China vs America

[delbert]

They're not even bothering being subtle:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-64507225

[Samba]

They're not even bothering being subtle:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-64507225

'Big, useless, balloon shape filled with hot air, revealed to be Boris Johnson currently touring America'...

[Johnny Byrne's Boots]

USA shoots down Chinese balloon over Atlantic

The US has shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that has flown across America in the past week.

Three airports were closed and airspace was shut down off the South Carolina coast as US military planes targeted the object over the Atlantic Ocean.

According to the AP news agency, footage showed the balloon falling to the sea after a small explosion.

US President Joe Biden faced intense pressure to shoot it down since it first appeared across the US last week.

Tracking website Flightradar24 showed US Air Force and Coastguard aircraft operating in the skies between Wilmington, North Carolina, and Myrtle Beach.

more...

[Up the Junction]

A concerning development.

[alf git]

[simon hammer]

How many satellites has China got? I'm willing to bet they already know more than enough about American military bases.

As a tactic to divert attention away from something else they're doing, it appears to be working.

Wouldn't put it past America to 'say' it's Chinese in order to keep tensions high.

[delbert]

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[S-H]

[Johnny Byrne's Boots]

P-8A Poseidon searching for balloon debris
Helicopter doing much the same

[Samba]

喂！把我们的气球还给我们！

[Samba]

[CarltonColesLeftFoot]

[Puff Daddy]

Aren't the Chinese supposed to be a great bunch of lads ?

[Greatest Cockney Rip Off]

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[vietnammer]

Would have been better if they'd tweaked the bottom part then let it go making thunderous farting noises and going round in circles

[WCpete]

Have to say, there are some funny un-pc memes about this out there.

[the pink palermo]

The coming war on China

A few years old now, heavily biased, of course, but worth a watch nonetheless.

[Cuenca 'ammer]

this would seem to contradict that statement

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/a ... states-us/

A senior U.S. general responsible for bringing down a Chinese spy balloon said on Monday the military had not detected previous spy balloons before the one that appeared on Jan. 28 over the United States and called it an “awareness gap.”

The Pentagon said over the weekend that Chinese spy balloons had briefly flown over the United States at least three times during President Donald Trump’s administration and one previously under President Joe Biden.

Air Force General Glen VanHerck, head of U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command and Northern Command, said the latest balloon was 200 feet (60 meters) tall and the payload under it weighed a couple thousand pounds.

He did not provide details on previous balloons, including where over the United States they flew.

“I will tell you that we did not detect those threats, and that’s a domain awareness gap,” VanHerck said.

[CarltonColesLeftFoot]

this would seem to contradict that statement

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/02/05/poli ... index.html
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/02/06/poli ... index.html
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... ntil-later
https://apnews.com/article/biden-politi ... 12d805ae08
https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2 ... e327e97a92

I cant say I've heard of your source personally, but I'd imagine CNN, Bloomberg, Forbes etc. are reasonably well respected and can back that up.

[Cuenca 'ammer]

I cant say I've heard of your source personally, but I'd imagine CNN, Bloomberg, Forbes etc. are reasonably well respected and can back that up.

https://americanmilitarynews.com/2023/0 ... eral-says/

https://nypost.com/2023/02/06/norad-mis ... al-admits/

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-mil ... rom-china/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... tself.html

https://www.independentsentinel.com/nor ... ost-trump/

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-fai ... 023-02-06/

https://ussanews.com/2023/02/06/new-inf ... -dropping/

https://www.alternet.org/military-domai ... gap-trump/


U.S. Air Force General Glen D. VanHerck, who serves as commander of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, confirmed to CNN that the successful balloon transit was due to the domain awareness gap but also said he did not "want to go into further detail."

“Every day as a NORAD commander, it’s my responsibility to detect threats to North America. I will tell you that we did not detect those threats,” he said.

VanHerck noted intelligence officials were later "able to gather intelligence 'from additional means that made us aware of those balloons that were previously approaching North America or transited North America.'”

and since you said that CNN might cover it, I've saved you the trouble.

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/02/06/poli ... index.html

Pentagon says it had an ‘awareness gap’ that led to failure to detect 3 Chinese balloons under Trump

The American military had a “domain awareness gap” that allowed three other suspected Chinese spy balloons to transit the continental United States undetected under the Trump administration, the Pentagon general responsible for providing air and missile defense over North America said on Monday.

“Every day as a NORAD commander, it’s my responsibility to detect threats to North America. I will tell you that we did not detect those threats,” Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of US Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command said when asked about the three other balloons.

“And that’s a domain awareness gap that we have to figure out, but I don’t want to go into further detail.”

VanHerck added that the intelligence community after the fact was able to gather intelligence “from additional means that made us aware of those balloons that were previously approaching North America or transited North America.”

and since it appears according the the bloke in charge himself, they were undetected, it would be pretty difficult for Trump to have refused to shoot them down I would have thought.

apology accepted...