A full year after the US Air Force launched a Chinese reconnaissance balloon from the sky, the FBI’s forensic report on the plane’s surveillance capabilities remains shrouded in secrecy, prompting calls for ‘appropriate transparency’ from the Biden administration The Post reported that he was making blatant demands. .
The giant balloon’s multi-day journey across the North American continent in early 2023 dominated headlines around the world until the wreckage was pulled from the ocean off the coast of South Carolina on February 17th, in what was described as a “major event.” It was an information failure. President Biden’s weakness is to blame, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Friday.
“The time has come for the administration to reveal what it knows about balloons and when it knew it,” Issa’s letter continues.
“Even though it has been more than a year since the incident, the secretariat has still not provided an explanation to the members.” [of Congress] As for the consequences,” wrote Issa, ranking member of the House Judiciary and Foreign Affairs committees.
“Meanwhile, the administration has failed to provide satisfactory explanations to the public, despite ensuring adequate transparency.”
“Ultimately, this is in China’s interests, not America’s,” he added.
The spy balloon saga begins on January 27, 2023, when radar surveillance from the North American Aerospace Defense Command revealed that a 200-foot-tall spy ship entered U.S. airspace over Alaska, days after the National Security Agency. was confirmed. Now on sale in China.
“There’s no way the president and the secretary of defense didn’t know it was coming,” said John Venable, a defense analyst at the Heritage Foundation. “This was a grave violation of national security and placed the United States at great risk.”
But when the balloon, loaded with solar panels and surveillance equipment the size of a regional jetliner, crossed half of Canada and re-entered the United States over Montana on January 31, the Biden administration did nothing. took no action.
When Americans on the ground discovered a mysterious orb far overhead, the White House insisted it was harmless and allowed it to float transparently across the continent.
Mr. Biden finally ordered a U.S. Air Force jet to shoot down the balloon over the Atlantic Ocean on February 4, prompting protests from the Chinese government, which claimed the balloon was a civilian weather vessel that had veered off course.
In the months since then, government leakers have revealed that the aircraft was flown to at least six of America’s most sensitive military facilities, including the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile silo and the U.S. Strategic Command, as well as numerous civilian power plants and It was revealed that the aircraft had passed over the communications center multiple times. Primary installation to obtain additional data.
In June 2023, Biden said Chinese President Xi Jinping had “no knowledge” that the balloon was heading toward the United States and claimed that the balloon was “blown off course” and criticized China’s response to the incident. attempted to absolve the government of responsibility.
But a December report revealed the government was aware the balloon was communicating with mainland China through a U.S. internet provider during its week-long flight.
“Every revelation we’ve learned since the balloon crossed the country has been even more damaging than the last,” Issa told the Post.
He added: “Since the first sightings of Chinese balloons, the Biden White House has never told the truth, misled the American people, and hidden the truth ever since.”
“Their continued appeasement of the Chinese government will only make things worse. This Congress will give the people the answers they deserve.”
The FBI declined to comment on the matter.
After a long period of silence on the FBI investigation, which was reportedly completed in April 2023, On hold due to China’s request “This is surprising and concerning,” said Brian Clark, a senior researcher and security expert at the Hudson Institute.
“We believe this balloon may have had more sophisticated intelligence-gathering capabilities than we were given credit for,” he said, adding that such technology could provide cyber security to the U.S. power grid. It may even have been possible to gather information about the attack, he added..
“The fact that China is able to collect this information without any repercussions or obvious countermeasures means that it will be equipped to threaten not only our nuclear weapons complex but also our critical infrastructure,” Clark said. It means being even more prepared.”
“For example, large amounts of electronic information about radio communications related to the power grid could have been collected. That information could be used to inject cyber code into power grid control systems,” he warned. .
The FBI’s continued silence suggests advanced visual sensors, infrared cameras and state-of-the-art synthetic aperture radar may have been part of the balloon’s payload, experts said. .
“Our military uses these capabilities to target targets,” said Venable, a retired Air Force colonel.
Slow-moving balloons are ideal for detailed mapping of targets and can collect all kinds of electronic communications, Venable said.
“With balloons, we can pick up things that we would never know with satellites,” he continued. “Even sensitive signals at these military bases could be intercepted and sent to China, where they could be decoded.”
On Friday, federal officials said NORAD had tracked a “small” high-altitude balloon of unknown origin flying over Utah, but said there was no threat to national security.
