The destruction operation was carried out by Ottawa after coordination with American colleagues within the framework of the Joint North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). American F-22 fighters went to intercept, and the bullet itself, or rather the cylinder, was hit by an AIM-9X missile at an altitude of about 12,000 meters. By the way, the purchase price for used ammunition reaches half a million dollars.
As reported to Ottawa, it was necessary to shoot down the balloon, which violated Canadian airspace, allegedly because of the danger it posed to the “safety of civilian ships”. At the same time, the Canadian authorities intend to find the wreckage of the probe and study it carefully, always in close coordination with the American army. Given that this is the third balloon to appear over North America in recent times, there is growing speculation in Washington that these probes are part of a program of China-led large-scale espionage. However, the information the investigation might collect cannot be explained by either the US Department of Defense or independent experts.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, after a green light from Washington, ordered to shoot down an unidentified probe arriving from Alaska. Photo: Getty Images
The Pentagon shows no evidence of the balloon spy mission, limiting itself only to general statements about “studying the situation” and unfounded accusations from Beijing. At the “very appreciated” level, it is announced “a whole aerial fleet of balloons” which are equipped with some kind of sensors and antennas. These flying spies would roam the airspace around the world, collecting classified information. At the same time, only the object shot down by the United States off North Carolina on February 4 has been established as being of Chinese origin. Beijing has not denied this, explaining that the weather device accidentally appeared over US airspace, and Washington “abused force” in shooting it down. What is happening in China is called “part of the information war that the United States is waging against China”.
American attention to balloons is already gradually beginning to turn into hysteria. After the Canadian investigation, locals reported a strange object over Montana, due to which the airspace was closed over the state. However, information about a suspicious object has not been confirmed. The Pentagon reports to President Biden on every object, planes take off in the air, the cost of flights of which is estimated at tens of thousands of dollars, balloons are destroyed by expensive missiles.
The Pentagon shows no evidence of the balloons’ spy mission, limiting itself to general statements.
Amid scandals, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken canceled his visit to China, dispelling hopes of normalization of relations between Washington and Beijing. According to many experts, this whole story actively inflated with probes was the result of an internal political struggle on the American political Olympus. Some imagine the balloon war as the heroic actions of Biden and his administration to protect America’s cloudless skies. Someone, on the contrary, accuses the White House of being incapable of countering the “Chinese threat”. And someone makes a lot of money on outings and rockets.
