The U.S. Department of Defense has announced that an F-22 fighter jet shot down a Chinese balloon over the water off the coast of South Carolina. It was within United States airspace.
Senior defense officials revealed that an F-22 stealth fighter jet fired an air-to-air missile at the balloon, which fell to the water below.
The officials say that recovery work is now underway to collect the debris that is widely scattered over an area of about 11 kilometers.
U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters that he had ordered the Pentagon on Wednesday to shoot it down safely as soon as possible.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Saturday the unmanned airship was being used to surveil strategic sites on the U.S. mainland.
China's foreign ministry has expressed “strong dissatisfaction and protest” against the United States.
China had described the balloon as a “civilian airship” used mainly for weather research.
Senior defense officials revealed that an F-22 stealth fighter jet fired an air-to-air missile at the balloon, which fell to the water below.
The officials say that recovery work is now underway to collect the debris that is widely scattered over an area of about 11 kilometers.
U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters that he had ordered the Pentagon on Wednesday to shoot it down safely as soon as possible.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Saturday the unmanned airship was being used to surveil strategic sites on the U.S. mainland.
China's foreign ministry has expressed “strong dissatisfaction and protest” against the United States.
China had described the balloon as a “civilian airship” used mainly for weather research.
◆stealth ひそかなやり方、内密な行為 when you do something very quietly, slowly, or secretly, so that no one notices you/a system of making military aircraft that cannot be discovered by radar instruments
◆recovery 回収する when you get something back that has been taken or lost
◆debris（破壊されたものの）残骸、破片、がれき the pieces of something that are left after it has been destroyed in an accident, explosion etc
◆the Pentagon 国防総省 the building in Washington DC from which the army, navy etc of the US are controlled, or the military officers who work in this building. It is called the Pentagon because it has a five-sided shape. On 11 September 2001 it was attacked by terrorists who flew a plane filled with passengers into it. 189 people were killed, including the 64 people who were on the plane.
◆unmanned 無人の an unmanned spacecraft does not have a person inside it/ if a place is unmanned, nobody is working there
◆surveil 監視する、偵察する false information which is given deliberately in order to hide the truth or confuse people, especially in political situations → misinformation