The Pentagon rejected a request from the Air Force Base in Alaska to shoot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon last month before it flew over North America, according to the state’s Republican senator.
Dan Sullivan, an Alaska lawmaker and member of the Senate armed services committee, said the 11th Air Force, which is based in his state, requested permission to shoot down after F-22 and F-35 fighter jets tracked the balloon “from a distance.” before it entered the airspace. North America in the Aleutian Islands on January 28.
“Our Alaska commander asked for permission to fire. It was denied,” Sullivan said at the Hudson Institute on Thursday, in previously unreported comments. “I’m not sure if this is common, but it’s a fact.”
In the Q&A session, Sullivan did not say where the balloon was located when the Air Force commander asked for permission to shoot it. He also did not specify who rejected the request.
The 11th Air Force is part of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or Norad, a joint US-Canada military command responsible for defending both countries, led by General Glen VanHerck.
Sullivan’s office did not provide further details when asked for comment by the Financial Times. But the statement left open the possibility that some commanders discussed shooting down the balloons before President Joe Biden ordered the military to give them the option of shooting them down on January 31 when the balloons were over in Montana.
The next day, Biden’s top commanders, including VanHerck, suggested waiting until the balloon was in the ocean where the risk to civilians would be lower.
The Pentagon did not immediately comment on Sullivan’s claims. Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, its press secretary, said VanHerck had ordered the Alaskan component of Norad to “Identify and monitor high-altitude balloons” and that it has been determined that “do not present a direct military threat”.
Ryder added that VanHerck had “elevated the decision to higher authorities” and that Norad and Northern Command, which oversees US defense, “continue to develop options” before stepping down on February 4.
The White House National Security Council declined to comment on the statement from Sullivan, who previously said the Biden administration needed to be more transparent about what happened to the Chinese balloon.
An F-22 shot down a balloon off the coast of South Carolina on February 4, a week after flying over the Aleutians. Republican lawmakers have slammed Biden for not ordering the military to act before the balloons flew over much of the US and ran over military sites containing nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The balloon episode triggered another downward spiral in US-China relations, which have been at their lowest point since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1979. Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a trip to Beijing that would have included a meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping. .
China claims that the balloon was a civilian ship carrying out meteorological research that exploded due to high winds. But US officials said the payload on the balloon contained equipment for surveillance and not for monitoring weather conditions.
US authorities are examining debris found off the coast of South Carolina and are considering declassifying intelligence to prove the case.
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