According to NBC News, the Chinese balloon that entered US airspace in late January and was shot down days later managed to collect intelligence data from several US military installations, according to two officials and a former US Administration official. The media outlet reports that China has the capability to control the balloon and that it flew over several installations, transmitting data to Beijing in real time. The article reads that the information collected “was primarily from electronic signals, which can be gathered from weapons systems or include communications from base personnel.”
Officials said the US made efforts to prevent the data collection, without which China could have obtained more information. The balloon from China flew over the Aleutian Islands in the Bering Sea and across Alaska and Canada before entering the US state of Montana, which is home to one of three nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base. After being reported on February 1, the balloon continued to move across the country until it was shot down on the east coast three days later.
Initially, Washington opted not to shoot it down, citing safety risks associated with a possible fall of debris, and waited until it flew over the Atlantic. The news of China’s data collection adds to concerns about Beijing’s increasing military activity in the Pacific region.