Wicker: 'Spy' balloon disaster

BILOXI, Miss. - U.S. Sen.  Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, released a statement Feb. 3 in response to reports of a Chinese spy balloon being downed over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina. “Allowing a spy balloon from the Communist Party of China to travel across the entire continental United States before contesting its presence is a disastrous projection of weakness by the White House,” said Sen. Wicker. “It is clear that standard protocol for defense of U.S. airspace was ignored. ... The White House owes Congress, and the American people, answers about the failure, and I intend to get those answers without delay.” The balloon, which China said was a wandering airship used for meteorological research, made its way across the U.S. loitering over sensitive military sites before being shot down by an Air Force F-22 off the Carolina coast. A recovery mission is currently underway. (WLOX 02/04/23)

F-22 CALL SIGNS NOD TO WWI ACE:

The saga of that Chinese 'spy' came to an end after a pair of F-22 Raptors from Langley AFB, Va., sent it into the ocean. The call signs used by those jets (Frank & Luke) were a nod to an American fighter ace who made his name doing just that during WWI. Frank Luke Jr. received the Medal of Honor for shooting down 14 German balloons during WWI. (Task and Purpose 02/06/23) Frank Luke Jr: WWI ace behind F-22s that downed Chinese spy balloon (taskandpurpose.com)

Naval War College maritime strategist's opinion on 'spy' balloon

"I guess that the Chinese balloon sighted over Montana and Missouri this week ... was a trial balloon. It "may have gathered intelligence about military doings on the surface below, but that was a mere bonus. If I’m right, Beijing’s chief reason for floating a balloon over North America was to see whether it would elicit a response from the U.S. government and military, as well as from the American people. And so it did, judging from the subsequent uproar in the press and on social media." (19FortyFive opinion piece 02/04/23) That Downed Chinese Balloon Wasn’t Exactly For Spying. It Was a ‘Trial’ Balloon (msn.com) 

Dr. James Holmes is J. C. Wylie Chair of Maritime Strategy at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, R.I., and a Nonresident Fellow at the Brute Krulak Center for Innovation & Future Warfare, Marine Corps University. The views voiced here are his alone.