed doors. Except that that the biggest take from this is how clumbsy China is. Whatever spying benefit (if there even was any, which i seriously doubt) has completely backfired, this incident has played around the world and portrayed China as the guilty party. I think the US were wise to let this play out and get the media coverage and then at the end they showed they can… Read more »
Exactly. It was being jammed the whole time anyway. Shooting it down over shallow water means they can recover the surveillance pod largely intact and after they observed its capabilities and activities. Terrbily foolish comments on the article attacking Biden as Europe would PLAINLY be facing an existential threat if Trump was still in office.
It’s classic CCP playbook, when under pressure for their Covid miss-handling they go quiet for a while and then hit back with an unexpected act of provocation designed to cause division and put the US on their back foot.
Should’ve used an ICBM on it.
I no longer want birthday balloons on my birthday. I want spy balloons, they sound way cooler.
On a lighter note…Best comments I have seen on the whole saga came from Mark Hamill
“Thats not a Balloon …its a space station!”
and after the F22 hit it with a Sidewinder,
“Great Shot kid …that was one in a million!”
Hurf hurf … deploy the frikken laser …
With all the high tech sci-fi kit that the USA allegedly have one would have thought it would have been a perfick opportunity to demonstrate some of their toys ‘