Short Takes – 2-13-23 – Chinese Balloons

What’s Going On Up There? Theories but No Answers in Shootdowns of Mystery Craft. NYTimes.com article. Pull quote: “After the transit of the spy balloon this month, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, adjusted its radar system to make it more sensitive. As a result, the number of objects it detected increased sharply. In other words, NORAD is picking up more incursions because it is looking for them, spurred on by the heightened awareness caused by the furor over the spy balloon, which floated over the continental United States for a week before an F-22 shot it down on Feb. 4.”

Here is what we know about the unidentified objects shot down over North America. CNN.com article. Pull quote: ““What I think this shows, which is probably more important to our policy discussion here, is that we really have to declare that we’re going to defend our airspace. And then we need to invest,” the Ohio Republican [Rep Turner, House Armed Services Chair] added. “This shows some of the problems and gaps that we have. We need to fill those as soon as possible because we certainly now ascertain there is a threat.””

Chinese spy balloon has GOP saying no cuts to defense. TheHill.com article. But no comments from House Republicans pushing steep spending cuts. Pull quote: ““The entire civilized world should recognize that communist China is probably the greatest threat we’ve ever faced, more severe than Soviet Russia was because of its economic integration into the West,” said Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) after receiving a briefing from senior administration officials on the spy balloon. “We should take every step we can to try to reduce our dependency on China [and] try to build stronger military deterrence against them.”

China’s Top Airship Scientist Said He Sent One Over North America in 2019. NYTimes.com article. And this keeps getting more interesting. Pull quote: “In 2019, years before a hulking high-altitude Chinese balloon floated across the United States and caused widespread alarm, one of China’s top aeronautics scientists made a proud announcement that received little attention back then: His team had launched an airship more than 60,000 feet into the air and sent it sailing around most of the globe, including across North America.”