The high-altitude Chinese balloon that traveled over the United States in the past week was equipped to “collect and geolocate” communications signals, according to the U.S. Department of State and published reports.
Chinese officials have claimed that the balloon was a “civilian airship” used for weather research. A senior State Department official said that the balloon “was capable of conducting signals intelligence collection operations” and that the equipment it was carrying “was clearly for intelligence surveillance and inconsistent with the equipment onboard weather balloons. It had multiple antennas [including] an array likely capable of collecting and geolocating communications. It was equipped with solar panels large enough to produce the requisite power to operate multiple active intelligence collection sensors,” the official added, according to a report by CNN.
Department of Defense officials have said that the balloon “was being used by the PRC in an attempt to surveil strategic sites in the continental United States.” A State Department official has also indicated that as the balloon traversed U.S. airspace, the department both tracked it and made sure that it did not conduct activities or allow unsecure communications on the ground in the vicinity of the balloon.
Signals intelligence (SigInt) is a well-established method of surveillance used by many countries, including the U.S., and it can provide information about the location of active communications systems, radars and weapons systems that can be gleaned for information about military capabilities.
Ultimately, the balloon was shot down by the U.S. Air Force about six miles off the coast of North Carolina, in about 50 feet of water, and then collected.
“This was an irresponsible act, in response to which we acted responsibly and prudently to protect our interests,” Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said this week. Blinken canceled a diplomatic trip to China in the wake of the balloon incident. He said that the U.S. is analyzing the pieces of the balloon to learn more about the surveillance program. “We will pair … what we learn from the balloon itself with what we’ve gleaned based on our careful observation of the system when it was in our airspace,” Blinken said, adding that the U.S. is already sharing related information with “dozens of countries around the world” “The United States was not the only target of this broader program, which has violated the sovereignty of countries across five continents,” Blinken said.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said during a briefing on Monday that the U.S. “trained quite a bit of capabilities of our own at this high-altitude surveillance balloon while it was violating our airspace. We learned quite a bit about it and the practice in general, the technology that was on board.” In addition to the balloon remnants collected from the surface of the ocean, scanning equipment is also being used to collect any pieces from the sea floor and officials said that citizens should be aware that pieces could possibly wash on-shore as well.
“This was a unique opportunity for us to observe this balloon and its characteristics very closely as it traveled over the United States, and needless to say — and I won’t go into details — we gained a lot of information on this and I believe we’ll continue to gain more information on this,” Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said during a briefing on Wednesday.
