The US shot down an unidentified object flying over Canada on Saturday. This is his second incident in these two days, a week after the Pentagon shot down a Chinese reconnaissance balloon off the coast of the United States.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday afternoon ordered the shooting down of “an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace”, saying the target was aimed over the Yukon.
An American F-22 fighter shot down an unmanned object as part of an operation conducted by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad), the joint US-Canadian command responsible for the defense of the continent.
“I spoke with President Biden this afternoon. Canadian forces will retrieve and analyze the remains of the object. Thank you Norad for watching over North America,” Trudeau posted on Twitter.
The Pentagon said two F-22s monitored the object flying in US airspace late Friday night. He added that the fighter continued to observe the object in conjunction with a Canadian aircraft flying from Alaska to Canada.
The Pentagon said the F-22 fired an AIM 9X missile at the object.
On Friday, the U.S. military said,high altitude objectIt was the size of a car off the coast of Alaska.
Washington and Ottawa remain on high alert following the recent week-long incursions into US and Canadian airspace by large Chinese reconnaissance balloons.
US F-22 last Saturday shot down a Chinese surveillance balloonclaims that China is a civilian aircraft conducting weather research.
The Biden administration on Friday put six Chinese groups linked to Beijing’s spy balloon program on an “entity list,” effectively barring US companies from providing US technology.
Norad and the U.S. Northern Command said U.S. forces are working with the FBI and local police on a recovery operation near Deadhorse, Alaska, to retrieve the wreckage of the object that was shot down on Friday. In a statement, they said the search and rescue operation faced Arctic weather conditions.
Northern Command also continues its rescue operation for a downed Chinese balloon off the coast of South Carolina. The FBI said it was managing debris recovered by Navy divers and underwater drones.
spy balloon drama Efforts to stabilize US-China relations stallhas fallen to its lowest level since diplomatic relations were normalized in 1979.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken canceled visit China At the last minute in response to the balloon invasion and Beijing’s refusal to admit it was a spy ship.
The Pentagon later revealed that China flew three balloons over parts of the United States during the Trump administration and one balloon over U.S. airspace during the previous Biden administration.
Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand said the latest object was shot down about 40,000 feet above central Yukon. She said it looked similar to one shot down on the South Carolina coast, but smaller in size and “cylindrical” in shape.
Anand said the mission consisted of US fighters taking off from Alaska and Canadian fighters taking off from Alberta.
Heino Klink, a former senior Pentagon official and PLA expert, said any ties to China suggest the Chinese military is changing the way it operates.
“If this is all China is doing, it shows that China’s anti-normative behavior is expanding not just geographically, but operationally,” Clink said.
Additional reporting by James Politi of Washington
