F-22 Raptor shoots down Chinese “spy” balloon, know more details.
According to defense specialists, the shootdown of the putative Chinese spy balloon was the first time that an F-22 Raptor fighter jet has successfully shot down an aerial target since the jet made its combat debut in Syria and Iraq almost ten years ago.
Rebecca Grant, an Air Force systems specialist and president of IRIS Independent Research, responded to queries through email by stating that the F-22’s first air-to-air kill occurred when it shot down China’s balloon.
“Shooting down China’s balloon was absolutely the F-22’s first air-to-air kill.” “Americans witnessed the shooting down of an enemy aircraft while it was flying over our territory.”
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Table of Contents
The Chinese Spy Balloon Brought Down By a US F-22 Fighter Plane
At approximately 2:30 p.m. local time on Saturday, a Chinese surveillance balloon was destroyed by a single missile fired from an American F-22 fighter plane as it drifted off the coast of North Carolina.
White spy balloon, which was the size of three school buses, was seen being circled by two F-22 Raptors, which were then spotted lighting it on fire, which resulted in a puff of smoke and a boom that could be heard from the ground below.
It was then possible to view the deflated balloon drifting down from an altitude of up to 60,000 feet, most likely coming to rest in the Atlantic Ocean.
The spy balloon flew in from Canada and was discovered by the public for the first time earlier this week above Montana.
This prompted a diplomatic rebuke from Washington to Beijing and brought the world’s top superpowers into direct conflict for the first time in years.
According to the officials from the United States, they had been monitoring the balloon and its movements for several days.
Anthony Blinken, the Secretary of State, had a trip planned to China, but he had to cancel it because of the balloon incident. Chinese authorities expressed remorse about the balloon’s path, but they insisted it wasn’t designed to spy on its assumed American targets.
The mission to shoot down the balloon was verified by the Pentagon on Saturday, and they stated that it was carried out at the direction of President Joe Biden.
How Tom Cruise’s Film “Top Gun: Maverick” Connected With The Incident?
The 2022 film ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ was one of the most successful movies of the year.
Fans could not stop gushing about the film starring Tom Cruise, but many have begun to speculate about the likelihood of a third installment of the Top Gun franchise.
After the event that involved a “balloon,” however, it appears that enthusiastic fans have already brought about in real life a situation that is reminiscent of “Top Gun.”
The film “Top Gun: Maverick” was a success, but it came dangerously close to starting a global conflict.
It was claimed that during the filming of the opening sequence of Darkstar, satellites from other nations focused on the China Lake Naval Air Station and took photographs of the hypersonic scramjet used in the movie.
Not only that, but the first trailer for the film, which was released in 2019, included a character who was wearing a Taiwanese flag on their signature bomber jacket.
During the sneak peek, the patches on Cruise’s jacket, which had previously displayed flags of Taiwan and Japan, looked to have been removed and replaced with two cryptic symbols using the same color scheme. The patches had previously displayed flags of Taiwan and Japan.
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The Swift Action of the United States Administration
The government of the United States had been keeping a close eye on the high-altitude Chinese surveillance balloon as it traversed the continental United States over the course of five days, beginning in Idaho and ending in the Carolinas.
Since the Chinese surveillance balloon obviously breached American airspace, President Joe Biden began debating military options with the Pentagon as early as Tuesday, before it became a real issue among the wider American public, according to the New York Times.
But Vice President Joe Biden has vowed not to take action until “the mission could be accomplished without undue risk to American lives under the balloon’s path,” as stated in a statement by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
This is in spite of criticism from politicians who are urging Biden to order fighter jets to immediately shoot down the balloon, especially given the fact that it has been hanging high above Montana for a considerable amount of time.
What Are China’s Claims?
China asserted that the object in question was a meteorological balloon that had strayed from its intended path.
“China regrets that the airship strayed into the United States due to force majeure,” the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on February 3, referring to a circumstance that was beyond China’s ability to control.
The explanation was not accepted by U.S. officials, who stated that it was obviously a surveillance asset. Additionally, Austin stated in his statement that the flight of the balloon was a “unacceptable breach of our sovereignty.”
In addition to this, it does not appear to be the first incidence of its kind. Although the United States has not previously recognized the instances, officials from the Pentagon have stated that Chinese surveillance balloons have penetrated American airspace since the Trump administration took office.
And the United States of America was not the only country that was attacked.
According to a senior defense official, “during the past several years, Chinese balloons have already been detected over countries across five continents, including in East Asia, South Asia, and Europe.” The Pentagon says another Chinese balloon is presently flying over Latin America.
Members of the president’s own party have called for greater explanation from the administration and the Pentagon, even as they complimented the way Biden handled the crisis.
The administration came under fire from many Republicans for their perceived delay in deflating the balloon. After the incident, Vice President Joe Biden stated that he had given the order to shoot down the balloon “as soon as possible” on February 1, but that it was unsafe to do so at the time.
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued the following statement on February 4: “President Biden made the appropriate decision to fire down this purported Chinese spy balloon out of range of American civilians and infrastructure,” “I look forward to a thorough briefing on the situation and U.S. objectives moving ahead.”
As the balloon finally floated over the Atlantic, two Langley F-22s, with the callsigns FRANK01 and FRANK02, finally brought the balloon down.
According to a representative for NORTHCOM, the callsigns were chosen as a tribute to Lt. Frank Luke Jr., who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during World War I. Luke was called the “Arizona Balloon Buster” after smashing 14 German balloons in 17 days. Luke Air Force Base in Arizona bears his name in appreciation of his service.
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