Montana senator says there is ‘concern’ Chinese spy balloon infiltrated US to target missile fields
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Montana Senator Steve Daines fears the Chinese spy balloon floating over the US was targeting the state’s nuclear missile fields before it was discovered hovering over the northern United States in recent days.
Daines sent a letter to Defense Department Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday demanding information about the pattern of flight and the possible agenda of the ‘hostile’ country.
While the Pentagon opposed President Joe Biden’s request to shoot it out of the sky, Daines requested an urgent security briefing because he fears the state’s air force base and US ICBM silos. are in danger.
“It is vital to establish the flight path of this balloon, any compromised US national security assets, and any ground-based IT or telecommunications infrastructure within the US that this spy balloon was using,” Daines wrote.
Senator Steve Daines requests a security briefing on the Chinese spy balloon that has been floating over Montana.
The balloon is seen in the skies over Montana. Fefense officials confirmed that the huge balloon has been hovering over the US for a few days.
Daines insisted that the Defense Department take balloon surveillance of the balloon seriously, especially as it hovers over Montana.
“Montana plays a vital role in national security by hosting nuclear missile silos at Malmstrom AFB,” Daines wrote.
“Given the increased hostility and destabilization around the world directed at the United States and our allies, I am alarmed that this spy balloon was able to infiltrate the airspace of our country and Montana.”
Furthermore, he pleaded with Austin to take the lead for the “safety and security” of Americans.
“There is no higher priority for your administration than the safety of the American people and it is imperative that your administration assure them of that fact at this time,” Daines concluded.
Daines insisted that the Department of Defense take the balloon surveillance balloon seriously.
On Wednesday, Biden suggested the high-altitude balloon should be shot down, after civilians on a commercial airliner spotted and reported it, US officials said. The Wall Street Journal.
The Pentagon disagreed with the president and feared civilian casualties if the giant balloon, the size of three buses, explodes in midair.
“The United States government has detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States at this time,” said Pentagon spokesman Brig. General Pat Ryder told NBC News.
‘We continue to track and monitor closely.’
The F-22 Raptors were dispatched from Nellis Air Force Base in southern Nevada but are not believed to have been involved with the balloon; however, his activities led to a ground stop at Billings airport, with air traffic controllers citing a ‘military special’. mission.’
sources said nbc news that there were concerns about possible debris from shooting the balloon out of the sky. ABC News reported that it was as big as three buses and had what they called ‘a technology bay’.
It was flying over Billings, Montana on Wednesday, NBC reported. Montana is home to underground fields of Minuteman III ICBM silos.
China is believed to be flying a surveillance balloon over the United States, and Joe Biden (left) wanted to shoot it down. In the photo on the right is President Xi Jinping.
A senior defense official said the United States “has been tracking it for some time.”
They added: “And we’ve had custody of it the entire time it’s been over US airspace, it entered continental US airspace a couple of days ago.”
It’s not the first time spy balloons have been seen over the United States, but this one has been sticking around longer than usual.
Chinese spy balloons have been seen over Hawaii and Guam in the past, officials said Thursday night.
The balloon’s current flight path takes it over ‘a number of sensitive sites’, a source said CNN — but the official said it does not present a significant intelligence-gathering risk.
Map showing the areas of the six Minuteman Missile Wings in the central and northern Great Plains. Black areas indicate deactivated missile wings, red areas indicate active missile wings
The Pentagon said that once it was detected, they acted to prevent the theft of sensitive information.
“Once the balloon was detected, the US government took immediate action to protect against the collection of sensitive information,” they said, without specifying what actions they took.
A defense source said: “We know exactly where this balloon is, exactly what it’s going on about.”
“And we are taking steps to be more vigilant so we can mitigate any foreign intelligence risk.”
The high-altitude balloon was seen over Billings, Montana, on Wednesday after having flown over the Aleutian Islands, across Canada and into Montana.
The Pentagon said the balloon is still over the US, but did not say where.
In a sign of the seriousness with which the incursion was being taken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin gathered his military chiefs in an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss the balloon. He was traveling through the Philippines at the time.
Lloyd Austin, the defense secretary, gathered his top advisers and military chiefs on Wednesday to discuss the spy balloon.
Present were Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; General Van Herck, commander of NORTHCOM/NORAD, and other combatant commanders, NBC reported.
They discussed dropping it from the sky, but decided it was too risky to recommend.
They decided not to “take kinetic action because of the risk to the safety of people on the ground from the possible debris field.”
A defense source explained: ‘We have to do risk-reward here.
‘So the first question is whether it poses a threat, a physical kinetic threat to people in the United States or on the national territory of the United States. Our assessment is no.
‘Does it represent a threat to civil aviation? Our assessment is no.
‘Does he pose a significantly greater threat on the intelligence side? Our best assessment at this point is that it doesn’t.
“So given that risk, that profile, we assessed that the risk of taking it down, even if the probability was low in a sparsely populated area of debris falling and injuring someone or damaging property, it wasn’t worth it and that was the recommendation of our military commanders.
Pentagon leaders presented the options to Biden on Wednesday, NBC said.
“We currently assess that this balloon has limited added value from an intelligence gathering perspective beyond what the PRC can do by other means,” the senior defense official said.
“However, we are taking all necessary measures to protect against the collection of sensitive information by foreign intelligence.”
The official said the balloon does not pose a threat to civil aviation due to its altitude.
The United States is confident the balloon was launched by China, the source told NBC News, raising the issue with Beijing.
The complaint was directed at the Chinese government “through multiple channels both here in DC and in Beijing.”
It is not clear if China admitted that the balloon was its own.
If the balloon risk changes, the United States “will have options to deal with this balloon,” a source told CNN.
‘We have communicated to [Chinese officials] the seriousness with which we take this issue,’ said the source.
“But we have made it clear that we will do whatever it takes to protect our people and our homeland.”
The brazen move comes days before Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to travel to the Chinese capital for high-level talks.