President Joe Biden ordered the ship that had been flying over the skies of the United States for days to be shot down as soon as it was over the Atlantic Ocean
After several days flying over the sky of the country, the United States shot down this Saturday the Chinese spy balloon that was off the coast of South Carolina. This was confirmed by the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd J. Austin, who had shot down the balloon by an order President Joe Biden had given when the conflict began, Wednesday afternoon.
The United States had already warned on Thursday that it was tracking what they called a Chinese “huge surveillance balloon” in American skies. Hours later, Beijing acknowledged that it was the owner of said “aircraft”, but assured that it was a weather balloon that had deviated from its intended course. But, how was the operation to demolish the ‘spy balloon’ planned?
According to the first details provided by the United States, an American fighter plane He was in charge of shooting down the spy balloon over the waters of the Atlantic, off the coast of South Carolina. “On Wednesday, President Biden gave his authorization to shoot down the surveillance balloon as soon as the mission could be accomplished without undue risk to the lives of Americans in its path,” Defense said in a statement.
After reviewing various alternatives, the Department of Defense determined that the safest was to shoot down the balloon over the water to avoid causing personal or property damage and he had to consider several options to be able to do it safely. Finally, it was this Saturday when they considered that it was the most appropriate moment and they did it in coordination and “with the full support of the Canadian government.”
He was shot down after having traveled more than 3,000 kilometers through the sky of the United States, as soon as the air forces saw that the ship was already over the sea.
In the videos that began to circulate on the Internet, you can see what appears to be the wake of a fighter approaching the balloon and launching a missile at it. Seconds later the spy balloon bursts and falls into the void.
After it was shot down, President Joe Biden himself congratulated the F-22 pilots for shooting down the balloon in the airspace and over US territorial waters, according to AFP. Austin assured that they had decided to shoot it down because it was an “unacceptable violation of our sovereignty by the People’s Republic of China” since they used said balloon to try to “monitor strategic sites” for the United States, he stressed.
Now, several ships of the Navy and the Coast Guard are carrying out the search for the remains of the balloon to analyze it.
China describes the US reaction as “disproportionate”
China’s reaction after the shooting down of the spy balloon has not been long in coming. The Asian country’s Foreign Ministry has accused Washington of “reacting clearly disproportionately” and committing a “serious violation of international practices.” Thus, he has shown his “strong discontent” at the use of “force” by the United States. Something that he considers “increases tensions” between Washington and Beijing.
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