Spy balloon flew through ‘radar gaps’ over Canada

Senior Canadian military officers at the North American Aerospace Defence Command say a suspected Chinese spy balloon passed near several military bases and through “radar gaps” during its flight over Canada.

Canadian and American officials won’t know exactly what the balloon was capable of — and what information it captured — until it is analyzed.

But Maj.-Gen. Paul Prevost of the Canadian Armed Forces strategic joint staff said it did not pass over particularly sensitive sites in Canada.

“It came down pretty much from Alaska down into Yukon and into central B.C.,” Prevost said.

“So pretty much between the border of Alberta and the coast. There was no Canadian Forces infrastructure of significance along its path.

Prevost made the comments before the House of Commons defence committee on Friday while appearing alongside the deputy commander of Norad, Lt.-Gen. Alain Pelletier.

It was the first opportunity parliamentarians have had to question senior military officers about the Chinese balloon and three other objects that have been shot from the skies over North America since Feb. 4.

That includes one shot down over central Yukon last Saturday, which Pelletier described as a “suspected balloon,” and another taken down over Lake Huron on Sunday.

Searches for those two objects as well as a third shot down off the coast of Alaska on Feb. 10 were launched, with the RCMP, Canadian military and Canadian Coast Guard all tapped to help. The search in Lake Huron has since been suspended.

Pelletier confirmed that the Chinese balloon, which was first detected entering Alaskan airspace on Jan. 28, travelled through Canada on Jan. 30 and 31 before re-entering the U.S., where its presence was publicly revealed.

“Norad monitored the flight path of the balloon for most of its flight path over Canada,” he said.

He added there were “some radar gaps throughout some of its flight path. … The high-altitude surveillance balloon of (the People’s Republic of China) came in proximity to some of the Canadian bases, but I cannot speak of the actual response of those Canadian bases.”

The two senior Canadian military officers were also grilled about the other three objects taken down after the Chinese balloon, and whether Canada’s aging CF-18s were capable of destroying them.

Some have questioned whether Canada’s fighter jets had the capability to destroy a small, slow-moving balloon at high altitude, particularly as their combat sensors and weapons are outdated.

Prevost said the CF-18s were carrying an older version of the type of missile that the F-22 used to destroy the balloon over Yukon, and that tests would have been conducted before a shot was taken.

“The F-18, we thought on that object, would have been able to attempt it,” he said. “It was going to be the first attempt from an F-18. And before taking that shot, there’s a few tests we would have been able to see if we had a good shot on it.”

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Norad monitored the flight path of the balloon for most of its flight path over Canada.

LT.-GEN. ALAIN PELLETIER DEPUTY COMMANDER OF NORAD