The downing of the Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday marked the first time the US military downed a foreign aircraft over American soil since World War II.
A military warplane shot down the floating drone as it flew six nautical miles across the Atlantic on Saturday, ending a dramatic saga that spotlighted deteriorating China-US relations.
“We successfully mined it, and I want to compliment our Airmen who did it,” President Joe Biden said. Biden said he gave orders Wednesday to take down the balloon, but the Pentagon recommended waiting until it could be done over open water.
The military has not been compelled to destroy a foreign aircraft since a Japanese air raid on US Navy ships at Dutch Harbor, Alaska, in July 1942, when a fighter jet was shot down.
US Navy personnel inspecting the downed Akutan Zeo in June 1942
The incident has become known as Akutan Zero. On June 4, 1942, a Model 21 Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter jet was shot down by anti-aircraft fire from the 206th Coastal Artillery Regiment defending the port.
A shot severed the jet’s oil line, forcing 19-year-old pilot Tadayoshi Koga to crash-land in the waters off Alaska’s Akutan Islands. Koga died on impact, possibly from a broken neck.
The aircraft has since been recovered intact and its discovery has been described as “an almost priceless prize for the United States” for revealing priceless Japanese military secrets.
The Japanese pilots had been ordered to destroy any Zero fighters shot down, but in this case the mission participants decided against it because they did not know if their comrade was still alive.
Between 1942 and 1945, the US Navy’s Bureau of Aeronautics conducted extensive tests on the jet to determine its range, armor, and fuselage structure. According to the History Channel, it was destroyed in a training accident in 1945.
Less than a year earlier, US pilots George Welch, then 23, and Kenneth Taylor, then 21, managed to get airborne during the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor and successfully shut down at least six Japanese planes.
A total of five more Luftwaffe aircraft were able to take off from the ground and help push back the Japanese forces.
For her efforts, Taylor received the Purple Heart for bravery, while Welch was nominated for the Medal of Honor but was allegedly turned down for starting without proper authorization, according to History.com.
The secrets revealed by the Akutan Zero helped turn the tide of the Pacific War in America’s favor
Less than a year earlier, US pilots George Welch, then 23, and Kenneth Taylor, then 21, managed to get airborne during the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor and successfully shut down at least six Japanese planes
A total of five more Luftwaffe aircraft were able to take off from the ground and help push back the Japanese forces
For her efforts, Taylor received the Purple Heart for bravery, while Welch was nominated for the Medal of Honor but was reportedly turned down for starting without proper clearance
Several fighter and refueling aircraft were involved in the mission when the Chinese balloon was launched, but only one — an F-22 fighter jet — fired a single AIM-9X missile, a senior US military official said.
The shooting came shortly after the US government ordered flights to and from three South Carolina airports, Wilmington, Myrtle Beach and Charleston, to be suspended due to an undisclosed “national security effort” at the time.
Flights resumed on Saturday afternoon.
The balloon first entered a U.S. identification zone on Jan. 28, entered Canadian airspace three days later, and re-entered U.S. airspace on Jan. 31, a U.S. defense official said.
US officials publicly announced the balloon’s presence over the United States on Thursday. It has since been called a “clear violation” of US sovereignty.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin first announced the launch, saying the balloon would be used by China “to try to patrol strategic locations in the continental United States.”
The GOP has expressed outrage at the presence of the balloon and the lack of transparency from the Biden administration.
Republican MP Nicole Malliotakis told : “Communist China’s surveillance balloon violates international law and threatens our homeland. It is an outrage that the Biden administration spotted this balloon days ago flying over the Aleutian Islands and did nothing about it.
The recently re-elected congresswoman added, “The President has not even commented on this unacceptable act of CCP aggression.
“Whether it’s our border or our airspace, Congress must take action to protect it because it’s clear this President won’t do it,” she continued.
While the GOP Twitter account of the House Judiciary tweeted, “Joe Biden knew the Chinese spy balloon was coming. Tried to hide it from the American people. Let it fly over the ENTIRE COUNTRY.’
The message added: “And only after the whole country asked him to act, our great military shot it down. Awkward. Gruesome. Sad.’
Foreign Minister Antony Blinken canceled his trip to China at the last minute on Friday. In statements about the balloon, the Secretary of State called it an “irresponsible act” and called it a “clear violation of US sovereignty and international law.”
Blinken, who was due to leave Washington for Beijing late Friday, said he told senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi in a phone call that sending the balloon through the US was “an irresponsible act and[China’s]decision to allow that measure.” seize the eve of my visit is detrimental to the substantive discussions we were prepared to engage in.’