US military shoots down suspected Chinese surveillance balloon – NBC Chicago

• The US military shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon on Saturday.
• The FAA issued a ground shutdown in parts of North Carolina and South Carolina on Saturday afternoon “to support the Department of Defense in a national security effort.”
• The high-altitude balloon was initially spotted over Billings, Montana on Wednesday.
• China’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the balloon was a civilian meteorological airship for scientific research that had veered off course. This claim was summarily dismissed by US officials.

The US military on Saturday shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that had been transiting the country for several days.

In a statement on Saturday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said a US fighter jet assigned to US Northern Command successfully brought down the balloon under the direction of President Joe Biden. Lloyd said the balloon was being used by the People’s Republic of China “in an attempt to monitor strategic sites on the American continent”.

Biden on Wednesday gave permission to take the ball down as soon as it could be done “without undue risk to American lives below the path of the ball,” Lloyd said.

“As directed by the President, the Department of Defense has developed options for safely descending the balloon over our territorial waters, while closely monitoring its trajectory and intelligence gathering activities,” a- he said in the statement.

Television footage shows the high-altitude balloon, estimated to be the size of three school buses, exploding in a small explosion before falling into the water. Officials will attempt to recover the debris, according to NBC News.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop in parts of North Carolina and South Carolina and closed additional airspace on Saturday afternoon. The departures were halted “to support the Department of Defense in a national security effort,” a representative told CNBC. Normal operations resumed later in the afternoon, the FAA said on Twitter.

Biden broke his silence about the ball for the first time on Saturday, telling a group of reporters: “We’ll deal with it.” Later that afternoon, he told reporters he had asked officials to “take him down” on Wednesday, but wanted to wait until he was as safe as possible.

“They got it down, and I want to commend our Airmen who did that,” Biden said. “And we’ll have more to report on that a bit later.”

The balloon was originally spotted over Billings, Montana on Wednesday. Defense officials said the Pentagon considered shooting down the balloon earlier this week, but decided against it after briefing Biden. The decision was made in consultation with senior leaders, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

Biden concluded that the United States would not shoot down the balloon because debris from it could cause ground damage, a Pentagon official said. Additionally, any information gathered by the balloon would have “limited additive value” compared to Chinese spy satellites.

China’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the balloon was a civilian meteorological airship for scientific research that had veered off course. She called the incident “force majeure” for which she was not responsible.

This claim was summarily dismissed by US officials. A senior Pentagon official told reporters late Thursday that the object was clearly a surveillance balloon that was flying over sensitive sites to gather intelligence.

“We have taken note of the PRC’s statement of regret, but the presence of this balloon in our airspace is a clear violation of our sovereignty as well as international law and it is unacceptable that this has happened,” the official said. responsible.

The presence of the balloon prompted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone indefinitely what was to be an already tense trip to China on Friday.

The visit was aimed at boosting communication and cooperation between the two countries amid heightened tensions over China’s growing military aggression against Taiwan and closer alliances with the Russian president. Vladimir Poutine.

Instead, Blinken told China’s Central Foreign Office director Wang Yi in a phone call Friday that the balloon was an “irresponsible act and a clear violation of U.S. sovereignty and international law.” that undermined the purpose of the trip,” according to one reading of the discussion.

—CNBC’s Christina Wilkie and Amanda Macias contributed to this report