New Delhi: There has been a big disclosure about China’s spy balloon. American officials claim that China released its spy balloons not only in America and India but also in many other countries. America’s Deputy Secretary Wendy Sherman has given information related to this matter to the embassy of 40 allied countries of the world including India. Let us inform you that on Saturday, February 4, a suspected spy balloon was shot down by America. America took the help of the fighter jet F-22 for this. Let us know what revelations were made by the US officials regarding China’s spy balloon.
China has been spying through balloons for the last several years
According to a report in the Washington Post, China has been spying for many years through balloons, including Japan, India, Vietnam, Taiwan, Philippines, and all those countries which are moving fast and have disputes with China. Through this, China was collecting information about the military assets of these countries. The Washington Post report cited defense and intelligence officials.
What other revelations happened?
According to a report in ‘The Daily’, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and Airforce are operating these spy balloons. These balloons have been seen in five continents.
A senior defense official was quoted as saying, ‘These balloons are part of the PRC (People’s Republic of China) fleet of balloons, which have been developed to conduct surveillance operations, which have also violated the sovereignty of other countries. ‘
At least four balloon sightings have been reported in Hawaii, Florida, Texas and Guam in the past few years. Apart from this, a balloon was also tracked last week.
Three of the four incidents occurred during the Trump administration but were most recently identified as Chinese surveillance airships.
The Pentagon released a series of photos Tuesday of high-altitude surveillance balloons.
What are the claims about spy balloons in India?
Several media reports, quoting US defense expert HI Sutton, claimed that between December-2021 and January 2022, China’s spy balloon had spied on India’s military base. During this, China’s spy balloon flew over Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. During that time its picture also went viral on social media. It is a matter of concern that in the last week of December 2021 itself, the soldiers of all three wings (Army, Air Force, and Navy) of the Indian Army gathered together to drill in Andaman and Nicobar. This spy balloon of China was seen in Andaman and Nicobar only during the Tri-Service Command. However, at that time there was no official statement from the Government of India on this. During that time news about this was also run in some local websites. The pictures that went viral on social media were quite similar to the Chinese spy balloons found in the US.
What is this spy balloon?
The history of the spy balloon which is being claimed in India and America is related to the Second World War. In fact, these capsule-shaped balloons are several square feet large. They usually have the ability to fly at a great height from the ground, due to which they have mostly been used to gather information related to the weather. Especially to know the weather of a certain area. However, because of their ability to fly at great heights in the sky, they were also used for espionage.
These balloons can easily fly at an altitude of 24 thousand to 37 thousand feet from the ground, while this Chinese balloon was flying at an altitude of 60 thousand feet above America. Due to this, it is very difficult to monitor them from the ground. This range of their flying is much more than commercial aircraft. Most commercial aircraft do not go above 40,000 feet. Only fighter jets have the ability to fly at such a range, which can go up to 65 thousand feet. However, some more spy planes like the U-2 can fly up to an altitude of 80,000 feet.
These balloons are better spy tools than satellites
According to a report by the Air Command and Staff College of the US Air Force, these spy balloons sometimes prove to be a better intelligence tool than satellites. Actually, it can scan an area with more ease and time than a satellite. Through these, the countries sending them can collect such sensitive intelligence against the enemy, which is difficult to scan due to the distance of the satellite. Not only this, but keeping an eye on any one area through satellites can also prove to be very expensive because it requires very expensive space launchers. Spy balloons, on the other hand, can do the same thing with satellites at a much lower cost.
