Page 43 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - February 2023 Edition
P. 43
Why Did China Use A Balloon To Spy? 43
In a world of drones and
satellites, why use a spy
balloon anyway?
In a world of advanced surveillance
technology, including drones and
satellites, why on earth would a country
use a balloon for spying?
That was the question on everyone’s
mind this week after U.S. defense
officials accused China of flying a high-
altitude surveillance balloon over the
continental United States, prompting
Secretary of State Antony Blinken to
postpone his trip to China. China has
denied the balloon was used for spying,
saying it was used for scientific research Macdonald, a professor and space offensive capability you would rather
and was accidentally knocked off course technology engineer from the University keep secret.”
by westerly winds. of Strathclyde in Scotland. “The motion
of a satellite is very predictable, a balloon Shooting down balloons has proved
A U.S. military aircraft downed the (or other aircraft) offers the chance for an difficult in the past. In 1998, for example,
balloon just off the Atlantic Coast, near unexpected overflight, to catch those you Canadian, British and U.S. fighter jets
the Carolinas, on Saturday. are observing by surprise,” Macdonald unsuccessfully attempted to shoot down a
said in an email. “You might hope to get rogue weather balloon that had forced
But it’s only in the past 10 years or so that something you might not see, or hear, passenger flights to divert.
military attention has returned to from space.”
balloons, according to Michael Clarke, a The U.S. military had better luck this
visiting professor at the Department of Satellites can provide high-resolution time: Fighter aircraft, acting on an order
War Studies at King’s College London, imagery, Clarke said — but balloons can from President Biden, downed the
“because they see how useful they are, or stay over one area for longer periods than Chinese surveillance balloon off the
can be.” satellites, if the weather permits. South Carolina coast on Saturday
afternoon.
“Balloons offer a few advantages over There’s also the cost benefit: A satellite
the use of satellites or drones,” James may cost up to $300 million over its The repercussions of the action remain to
Rogers, an academic at Cornell and the lifetime, according to an estimate from be seen. But shooting down another
University of Southern Denmark, who 2020; even the most high-tech balloon nation’s satellite would be both more
advises the U.N. Security Council on the would be cheaper. challenging and possibly herald an arms
transnational threat of drones, said in an race in space or worse.
email. Macdonald, the professor from the
University of Strathclyde, said that “a The presence of another suspected
“Not only are they cheaper than balloon is very difficult to see on radar, balloon over Latin America only
launching satellites into space, but by although the sensor bay underneath will strengthens Washington’s case that the
operating within the bounds of the earth’s be more visible.” balloons were dispatched deliberately,
atmosphere, closer to the surface, they Clarke said.
can obtain better quality images,” he U.S. officials on Thursday announced
added. The latest generation of balloons they had been tracking the balloon for a Steve Tsang, the director of the China
are high-tech in their own right, couple of days, but waited to shoot it Institute at the University of London’s
“envisaged as systems that can fly up to down until Saturday, citing concerns School of Oriental and African Studies,
90,000 feet” high, “deploy their own about the potential for debris to hit people argued that any spy balloon would
drone systems” and detect incoming or property on the ground. probably be of “symbolic value, showing
missiles. that the Chinese are able to send
Concern about revealing defense something in the air to survey U.S.
Balloons can soar above the range of capabilities might also have factored into military installations.”
most planes, Clarke said, and their slow the delay, Macdonald said.
speed means they aren’t always picked “They’re doing it because for decades the
up by radar. Additional technology or “Had they reacted sooner it would have U.S. [has] been sending spy planes along
paint can help to conceal them further. confirmed to the Chinese that U.S. air the Chinese coast and sometimes over
defenses had seen it,” he said of U.S. Chinese airspace to monitor the Chinese
Balloons also have an advantage over authorities. “If you know where it is, you in ways that they couldn’t do very much
satellites because they are more can mitigate any risk it poses. But, if you about,” he said. “And now they can, so
maneuverable, according to Malcolm shoot it down you might expose an they are.” []
