WASHINGTON (AP) — Navy divers have begun removing pieces of the downed Chinese spy balloon from the depths of the ocean floor on Tuesday, using sophisticated reconnaissance drones dubbed the Kingfish and the Swordfish to locate the debris.
Having recovered all of the white fabric and balloon hull structure found floating on the surface, the Navy has now moved on to a fully underwater search for the remains of the huge balloon that an American fighter jet shot down in the off South Carolina on Saturday. , officials said.
Navy and Coast Guard personnel were using underwater drones to locate and map the debris field, and divers were in the water picking up what they could, officials said.
Debris already collected was being transported by small boats to a few locations in the area, including a Coast Guard station south of Myrtle Beach, and, depending on size, will eventually go to either the FBI lab in Quantico, Va., or at other sites where experts can analyze it, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details of an ongoing military operation.
U.S. Northern Command chief Gen. Glen VanHerck, who is in charge of the recovery effort, and several Biden administration officials will brief members of Congress on the ball on Wednesday and Thursday.
Lawmakers have raised a number of questions about whether the balloon was capable of collecting intelligence and relaying it to China as it traveled east through the United States, after crossing the border from China. Canada to Idaho.
White House and Pentagon officials have largely avoided providing details on the balloon’s capabilities.
Officials said on Tuesday that the United States was well aware of the sites the balloon passed through – including nuclear missile silos and other military installations – and knew how to protect them from any intelligence gathering. Even if the balloon was able to transmit, they said, it was not receiving any new or important information to send.
Officials were unwilling to outline what the United States may have gleaned about the balloon’s collection and transmission capabilities.
The balloon, estimated to be 200 feet (60 meters) high, carried a long array of sensors underneath, which VanHerck said was about the size of a small regional jet.
US counterintelligence teams hope to learn much more about the balloon’s sensors and other equipment as they recover and study it.
The balloon debris is scattered in water about 15 meters deep, but extends over an area 15 football fields long and 15 football fields wide, VanHerck said.
In new footage released Tuesday morning, sailors from Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 can be seen leaning over a rigid hull inflatable boat and pulling large swathes of the balloon’s white outer fabric and hull structure.
VanHerck also said recovery crews are taking precautions to guard against the risk of part of the balloon being rigged with explosives or being unsafe in any way.
A Navy warship, the USS Carter Hall, is leading the recovery effort, aided by three Coast Guard cutters – the Venturous, the Richard Snyder and the Nathan Bruckenthal – as well as the USNS Pathfinder, a ship oceanographic survey. A rescue ship is expected to arrive on Wednesday.
The Pentagon said on Tuesday that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin requested a secure call with his Chinese counterpart, Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe, on Saturday after the balloon was downed.. China declined the request, Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon Press Secretary.
“The lines between our armies are especially important at times like this. … Our commitment to open lines of communication will continue,” Ryder said.
