DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ U.S. military completes recovery of Chinese balloon downed off South Carolina
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The U.S. military said on Friday it had successfully concluded recovery efforts off South Carolina for a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon shot down by a U.S. fighter jet, and the last of the debris was being shipped to a laboratory for analysis. Recovery operations concluded on Thursday and Navy and Coast Guard vessels have left the area and safety perimeters around the site have been lifted, the statement said. The U.S. military said earlier this week it had recovered all of the priority sensor and electronics pieces identified as well as large sections of the balloon's structure. The Chinese balloon, which Beijing denies was a government spy vessel, spent a week flying over the United States and Canada before being shot down off the Atlantic coast on orders from President Joe Biden. The episode has strained ties between Washington and Beijing, leading America's top diplomat to postpone a trip to China.

But U.S. and Canadian authorities also announced they had called off searches for three unidentified objects shot down over last weekend, without locating any debris. The last of the debris from the Chinese balloon, which was downed by a Sidewinder missile, is heading to an FBI laboratory in Virginia for analysis, the U.S. military's Northern Command said. Reuters was first to report the conclusion of the recovery efforts for the suspected Chinese spy balloon, which were halted on Thursday. Kirby said the United States had already learned a lot about the balloon by observing it as it flew over the United States. "We will maintain the perspective that we have in terms of what should be the relationship between China and the United States," she said.

☆ The mystery objects shot down by US fighter jets were 'most likely' harmless civilian objects, Biden says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Three mysterious objects were shot down by the US military in North American airspace last weekend. The three unidentified objects are "most likely" just civilian objects, he said on Thursday. Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Feb. 5, 2023. Biden on Thursday also said he's directed his team to create "sharper rules" for dealing with unidentified objects moving forward, distinguishing between those that pose a security risk and those that don't. In total, four objects — one Chinese surveillance balloon and the three smaller objects that remain unidentified — have been shot down over North American airspace since early February.

WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Monday it had recovered critical electronics from the suspected Chinese spy balloon downed by a U.S. fighter jet off South Carolina's coast on Feb. 4, including key sensors presumably used for intelligence gathering. The Chinese balloon, which Beijing denies was a government spy vessel, spent a week flying over the United States and Canada before President Joe Biden ordered it shot down. The U.S. military has said that targeting the latest objects has been more difficult than shooting down the Chinese spy balloon, given the smaller size and the objects' lack of a traditional radar signature. Austin said the U.S. military has not yet recovered any debris from the three most recent objects shot down, one of which fell off the coast of Alaska in ice and snow. But Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday that the four aerial objects shot down in recent days were somehow connected, without elaborating.

☆ An F-16 fighter jet missed on its first try to shoot down a mysterious object over Lake Huron, top US general says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

An F-16 fired an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile to take down a flying object over Lake Huron on Sunday. "On the fourth one, over Lake Huron, the first shot missed, the second shot hit," Milley said in response to a reporter's question, confirming earlier reports. "And in this case, the missile landed harmlessly in the water of Lake Huron. Sunday's operation marked the fourth instance in about a week in which a US Air Force fighter jet shot down a flying object over North American airspace. The general leading North American Aerospace Defense Command and US Northern Command offered an explanation on Sunday for why there has been a seemingly sudden increase in flying objects appearing over North American airspace.

☆ The newest Sidewinders have become 'the weapons of choice' against unidentified objects over the US, top general says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

To shoot them down, the jets have used the newest version of the Sidewinder missile, the AIM-9X. The high-tech AIM-9X is the best suited to take down the low-tech objects, a top US general says. But the US Air Force F-22 and F-16 fighters that destroyed a Chinese spy balloon and three other unidentified objects didn't use their 20 mm cannon. Instead, they used heat-seeking AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. US airmen move an AIM-9X missile to an F-22 at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida in September 2021.

☆ Here's why mysterious flying objects are suddenly popping up all over the place, according to the military command that's been shooting them down
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Jake Epstein | Grace Eliza Goodwin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Four suspicious flying objects have been shot down over North American skies in recent days. NORAD changed its radar filters to help spot smaller, slower objects after a Chinese spy balloon drifted over the US. The command has changed the way it looks for them and is now finding more of these objects. Since the US Air Force shot down the Chinese balloon in early February, fighter jets have downed three additional airborne objects. US officials said this object was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet and posed a threat to civilian aircraft.

WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force general overseeing North American airspace said on Sunday after a series of shoot-downs of unidentified objects that he would not rule out aliens or any other explanation yet, deferring to U.S. intelligence experts. It was the third unidentified flying object to be knocked out of the sky by U.S. warplanes since Friday, following the Feb. 4 downing of a suspected Chinese weather balloon that put North American air defenses on high alert. "We're calling them objects, not balloons, for a reason, said VanHerck, who is head of the joint U.S.-Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and the U.S. Air Force Northern Command. However, the government's effort to investigate anomalous, unidentified objects — whether they are in space, the skies or even underwater — has led to hundreds of reports that are being investigated, senior military leaders have said. But so far, the Pentagon has not found evidence to indicate Earthly visits from intelligent alien life, those officials have said.

☆ US general refuses to rule out aliens after third suspicious flying object is shot down by the military over its airspace
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The US has shot down three objects flying over North America in as many days. A top US general said he wasn't ruling out an extra-terrestrial origin for the objects. It comes after the US shot down a spy balloon it alleged was sent by China. The remarks come after the US military shot down three objects flying in North American airspace over the last 3 days. An object flying at high altitude had been shot down on Biden's orders over northern Alaska Friday, while another was downed over Yukon in north-western Canada Saturday.

☆ 3 suspicious objects have been downed across North America this week. Officials have no idea where 2 of the UAP came from and the pilots who shot them down can't agree on what they even look like.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

US fighter aircraft shot down an object threatening airspace over Alaska yesterday. On Saturday, another unknown object, described as "cylindrical," was shot down over Canada. Here is what we know about the object shot down on Friday. The object shot down on Saturday was spotted in the Northern Canadian territory of Yukon. It is unclear if the object shot down off the Alaskan coast was of similar size or shape.

☆ A new high-altitude flying object shot down over Northern Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to media in the House of Commons foyer on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada February 1, 2023. "Earlier today, President Biden spoke with Prime Minister Trudeau on the unidentified, unmanned object in North American air space," according to a statement from the White House. According to U.S. Northern Command, recovery operations continued Saturday on sea ice near Deadhorse, Alaska. In a statement, the Northern Command said there were no new details on what the object was. Additional debris was pulled out Friday, and operations will continue as weather permits, Northern Command said.

The Pentagon said the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) detected the object over Alaska late Friday evening. U.S. fighter jets from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, monitored the object as it crossed over into Canadian airspace, where Canadian CF-18 and CP-140 aircraft joined the formation. "A U.S. F-22 shot down the object in Canadian territory using an AIM 9X missile following close coordination between U.S. and Canadian authorities," Pentagon spokesman Brig. U.S. President Joe Biden authorized the U.S. military to work with Canada to take down the high-altitude craft after a call between Biden and Trudeau, the Pentagon said. Some U.S. lawmakers criticized Biden for not shooting down the Chinese balloon sooner.

☆ US fighter aircraft shot down an 'object' threatening flights over Alaska just days after downing a Chinese spy balloon
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Jake Epstein | Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

The US military recently shot down an unidentified object in US airspace over Alaska, a senior official said Friday. "I can confirm that the Department of Defense was tracking a high-altitude object over Alaska airspace in the last 24 hours. On that order, a fighter jet assigned to US Northern Command shot down the object off the northeastern part of Alaska, near the Canadian border. "We do not know who owns it, whether it's state owned or corporate owned or privately owned. This incident comes nearly a week after a US Air Force F-22 fighter jet fired a single AIM 9X air-to-air missile to take down a high-altitude Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina.

WASHINGTON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - A U.S. fighter jet on Friday shot down over Alaska a high-altitude object that was the size of a small car, on the order of President Joe Biden, the White House said on Friday. White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters many details were unknown about the object but the United States expected to recover the object after it landed in U.S. territorial waters. The United States on Feb. 4 shot down off the coast of South Carolina a Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon that transited the United States. He said that, unlike the Chinese balloon, this object did not appear to be maneuverable and was at the mercy of the wind. The official said the territorial waters where the object went down are frozen.

☆ US officials say getting their hands on China's spy balloon was a 'key' reason for shooting it down near a South Carolina beach
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

US officials say balloons have crossed over the US before as part of a wider Chinese surveillance program. The eight-day wait and the sensitivity of those bases have alarmed lawmakers, who called defense officials to Capitol Hill on Thursday to explain their handling of the incident. US sailors recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off of Myrtle Beach on February 5. US sailors recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off of Myrtle Beach on February 5. A Chinese spy balloon drifts to the ocean after being shot down off the South Carolina coast on February 4.

☆ The US military didn't know if the missile that took out a Chinese spy balloon would work when an F-22 took the shot, commander says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Jake Epstein | Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

An F-22 downed a Chinese spy balloon on Saturday with a single AIM-9X Sidewinder missile. But the Pentagon wasn't sure if the missile would work when the pilot fired it, a top commander said. US Marines transport an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile at Iwakuni in Japan in September. Weapons evaluators for the Air Force could not immediately address Insider's inquiry on the matter. The AIM-120, on the other hand, is a "new generation" missile that succeeded the AIM-7 Sparrow, according to the Air Force.

WASHINGTON—The military command in charge of U.S. air defenses failed to detect suspected Chinese surveillance balloons before the recent intrusion and learned about them later from intelligence agencies, the general overseeing the command said Monday, acknowledging a gap in defenses. Gen. Glen VanHerck , commander of Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, contrasted those previous lapses in detecting balloons with the airship the military tracked and shot down Saturday. He described a surveillance gap and said the U.S. is trying to determine why the earlier flights went undetected.

☆ Photos capture the moment US Navy sailors pulled the downed Chinese balloon out of the ocean
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Newly released photos show US sailors pulling a downed Chinese spy balloon out of the ocean. Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Feb. 5, 2023. Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Feb. 5, 2023. It then traveled southeast across the continental US before it was downed off the Coast of South Carolina. Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Feb. 5, 2023.

[1/2] The suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts to the ocean after being shot down off the coast in Surfside Beach, South Carolina, U.S. February 4, 2023. REUTERS/Randall HillWASHINGTON, Feb 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Sunday it is searching for remnants of the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon it shot down the previous day, in a dramatic spy saga that has further strained American-Chinese relations. A successful recovery could potentially give the United States insight into China's spying capabilities, though U.S. officials have downplayed the balloon's impact on national security. Democrats said Biden's decision to wait to shoot down the balloon until it had passed over the United States protected civilians from debris crashing to Earth. The Pentagon will brief senators on the balloon and Chinese surveillance on Feb. 15, Schumer said.

☆ U.S. military searches for balloon remnants as China urges restraint
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A successful recovery could potentially give the United States insight into China's spying capabilities, though U.S. officials have downplayed the balloon's impact on national security. A U.S. fighter jet shot down the balloon in the Atlantic off South Carolina on Saturday, a response China described as an "obvious overreaction". Brokerage ING said in a Monday note that the incident could exacerbate the "tech war" and would have negative near-term impact on China's yuan currency. "This new risk is more of a long-term risk than an imminent one," ING said. China's yuan fell to a low of 6.8077 per dollar in early Monday trading, touching the weakest level in nearly a month.

WASHINGTON, Feb 6 (Reuters) - A senior U.S. general responsible for bringing down a Chinese spy balloon said on Monday the military had not detected previous spy balloons before the one that appeared on Jan. 28 over the United States and called it an "awareness gap." The Pentagon said over the weekend that Chinese spy balloons had briefly flown over the United States at least three times during President Donald Trump's administration and one previously under President Joe Biden. He did not provide details on previous balloons, including where over the United States they flew. Senior U.S. officials have offered to brief individuals from the previous administration on the details of previous balloons overflights when Trump was president. A U.S. Air Force fighter jet shot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon off the South Carolina coast on Saturday, a week after it first entered U.S. airspace and triggered a dramatic -- and public -- spying saga that worsened Sino-U.S. relations.

☆ Meet the 'Arizona Balloon Buster,' the ace WWI pilot famous for shooting down enemy balloons on 'suicide' missions
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

For his efforts in the skies above the battlefield, Luke became famous as the "Arizona Balloon Buster," according to the US Air Force. Shortly after the US entered World War I in the spring of 1917, the 20-year-old enlisted in the military and trained to become a pilot. These expensive assets were protected by anti-aircraft guns and aircraft, so trying to attack them was "practically suicide," the Air Force said. American World War I fighter ace, Frank Luke Jr (1897 - 1918), with his SPAD S.XIII biplane, France, 18th September 1918. Luke Air Force Base in Arizona is named after Frank Luke Jr., and the ace pilot also has a statue in Phoenix.

Beijing condemned the shooting down of the balloon as an "obvious overreaction" and urged Washington to show restraint. Some U.S. Republicans have questioned why the balloon was not shot down before it was allowed to travel across the United States. Senior U.S. officials have offered to brief former Trump administration officials on the details of what the White House said were three China balloon overflights when Donald Trump was president. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China learned its balloon had drifted over the United States after being notified by Washington. On Sunday, Colombia's military said it sighted an airborne object similar to a balloon after the Pentagon said on Friday another Chinese balloon was flying over Latin America.

☆ U.S. working to recover suspected Chinese spy balloon
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Feb 5 (Reuters) - The United States is working to recover a suspected Chinese spy balloon that was shot down off the coast of South Carolina, according to a statement released by the Pentagon on Sunday. "Our U.S. Navy component is currently conducting recovery operations, with the U.S. Coast Guard assisting in securing the area and maintaining public safety," General Glen VanHerck, commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, said. China says the airship was used for meteorological and other scientific purposes. Reporting by Costas Pitas in Los Angeles; Editing by Lisa ShumakerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Search resuls for: "Northern Command"

25 mentions found