- A top US general said the US military could use balloons for surveillance in the Middle East.
- His comments come after the US downed a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina.
- The Pentagon revealed a few days later that China operates a global balloon network.
The US military is considering the use balloons to collect intelligence and track targets in the Middle East, a top US Air Force general said on Monday following revelations that China has built a global network of surveillance balloons, some of which appear to have been spotted previously in the Middle East.
Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the commander of US Air Forces Central Command (AFCENT), detailed how the US and its partners are able to use sensors to detect and track adversarial aircraft and drones during an event hosted by the Center for New American Security. AFCENT is the air wing of US Central Command (CENTCOM), the area of responsibility for which covers 21 countries in the Middle East and Central and South Asia.
Grynkewich said that although there are gaps in regional coverage, the military is exploring innovative ways to cover any shortcomings — like deploying early warning radars, as well as "non-traditional" approaches.
"Ways that we might do that are long-endurance airborne platforms — could be balloons that we own, that we would like to put sensors on. We're looking at experimenting in that space — we haven't done any of that yet," Grynkewich said.
He said the military is also considering other "high-altitude airborne platforms" that can stay in the sky for a longer period of time than the formidable MQ-9 Reaper drone, which played a significant role for the US in Afghanistan. This system, which is equipped with combat and surveillance capabilities, has an operational ceiling of 50,000 feet and a 27-hour endurance. It can be armed with Hellfire missiles, and has the capability to execute strike missions and gather information.
"We're looking at that as well, and there could be ground systems and a whole list of other things," Grynkewich said.
The general's comments come a little over a week after the US shot down a high-altitude Chinese surveillance balloon that had crossed over the continental US, fueling tensions between Washington and Beijing. A US Air Force F-22 Raptor fired a single AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missile into the balloon on February 4 as it was operating at an altitude of above 60,000 feet, sending the system crashing into waters off the coast of South Carolina.
The Pentagon later revealed that the Chinese balloon is part of a broader global network that Beijing operates. US officials said that the program, which has been active for years, is aimed at collecting intelligence on other militaries and extends across five continents and dozens of countries.
When asked on Monday about the extent to which Chinese balloon are an issue in CENTCOM's area of responsibility, Grynkewich said the military has seen high-altitude balloons in the region before, but that they have "not been a threat." He said "they have not been something of concern for us."