US military aircraft shoots down Chinese ‘spy’ balloon over east coast

The balloon was shot down about six nautical miles off the U.S. coast, over relatively shallow water, potentially aiding efforts to recover elements of the Chinese surveillance equipment in the coming days, officials said.

The United States government on February 4 shot down a high altitude service balloon belonging to China that was suspected to be spying over strategic sites in the US, as per a statement from Secretary of Defence Lloyd J Austin.

A US military aircraft successfully brought down shot the suspected spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina, in an area that didn't risk harming citizens with debris.

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The alleged spy saga has worsened US-China relations just ahead of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's scheduled visit to China, which was first postponed and then consequently cancelled.

Turn of events

US President Joe Biden in a statement said that he had ordered the balloon be taken down on February 1, but waited on suggestion of the Pentagon that it could be done over open water  to safeguard civilians.

"They successfully took it down, and I want to complement our aviators who did it,” Biden said.

As per Austin's statement, the balloon "which was being used by the PRC in an attempt to surveil strategic sites in the continental United States, was brought down above US territorial waters. On Wednesday, President Biden gave his authorization to take down the surveillance balloon as soon as the mission could be accomplished without undue risk to American lives under the balloon's path."

"After careful analysis, US military commanders determined downing the balloon while over land posed an undue risk to people across a wide area due to the size and altitude of the balloon and its surveillance payload. In accordance with the President's direction, the Department of Defense developed options to take down the balloon safely over our territorial waters, while closely monitoring its path and intelligence collection activities," it added.

Austin also thanked the Canadian government for its coordination, and support. "We thank Canada for its contribution to tracking and analysis of the balloon through NORAD as it transited North America. Today's deliberate and lawful action demonstrates that President Biden and his national security team will always put the safety and security of the American people first while responding effectively to the PRC's unacceptable violation of our sovereignty," he added.

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The operation

Multiple fighter and refuelling aircraft were involved in the mission, but only one — an F-22 fighter jet from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia — took the shot at 2:39 pm (1939 GMT), using a single AIM-9X supersonic, heat-seeking, air-to-air missile, a senior US military official told Reuters.

The operation happened after the government momentarily halted flights in and out of three regional airports in Charleston, Myrtle Beach and Wilmington, for "national security effort.”

The balloon was shot down about six nautical miles off the US coast, over relatively shallow water, potentially aiding efforts to recover elements of the Chinese surveillance equipment in the coming days, officials said. There is no official word yet on how much information China may have gathered from the balloon, the Reuters report added.

The balloon saga

The “spy” balloon entered US airspace in Alaska on January 28, moved into Canadian airspace on January 30 and then re-entered US airspace over Idaho on January 31, a defense official told Reuters. However US officials did not make the balloon public knowledge till February 2.

The US notified China about shoot down on February 4 and condemned the balloon as a "clear violation” of US sovereignty. But China on its part said maintains the balloon is an airship used for civilian meteorological and other scientific purposes.

China’s foreign ministry sough to frame the “stray balloon” as a force majeure accident and accused Biden and US politicians of taking advantage of the situation.

More spy balloons around?

As per the Pentagon’s assessment, the balloon over the US was “part of a fleet of Chinese spy balloons”, adding that another one was spotted over Latin America on February 3.

"Over the past several years, Chinese balloons have previously been spotted over countries across five continents, including in East Asia, South Asia and Europe,” the US official added.

(With inputs from Reuters)