A flying machine was shot down over the Yukon on Saturday, on the orders of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. This is the third unidentified aircraft destroyed in North American airspace in a week.
Detected by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the craft was flying at high altitude over Canadian territory.
In the past week, three aircraft have been shot down in North American airspace, a series of exceptional incidents difficult to explain, according to experts.
“I ordered the grounding of an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace. THE [NORAD] shot down the object over the Yukon,” Justin Trudeau said on Twitter.
Earlier, he spoke with US President Joe Biden about the object that was shot down by a US fighter jet and whose debris will be recovered for analysis.
As an added precaution and on the recommendation of their armies, President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau authorized the shooting down of the object.
The White House, in a press release
No details about the device, such as its capabilities, function or origin, have been released, but according to sources from the Global News network, which first reported the news, it could be a spy balloon.
At a press conference on Saturday evening, the Minister of National Defense, Anita Anand, specified that the “cylindrical” object flew at an altitude of 40,000 feet and “constituted a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flights”.
An exceptional series of incidents
This is the second flying object shot down in North American airspace in less than 24 hours. On Friday, the United States destroyed an unidentified aircraft over Alaska, near the Canadian border. The size of a “small car”, the craft flew at an altitude of about 12,000 meters and posed “a threat to the safety of air traffic”, said John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council. of the White House.
PHOTO CHAD FISH, ASSOCIATED PRESS
The first Chinese balloon, spotted last week in Canadian and American airspace, and shot down by Washington last Saturday
Search and recovery activities continue near Deadhorse, but severe weather conditions, including wind and snow, are complicating operations, NORAD said Saturday.
According to the director of the Interuniversity Research Center on International Relations of Canada and Quebec, Stéphane Roussel, what has been happening for a week is exceptional. ” It is troubling. This is no longer an isolated incident, ”notes the one who is also a full professor at the National School of Public Administration.
Remember that a first Chinese balloon was shot down on February 4 by Washington off the Atlantic coast. According to the Pentagon, the machine had flown over sensitive military sites. For its part, Beijing claimed to have used the aircraft “for research purposes, mainly meteorological”, but according to images captured by American military planes, the balloon was well equipped with spy tools. This diplomatic clash had led the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken to postpone a rare visit to China.
Were the last aircraft shot down also Chinese spy balloons? It is quite possible, even if it is too early to affirm it with certainty, believes Mr. Roussel. “We suspect it, because the first ball was Chinese, and China recognized that it was its own,” he explains.
Grounds
But why would China suddenly start sending balloons to Canada and the United States? It is more difficult to answer this question.
“Does it have a political motivation? Is it preparing for some form of action against Taiwan? Why now ? What is she trying to do? It’s just as disturbing,” said University of Calgary political science professor Robert Huebert, who recalls that balloons have flown over the United States in the past, according to US officials.
From a strategic point of view, the devices could be used to test the NORAD detection system. The organization was created during the Cold War so that Canadian and American air forces, which feared a Soviet attack, would share a joint command, recalls Mr. Huebert. Its main mission: to detect and intercept any aerial threat against Canada and the United States.
[Le NORAD] was and remains a major component of nuclear defense for North America. You don’t want your enemies to know your abilities.
Robert Huebert, professor in the department of political science at the University of Calgary
“Is this provocation? Do we want to test the reaction of NORAD? Turn on speed cameras? I don’t know”, asks Stéphane Roussel in turn.
The chosen technology – a weather balloon – is also amazing, he notes. The device, which is generally used to collect measurements in the atmosphere, “is not considered a threat”.
“It seems that, and again, we have to be careful about what we say, the Chinese have understood that this is a way to gather intelligence on the United States. Today, the Chinese have satellites that provide them with information. Do weather balloons provide them with something else they are looking for? “says Mr. Huebert.