The Biden Administration’s Inept Response to the Chinese Balloon Likely Cost Us Valuable Intel

According to NBC, the Chinese spy balloon that hovered over the American landscape in early February successfully collected data from secure nuclear sites, such as Malmstrom Air Force Base.

Courtney Kube and Carol E. Lee report:

The Chinese spy balloon that flew across the U.S. was able to gather intelligence from several sensitive American military sites, despite the Biden administration’s efforts to block it from doing so, according to two current senior U.S. officials and one former senior administration official.

China was able to control the balloon so it could make multiple passes over some of the sites (at times flying figure eight formations) and transmit the information it collected back to Beijing in real time, the three officials said. The intelligence China collected was mostly from electronic signals, which can be picked up from weapons systems or include communications from base personnel, rather than images, the officials said.

As one can probably imagine, hearing the hum and chatter of a facility has intelligence value beyond what static images can provide. The Defense Department disagrees, saying that the balloon had “limited additive value” for data collection beyond “what [China] is likely able to collect through things like satellites at low earth orbit.” I’m afraid I have to disagree.

For one, there is always value in confirming images via a secondary source (such as a balloon). Further, ground chatter layered over static images brings a base to life, answering questions we’d like to keep mysteries, such as: How do the administrative buildings communicate with the silos? To whom are calls directed for decision-making? What are the security forces talking about, and when is a shift relieved? To use a medical metaphor, adding audio and prolonged visual surveillance makes an X-ray into an ultrasound. The balloon’s capabilities were a significant improvement in gathering intelligence compared to satellite imagery alone.

Finally, there’s the embarrassment of non-intervention — allowing the craft to cover the span of North America — when the balloon was originally spotted over Alaska on January 28. We were found asleep at the switch. The U.S. appears weak and inept. Similar actions happen under the ocean when submariners will “tag” the subs of foreign adversaries — a not-so-friendly message of “I had you.”

We were similarly “tagged” in the most public way possible. We then became discomposed and lit up what was almost certainly a hobbyist balloon — doing so with a Sidewinder missile. The Biden administration should not be allowed to dismiss its failure and knee-jerk reactions quickly or quietly.