Balloon a treasure trove for US spies
THE US is recovering debris from the downed Chinese balloon in the Atlantic for analysis by intelligence experts – and there is no plan to give the remains back to Beijing.
China claims the balloon was merely an errant weather observation aircraft with no military purpose, but the US says it was a sophisticated, high-altitude spying vehicle.
“They have recovered some remnants off the surface of the sea and weather conditions did not permit much undersea surveillance of the debris field,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
US personnel will “in the coming days be able to get down there and take a better look at what’s on the bottom of the ocean, but it has just started,” he added.
General Glen VanHerck, head of the US Northern Command, separately told reporters that a US Navy ship was in the process of mapping the debris field, which is expected to measure about 1500m by 1500m.
The balloon itself was up to 60m tall and carried a payload weighing several thousand pounds that was roughly the size of a regional jet aircraft.
Mr Kirby said there was no intention to send the pieces back. “I know of no such intention to return it,” he said.
General VanHerck said the balloon debris would be carefully studied. “I don’t know where the debris is going to go for a final analysis, but I will tell you that certainly the intel community along with the law enforcement community that works this under counterintelligence will take a good look at it,” he said.
The Biden administration is painting the incident as a provocative move by China that turned into something of an own goal.
According to Mr Kirby, measures were taken to ensure the balloon’s instruments were “mitigated” in their ability to spy, while “at the same time increasing and improving our ability to collect intelligence and information from it”.