The size of 3 buses, China’s spy balloon that flew over the United States could be a surveillance platform for secret nuclear attacks, experts say

What is a surveillance balloon? Only on that word do the governments of the United States and China agree. According to the first, it could be used as a “launching platform” for nuclear weapons. However, China claims it is a civilian weather surveillance balloon.

The Chinese spy balloon that flew over the United States and Canada could be a 120-foot helium aircraft, about the size of three busses, equipped with surveillance cameras and radar, according to several experts.

At a Pentagon briefing several hours later, Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said: “We know it’s a spy balloon.”

Analysts predict that the balloon could be a high-tech piece of equipment that includes cameras, sensors and radar. The use of balloons to carry out espionage missions dates back to the Cold War, but modern systems can take advantage of the latest advances in surveillance technology.

“We have noted that China is sorry, but the presence of this balloon in our airspace is a clear violation of our sovereignty, as well as international law, and is unacceptable,” said a US official who requested anonymity.

The balloon hovered about 60,000 feet above the center of the continental United States at noon Eastern time Friday, the Pentagon said. This prompted the Secretary of State Antony Blinkena postponed a planned visit to Beijing to next week after the detection of an alleged Chinese spy balloon in US airspace which he calls an “irresponsible act”.

Canada also explained that it takes measures to “guarantee the security of its airspace, including monitoring a possible second incident,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement, without going into details.

Specifically, it flew over the state of Montana, which is home to nuclear missile facilities, where fighter jets approached it, reported a Pentagon official who requested anonymity.

It was decided not to shoot it down, due to the risks posed by potential debris to people on the ground, he added, calling its ability to gather information “limited.”

A 2015 report by the American Leadership & Policy Foundation said balloons launched by “risky” states could carry nuclear payloads over the United States that could use launch attacks or interfere with the power grid. The author of the report, Air Force Commander David Stuckenberg, wrote: “Using a balloon as a platform [de arma de destrucción masiva] it could provide adversaries with a palette of altitudes and payload options with which to maximize offensive effects against the US “A high-altitude balloon could be designed, built, and launched in a matter of months. There is nothing to prevent several hundred pounds of weapons material from reaching the height.” Stuckenberg said today that the China balloon was “probably some kind of rehearsal intended to send a strategic message to the United States.” (YO)