A suspected Chinese spy balloon that the U.S. military shot down off the Carolina coast last week was part of a larger surveillance program run by the People’s Liberation Army, according to a new report.
The program has collected information on military assets in a number of countries, including Japan, India, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines, U.S. officials reportedly told the Washington Post.
One official called the scheme a “massive effort” by China using an “unbelievably old technology” that it joined with “modern communications and observation capabilities” in an effort to gather intelligence on other countries’ militaries.
The program has carried out dozens of missions since 2018, according to the report.
The balloons, which fly between 60,000 and 80,000 feet or higher, supplement China’s long-range surveillance efforts that are typically conducted via military satellite array.
The balloons are often equipped with electrooptical sensors or digital cameras that can sometimes capture highly precise images, according to the report. They also carry radio signal and satellite transmission capabilities. While the balloons don’t use the most cutting-edge technology, they can hover over a single target for hours, providing an advantage over satellites that may have just minutes to take a photo while they orbit.
Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman briefed 150 people from roughly 40 embassies on the balloon program on Monday, according to the report. U.S. officials have started debriefing officials in countries that were similarly targeted by the surveillance scheme, including Japan.
Four balloons were seen above Hawaii, Florida, Texas and Guam in recent years, according to the report. While several former high-ranking Trump officials pushed back on the Biden administration’s recent claim that at least three Chinese spy balloons flew over the United States during the previous administration, officials have since said the balloons were only recently identified as Chinese surveillance airships.
The Navy is working to clean up the debris from the latest balloon, a 200-foot aerial object that was seen hovering over sensitive military facilities in Montana last week. A device roughly the size of a regional jet was affixed to the balloon, according to U.S. Northern Command head General Glen VanHerck.
The Pentagon first became aware of the balloon on January 28, when it entered U.S. airspace in Alaska. The Biden administration kept the discovery under wraps so as not to jeopardize Secretary of State Blinken’s planned trip to Beijing, Bloomberg reported. Blinken postponed the trip on Friday just hours before he was set to depart. Blinken and President Biden decided it was best to postpone the trip in light of the unfolding situation with the balloon, officials told the Associated Press.
While several Republican lawmakers called on the U.S. to shoot down the balloon earlier this week, including Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Ryan Zinke of Montana, the military waited to take down the balloon until it was over water off the coast of South Carolina due to concerns from the Pentagon that the action could cause civilian casualties if carried out elsewhere on the balloon’s flight path.