US fighter jet shoots down suspected Chinese spy balloon with missile

AFP

A US navy fighter jet has shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina, every week after it first entered US airspace and triggered a dramatic – and public – spying saga.

President Joe Biden mentioned he had issued an order on Wednesday to take down the balloon, however the Pentagon had really useful ready till it may very well be executed over open water to safeguard civilians from particles crashing to Earth from hundreds of meters above business air site visitors.

“They successfully took it down, and I want to compliment our aviators who did it,” Biden mentioned.

Multiple fighter and refueling plane had been concerned within the mission, however just one – an F-22 fighter jet from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia – took the shot at 2:39 pm (1939 GMT), utilizing a single AIM-9X supersonic, heat-seeking, air-to-air missile, a senior US navy official mentioned.

China strongly condemned the navy strike on an airship that it says was used for meteorological and different scientific functions, and which it mentioned had strayed into US airspace “completely accidentally” – claims flatly dismissed by US officers.

“China had clearly asked the US to handle this properly in a calm, professional and restrained manner,” China’s international ministry mentioned in a press release. “The US had insisted on using force, obviously overreacting.”

The balloon was shot down about six nautical miles off the US coast of the Atlantic Ocean, over comparatively shallow water, doubtlessly aiding efforts to recuperate parts of the Chinese surveillance tools over the approaching days, US officers mentioned.

One US navy official mentioned the particles subject was unfold out over 11 km of ocean, and a number of US navy vessels had been on website.

The downing of the balloon got here shortly after the US authorities ordered a halt to flights out and in of three airports in South Carolina – Wilmington, Myrtle Beach and Charleston – because of what it mentioned on the time was an undisclosed “national security effort”. Flights resumed on Saturday afternoon.

While Saturday’s shootdown concludes the navy dimension to the spying saga, Biden is prone to proceed to face intense political scrutiny from Republican opponents in Congress who argue he did not act shortly sufficient.

A senior administration official mentioned after capturing down the balloon, the US authorities spoke instantly with China in regards to the motion. The State Department additionally briefed allies and companions world wide, the official mentioned.

Questions stay about how a lot data China could have gathered in the course of the balloon’s trek throughout the United States.

The balloon entered US airspace in Alaska on January 28 earlier than shifting into Canadian airspace on January 30. It then re-entered US airspace over northern Idaho on January 31, a US protection official mentioned. Once it crossed over US land, it didn’t return to open waters, making a shootdown tough.

US officers didn’t publicly disclose the balloon’s presence over the United States till Thursday.

“It’s clear the Biden administration had hoped to hide this national security failure from Congress and the American people,” mentioned US Representative Mike Rogers, a Republican who leads the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee.

Biden’s emphasis on Saturday that – days in the past – he ordered the balloon shot down as quickly as attainable may very well be an effort to reply to such critics.

Former President Donald Trump, Biden’s potential rival within the 2024 election, referred to as earlier this week for the balloon to be shot down, and has sought to painting himself as stronger than Biden on China. The US relationship with China is prone to be a significant theme of the 2024 presidential race.

A Reuters photographer who witnessed the shootdown mentioned a stream got here from a jet and hit the balloon, however there was no explosion. It then started to fall.

The Pentagon assesses that the balloon was a part of a fleet of Chinese spy balloons. On Friday, it mentioned one other Chinese balloon was flying over Latin America.

“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 mentioned.

The suspected spy balloon prompted Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone a go to to China this week that had been anticipated to start out on Friday.

The postponement of Blinken’s journey, which had been agreed to in November by Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, was a blow to those that noticed it as an overdue alternative to stabilise an more and more fractious relationship between the 2 nations.