Does the Chinese balloon incident highlight failure of US military?
Chinese spy balloon
The suspected Chinese "spy balloon" in the airspace of the United States escalated the tensions between the US and China. Beijing said that it was a civilian "airship" which was used for research, mainly meteorological purposes.
However, the way this entire balloon saga unfolded, it appears that it may have jeopardised the fragile ties between the two superpowers.In the aftermath, even the US States Secretary of State Antony Blinken had to postpone his crucial visit to Beijing.
But a recent report published by US-based media outlets notes that a top defence official said that the US military failed to detect prior balloon threats.
A senior commander, who oversees US forces in North America, said on Monday that there have been instances when Chinese balloon threats have gone undetected by the nation in the past.The official has highlighted the "awareness gap" which should be addressed by the government.
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Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck, who is the commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and US Northern Command, said, "I will tell you that we did not detect those threats. And that’s a domain awareness gap that we have to figure out."
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In a report by NBC News, it is mentioned that during a briefing, VanHerck was asked about whether or not his command had been involved in tracking previous balloons.
He was also asked whether he was able to identify differences between the most recent case of a suspectedChinese "spy balloon" and other balloons dating to the Trump administration.
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The US deployed a fighter jet to down the balloon on Sunday and VanHerck was giving an update on the recovery of debris, which was eventually done Tuesday.
He said that the US "utilised multiple capabilities to ensure we collected and utilised the opportunity to close intel gaps" while tracking the balloon across the American territory.
NBC report also added that a senior Biden administration official claimed that Chinese surveillance balloons had previously flown over the US United States.
According to the official, it has happened during the Biden administration and at least three other times during the term of former president Donald Trump.
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