Montana Senator Steve Daines fears the Chinese spy balloon hovering over the United States was targeting his state’s nuclear missile fields.
Daines sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday, demanding information on the “enemy” country’s flight pattern and possible agenda.
While the Pentagon resisted President Joe Biden’s plea to shoot it out of the sky, Daines called for an urgent safety briefing amid concerns that the state’s air force base and US ICBM silos are at risk.
China on Friday said it is reviewing reports of the balloon and urged calm. It has “no intention to violate the territory and airspace of a sovereign country”.
Daines wrote, “It is critically important to determine the trajectory of this balloon, any compromised U.S. national security assets, and any telecommunications or IT infrastructure on the ground within the U.S. that this spy balloon utilized.”
Senator Steve Daines requests a safety briefing on the Chinese spy balloon hovering over Montana
The balloon can be seen in the sky over Montana. Defense Department officials confirmed that the giant balloon has been hovering over the United States for several days
Daines insisted the Department of Defense take surveillance of the balloon seriously, especially as it hovers over Montana.
“Montana plays a critical role in national security by housing nuclear missile silos at Malmstrom AFB,” Daines wrote.
“In the face of increasing global hostility and destabilization against the United States and our allies, I am alarmed by the fact that this spy balloon was able to infiltrate the airspace of our country and Montana.”
He also asked Austin to take the initiative for American “safety.”
“There is no higher priority for your administration than the safety of the American people, and it is imperative that your government reassure them of that fact at this time,” Daines concluded.
On Wednesday, Biden proposed shooting down the high-altitude balloon after it was spotted and reported by civilians on an airliner, US officials told The Wall Street Journal.
The Pentagon contradicted the president, fearing civilian casualties if the giant balloon – the size of three buses – exploded mid-air.
“The United States government has spotted and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon just over the mainland United States,” Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told NBC News.
“We continue to follow and monitor it closely.”
Daines insisted that the MoD take the balloon’s surveillance balloon seriously
China is supposed to fly a surveillance balloon over the USA, Joe Biden (left) wanted to shoot it down. Pictured at right is President Xi Jinping
F-22 Raptors were dispatched from Nellis Air Force Base in southern Nevada, but are not believed to have engaged with the balloon – but their activities prompted a ground stop at Billings Airport, with air traffic controllers leading a “special force.” Mission.’
Sources told NBC News that there were concerns about possible debris that could result from the balloon being shot out of the sky. ABC News reported that it was the size of three buses and had what it called a “technology bay.”
It flew over Billings, Montana on Wednesday, NBC reported. Montana is home to fields of underground ICBM silos Minuteman III.
A senior defense official said the US “has been tracking it for some time.”
They added, “And we kept it in custody the whole time it was over US airspace and it entered continental United States airspace a few days ago.”
It’s not the first time spy balloons have been sighted over the United States, but this one stayed longer than usual.
Chinese spy balloons had previously been seen over Hawaii and Guam, officials said Thursday night.
The balloon’s current trajectory takes it over “a number of sensitive locations,” a source told CNN — but the official said it posed no significant intelligence-gathering risk.
Map showing the areas of the six Minuteman missile wings in the central and northern Great Plains. The black areas denote deactivated missile wings, the red areas the active missile wings
The Pentagon said that as soon as it was discovered, it acted to prevent sensitive information from being stolen.
“As soon as the balloon was spotted, the US government acted immediately to protect itself from the collection of sensitive information,” they said – without specifying what action they took.
A defense source said: “We know exactly where that balloon is, exactly what it’s passing.
“And we’re taking steps to be extra vigilant so we can mitigate any risk from foreign intelligence agencies.”
The high-altitude balloon was spotted over Billings, Montana on Wednesday – after flying over the Aleutian Islands, through Canada and into Montana.
The Pentagon said the balloon was still over the US – but wouldn’t say where.
In a sign of how seriously the incursion was being taken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin gathered his military chiefs for an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss the balloon. He was traveling in the Philippines at the time.
It has just been confirmed that the Chinese government is currently flying a spy balloon over the US which blocked airspace over Billings yesterday. This is footage from our reporter Travia outside of the @KULR Balloon’s NBC Studios. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/uhjVeLk69C
— Bradley Warren (@bradmwarren) February 2, 2023
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday gathered his top advisers and military chiefs to discuss the spy balloon
PENTAGON CONFIRMED SPY BALLOON
Brig. General Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary:
“The United States government has spotted and is tracking a high altitude surveillance balloon currently hovering over the continental United States.
“The US government, including NORAD, continues to follow and monitor it closely.
“The balloon is currently flying at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and poses no military or physical threat to people on the ground.
“Incidents of this type of balloon activity have already been observed in recent years.
“As soon as the balloon was spotted, the US government acted immediately to protect itself from the collection of sensitive information.”
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 shooting it out of the sky but decided it was too risky to recommend.
They decided not to take kinetic action “due to the risk to the safety of people on the ground from the potential debris field.”
A defense source explained: “We have to consider the risk/reward trade-off here.
“So the first question is whether it poses a threat — a physical kinetic threat to individuals in the United States or in the US home country. Our assessment is that this is not the case.
“Does it pose a threat to civil aviation? Our assessment is that this is not the case.
“Does it pose a significantly increased threat to intelligence? Our best guess right now is that it isn’t.
“And given that risk, that profile, we assess the risk of a fall even if there was a small chance that the debris would fall in a sparsely populated area and hurt someone or damage property that it wasn’t worth it and that was the.” Recommendation of our military commanders.’
Pentagon leaders presented options to Biden on Wednesday, NBC said.
“Currently, we believe that from an intelligence gathering perspective, this balloon has limited added value beyond what the PRC can do through other means,” the senior defense official said.
“Nevertheless, we are taking all necessary steps to protect ourselves from the collection of sensitive information by foreign intelligence services.”
The official said the balloon posed no threat to civil aviation because of its altitude.
The US is confident the balloon was launched by China, the source told NBC News, and has raised the issue with Beijing.
The complaint went to the Chinese government “through multiple channels both here in DC and in Beijing.”
It’s unclear if China admitted the balloon belonged to them.
If the balloon’s risk changes, the US “will have options to deal with this balloon,” a source told CNN.
‘We communicated [Chinese officials] the seriousness with which we are tackling this issue,” the source said.
“But we have made it clear that we will do whatever is necessary to protect our people and our homeland.”
The bold move comes days before Foreign Minister Antony Blinken is expected to travel to the Chinese capital for high-level talks.