A balloon war?
An “alien invasion”?
On this last question, the head of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, General Glen VanHerck, “
is not ruling anything out at this stage
”.
In less than ten days, four objects were shot down in American skies.
What happened ?
The first balloon, dubbed a "
spy communist balloon
" by some media, was shot down on February 4 by an American F-22 fighter using AIM-9X missiles.
Two days earlier, the Pentagon had indicated that it was tracking the movements of a high-flying craft, adding that it had "
no doubt that it came from China
".
Beijing assured that the machine was only used for research purposes, especially meteorological.
The first balloon shot down.
RANDALL HILL/REUTERS
On February 10, "
by order of the President
", the American army shot down a "
high -
flying object
" over Alaska.
"We don't know who owns it, whether it's a state or a company or an individual, we don't know.
(…) And we do not understand its use for the time being, ”
explained John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council of the White House.
Read alsoThe spy balloon breaks the trigger with the United States wanted by Xi Jinping
On February 11, Justin Trudeau, Canadian Prime Minister, announced that two American planes and two Canadian planes had carried out a joint mission to shoot down an
“unidentified object violating Canadian airspace”.
Finally, on Sunday, around 2 p.m., two F-16 fighters destroyed a “
cylindrical-shaped
” object about 6,000 meters above Lake Huron, Michigan.
What are these objects?
If the first machine, the Chinese balloon, was 60 meters high, and carried a basket, the other three machines have different shapes.
According to a senior US State Department official, the Chinese balloon carried "
numerous antennae, a set likely capable of collecting and geolocating communications
", and was "
fitted with solar panels large enough to provide the energy necessary for the operation of multiple sensors collecting intelligence
”.
The second, shot down in Alaska, flew at 12,000 meters and was "
the size of a small car
", according to John Kirby.
Unlike the Chinese balloon, the second object did not appear to have a propulsion system or controls to steer it, according to the White House.
The third looked like a “
cylindrical device
,” according to Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand.
He was shot in the Yukon, about 160 km from the Canada-US border.
Read alsoVery high altitude, a new space for competition between powers
As for the fourth, it was “
octagonal
” and “
without apparent nacelle
”, indicated a senior official of the administration.
The second and third aircraft flew at an altitude of about 12,000 meters, and the fourth at 6,000 meters;
they all posed a possible threat to the safety of civilian flights, authorities said.
“
It's probably just different kinds of balloons or airships.
Shell-shaped airships, which are more maneuverable than balloons that drift with the wind
,” explains Xavier Tytelman, a former pilot in the French army, to Le
Figaro
.
Debris analysis
Several planes, boats and small submarines were mobilized to recover the remains of the first balloon.
Only a “
small part
” of the surveillance equipment was recovered by the American authorities.
She is being examined at Federal Police labs in Quantico, Virginia.
These remains floated on the surface of the ocean, he said, but most of the equipment, including the large solar panels, sank to a depth of 14 meters.
American F-22s.
THE DEFENSE MINISTRY / REUTERS
Debris from the object shot down over Alaska fell on frozen waters near the Canadian border, the White House said.
Regarding the third object, the Canadian forces "
will now recover and analyze the debris
", according to Justin Trudeau.
The Pentagon said Sunday that American and Canadian teams were preparing an operation to try to recover the fourth object.
Why these objects now?
According to specialists, American and Canadian intelligence continuously receive huge amounts of data and are particularly on the lookout for potential missiles, not slow objects like balloons.
“
For small balloons, it is also possible that they are part of end-of-year projects for engineers, for example, or super enthusiasts
”, tempers Xavier Tytelman, who recalls that they are subject to drafts and can therefore drift.
“
These winds always go east
,” he says.
US Deputy Secretary of Defense Melissa Dalton said on Sunday that after the Chinese balloon was detected, US air defense adjusted its radar systems to be able to detect smaller, slower-moving objects.
The United States believes the balloon was controlled by the Chinese military and was part of a fleet sent by Beijing over more than 40 countries on five continents for espionage purposes.
FBI investigators are still looking for debris from the first balloon off South Carolina.
HANDOUT/REUTERS
For some analysts, this could be the start of a major Chinese spy operation to map out foreign military capabilities, ahead of a possible rise in tensions around Taiwan in the years to come.
Beijing assured on Monday that American balloons had violated its airspace more than ten times since
the beginning of 2022. “Since last year alone, American balloons have flown over (the territory of) China at more than ten times without any authorization
,” Chinese diplomatic spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters.
