Washington (EFE).- The US Navy publishes several photos of the recovery of the remains of the Chinese spy balloon, which the US armed forces shot down on Saturday in waters near South Carolina.
In the four snapshots released, soldiers of the Maritime Force can be seen on board a boat at the moment in which they recover a kind of white canvas that has a metal structure attached.
In one of the photos you can see a military frigate next to the boat in the background.
The Navy indicated on its social networks that the photos were taken last Sunday next to Myrtle Beach, in South Carolina.
The search for the Chinese spy balloon
The US is searching an area equivalent to 15 fields by 15 football fields for the remains of the Chinese spy balloon it blew up over the Atlantic on Saturday, the head of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said Monday. ), Gen. Glen VanHerck.
VanHerck explained in a call with journalists that the USS Carter Hall Navy ship, which is located near the place where the balloon plunged into the sea, is participating in the rescue efforts, along with a Pathfinder vessel, which has a sonar, which will help create a map of the area.
“We expect the wreckage area to be about 1,500 meters by 1,500 meters in magnitude, which is more than 15 football fields by 15 football fields,” VanHerck said.
US President Joe Biden was notified a week ago that a Chinese spy balloon was flying through the country’s airspace and since then it has been flying for several days until it was shot down off the coast of South Carolina.
US admiral advocates renewing the nuclear triad
Retired Admiral Harry Harris, former head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, pleads before a congressional committee for a modernization of the country’s nuclear triad in the face of the Chinese threat.
“The most important capability” the US needs to upgrade right now is “nuclear deterrence,” which is costly, Harris said in a session before the House Armed Services Committee on “the pressing threat of Chinese Communist Party to the US National Defense».
He recalled that Beijing has the project of “a national rejuvenation by 2049”, when the centenary of the modern People’s Republic of China is celebrated, which will be highlighted with “a nuclear capacity” in 2027.
He also stressed that 2027 is “the window” established by Admiral Philip Davidson, who was also head of the Indo-Pacific Command, of a possible attack by China against Taiwan, although, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff indicated last week, General Mark Milley, did not rule out that it could be in 2025.
Harris noted that 2027 will be the 100th anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, “another important milestone.” At this time, “it behooves us to modernize our nuclear arsenal as well, to keep up, we don’t want to create a situation where China or another country can conceive of a successful attack,” he said.
The admiral was convinced that in the next decade there will be a growing threat of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “When I was active, I used to say that the dangerous decade was the 2020s, but I did not specify a year,” he stressed.