Chinese spy balloon seen in America, know why the security agency is not shooting it down

An alleged Chinese spy balloon has been spotted in US airspace, which is being monitored by the US Department of Defense. The US Defense Department has said it is monitoring a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon over the western state of Montana, underscoring mutual suspicions between the world’s two biggest economies. The incident took place shortly before Foreign Minister Antony Blinken’s visit to China. According to media reports, the size of this balloon is equal to three buses. So far there has been no comment about this from China.

Talking to reporters, the US official said that we do not know the exact capabilities of this particular balloon. However, he made it clear that the balloon has limited capacity to collect meaningful intelligence data. It is still flying in US airspace, which is closely monitored by NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command).

The US official has said that the US has raised the issue of balloon with China. For which the Foreign Department has summoned the Chinese Charge D’affaires. Along with this, President Joe Biden has been informed about this incident. The Biden administration has briefed the chairmen and ranking members of the intelligence committees of the House and Senate. The US government described the intrusion as “blatant disregard for American sovereignty”.

A senior defense official said that at the request of President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and top military officials considered shooting down the balloon. The US did get fighter jets, including F-22s, ready to shoot down the balloon, but the Pentagon recommended against it as its size would create a debris field large enough that it could have put people at risk in Montana. But sightings of the balloon have shown loopholes in the US’s air space security.

Furthermore, it was not clear what the military was doing to prevent it from collecting sensitive information or what would happen with the balloon if it was not shot down.
According to media reports, for decades, China has complained about US surveillance by spy planes near its territory, which has led to several conflicts. It has been said by the US officials that it is not yet clear why this balloon is flying in the US territory.

Posted By Uday India