An American news website revealed today, Monday, that the Chinese spy balloon, which was previously shot down by US military forces in the Indian Ocean, had collected intelligence from sensitive US military sites, despite US efforts to prevent it, according to Reuters.
According to the network "NBC News" According to two current senior US officials and a former senior US administration official, China was able to control the balloon and transmit the information it collects to Beijing in real time.
The network reported on the three officials that China would have collected more intelligence, which was mostly from electronic signals that could be picked up from weapon systems, had it not been for the US administration’s efforts to stop the balloon’s ability to pick up these signals.
The National Security Council referred NBC News to the Department of Defense for comment, and the department in turn directed the network to statements issued last February, in which senior officials said the balloon belonged to him. "Limited added value" For intelligence gathering by the Chinese government "On top of what (China) can collect through things like satellites".
On February 4, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that US fighters succeeded, under the direction of President Joe Biden, in shooting down the Chinese spy balloon safely at a high altitude over the territorial waters of the United States, off the coast of North Carolina, noting that It was done in coordination with the full support of the Canadian government.
For its part, China had repeatedly stated that its balloon was an uninhabited civilian balloon, and had mistakenly deviated from its path until it reached the United States, stressing that the United States had overreacted by shooting it down.
