A jet flies over a suspected Chinese spy balloon as it floats off the coast of Surfside Beach, South Carolina, US February 4, 2023.
Randall Hill Reuters
The US released a Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of Carolina on Saturday and will try to recover the debris, according to US officials.
The action came hours after President Joe Biden responded to a reporter who asked if the US would shoot down the balloon. “We’ll take care of it,” Biden said, in his first public comments about the balloon.
In comments to reporters after the balloon was shot down, Biden said he made the order to the Pentagon after being briefed on Wednesday.
“They decided – without harming anyone on the ground – they decided that the best time to do this was when it was flooded,” he said. “He succeeded in taking it down and I want to praise our aviator who did it. And we will have more to report on this a little later.”
The balloon was shot down at 2:39 pm by an F-22 raptor with a single missile, according to a senior defense official. The balloon was between 60,000 and 65,000 feet in the air when it descended.
The debris field from the balloon is about seven miles wide and ships as well as navy divers are expected to help recover the pieces, US military officials told NBC News.
A suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts into the sea after being shot down on the beach in Surfside Beach, South Carolina, USA February 4, 2023.
Randall Hill Reuters
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the balloon was shot down off the coast of South Carolina in a statement.
“This afternoon, at the direction of President Biden, US warplanes assigned to the US Northern Command successfully shot down a high-altitude surveillance balloon launched and owned by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the waters off the coast of South Carolina in US airspace,” Austin said.
“The balloon, used by the PRC to try to monitor strategic sites in the continental United States, was brought down above US territorial waters,” he said.
Biden on Wednesday “gave him the authority to take down the balloon as soon as the mission can be completed without risk to American life in the path of the balloon, “he added. people in a wide area due to the size and height of the balloon and the surveillance load.”
The balloon entered US airspace on January 28 north of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands before entering Canadian airspace on Monday, a senior defense official said. It re-entered US airspace on Tuesday over northern Idaho.
Hours before the shooting, residents in North Carolina and South Carolina reported seeing spy balloons and the Federal Aviation Administration suspended departures and arrivals at three local airports to support the Department of Defense in “national security efforts,” according to an FAA statement. .
A video showing a fighter jet targeting a spy balloon and taking it down went viral on social media. The jet is seen approaching the balloon before it begins to fall from the sky.
Some lawmakers took to social media to praise Biden’s decision to take down the spy balloon.
“I strongly condemn President Xi’s attack on American airspace, and I commend President Biden’s leadership for taking China’s balloons under water to ensure safety for all Americans,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer tweeted after the news. “Now we can collect the equipment and analyze the technology used by the CCP.”