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The shooting down of the Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday marked the first time the US military has shot down a foreign plane on US soil since World War II.
A military fighter jet shot down the hovering drone as it flew six nautical miles over the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday, ending a dramatic saga that highlighted worsening Sino-US relations.
“We successfully shot it down and I want to congratulate our Airmen who did it,” President Joe Biden said. Biden said he had issued an order on Wednesday to shoot down the balloon, but the Pentagon had recommended waiting until it could be done over open sea.
Not since a Japanese air raid on US Navy ships in Alaska’s Dutch Harbor in July 1942, when a fighter plane was shot down, has the military been forced to destroy a foreign air asset.
US Navy personnel inspecting the downed Akutan Zeo in June 1942
The incident has come to be known as Akutan Zero. On June 4, 1942, a Mitsubishi A6M Zero Model 21 fighter plane was shot down by flak from the 206th Coastal Artillery Regiment defending the port.
A shot severed the plane’s oil line, forcing 19-year-old pilot Tadayoshi Koga to make a forced landing in waters around the Akutan Islands in Alaska. Koga died on impact, possibly from a broken neck.
Meanwhile, the plane was recovered intact, and its discovery was described as an “almost priceless prize for the United States” as it revealed priceless Japanese military secrets.
The Japanese pilots had been ordered to destroy any downed Zero fighters, but those on the mission decided against doing so in this case because they did not know if their comrade was still alive.
Between 1942 and 1945, the US Navy Bureau of Aeronautics conducted extensive tests on the jet, establishing its range, armor, and fuselage structure. It was destroyed during a training accident in 1945, according to the History Channel.
Less than a year earlier, American pilots George Welch, then 23, and Kenneth Taylor, then 21, got off the ground during the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor and were able to successfully shoot down at least six Japanese planes.
In total, five other Air Force aircraft were able to take off and help push back the Japanese forces.
For his efforts, Taylor received the Purple Heart for bravery, while Welch was nominated for the Medal of Honor, but was allegedly denied because he took off without proper authorization, according to history.com.
The secrets revealed by Akutan Zero helped turn the tide of the war in the Pacific in favor of the United States.
Less than a year earlier, American pilots George Welch, then 23, and Kenneth Taylor, then 21, got off the ground during the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor and were able to successfully shoot down at least six Japanese planes.
In total, five other Air Force aircraft were able to take off and help push back the Japanese forces.
For his efforts, Taylor received the Purple Heart for bravery, while Welch was nominated for the Medal of Honor, but was allegedly denied because he left without proper authorization.
In shooting down the Chinese balloon, several combat and refueling aircraft were involved in the mission, but only one, an F-22 fighter jet, fired, using a single AIM-9X missile, a senior US military official said. USA
The shooting down came shortly after the US government ordered a halt to flights in and out of three South Carolina airports, Wilmington, Myrtle Beach and Charleston, due to what it said at the time was a ” national security effort” undisclosed.
Flights resumed on Saturday afternoon.
The balloon first entered a US identification zone on January 28, entered Canadian airspace three days later, and then re-entered US airspace on January 31, an official said. US defense
US officials had publicly disclosed the balloon’s presence over the United States on Thursday. It has since been referred to as a “clear violation” of US sovereignty.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was the first to announce the shootdown, saying China was using the balloon “in an attempt to surveil strategic sites in the continental United States.”
The Republican Party has expressed outrage over the presence of the balloon and the lack of transparency from the Biden administration.
Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis told DailyMail.com ‘Communist China’s surveillance balloon violates international law and threatens our homeland. It is a scandal that the Biden Administration saw this balloon days ago while flying over the Aleutian Islands and did nothing about it.”
The newly re-elected congresswoman added: ‘The president has not even commented on this unacceptable act of aggression by the CCP.
“Whether it’s our border or the airspace, Congress must take action to protect it, because it’s clear this president won’t,” he continued.
While the House Judiciary GOP Twitter account tweeted: ‘Joe Biden knew the Chinese spy balloon was coming. I tried to hide it from the American people. May it fly ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.’
The message added: ‘And only after the whole country begged him to act, our great army shot him down. Embarrassing. Scary. Sad.’
On Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled his trip to China at the last minute. Speaking about the balloon, the secretary called it an “irresponsible act” and referred to it as a “clear violation of US sovereignty and international law.”
Blinken, who was scheduled to leave Washington for Beijing on Friday night, said he had told senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi in a phone call that sending the balloon over the United States was “an irresponsible act and that (China’s) decision ) to take this step on the eve of my visit is detrimental to the substantive discussions we were prepared to have.’