‘We’re going to take care of it’: Biden vows to deal with Chinese spy balloon as source says military will try to shoot it down over the Atlantic when it exits east coast above the Carolinas after noon today – so it can be captured and studied
DAILYMAIL.COM
The President told reporters, ‘We’re gonna take of it,’ as he left Air Force One with his son Hunter at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, upstate NY
The aircraft – which has passed over a sensitive nuclear missile site in Montana dubbed America’s ‘Doomsday Base’ – is headed towards the Carolinas
The Pentagon is planning a shoot down and capture mission over US waters
Joe Biden today vowed to ‘take care of’ the Chinese spy balloon passing over the US as a source revealed the military is planning to shoot it down above the Atlantic. The President told reporters, ‘We’re gonna take of it,’ as he left Air Force One with his son Hunter this morning at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, upstate NY. The surveillance aircraft – which has passed over a nuclear missile base in Montana – is headed for the Carolinas and is due to exit the east coast this afternoon. The White House decided against shooting the balloon down over home soil amid fears for American lives and sparking an international incident, a senior US official said. Now Pentagon officials are planning to shoot the balloon down so that it lands in US territorial waters. The action will require a substantial localized airspace shutdown in order to protect civilians, the source told ABC. Spy balloons usually operate at altitudes of up to 120,000ft, but the Chinese aircraft has descended to around 46,000ft, meaning it is well within striking distance for an F-22 Raptor which can soar to 65,000ft. However, the mission is fraught with complexity. In 1998, the Canadian air force sent up F-18 fighter jets to try and shoot down a rogue weather balloon. They fired a thousand 20-millimeter cannon rounds into it before it finally sank six days later.
