NEW: Chinese spy balloon that flew across the U.S. was able to gather intelligence from several sensitive American military sites, according to two current senior U.S. officials and one former senior administration official.
that flew across the U.S. was able to gather intelligence from several sensitive American military sites, despite the Biden administration’s efforts to block it from doing so, according to two current senior U.S. officials and one former senior administration official.
The National Security Council referred NBC News to the Defense Department for comment. The Defense Department directed NBC News to comments from February in which senior officials said the balloon had “limited additive value” for intelligence collection by the Chinese government “over and above what [China] is likely able to collect through things like satellites in low earth orbit.”
After the balloon was shot down in February, Biden administration officials said it was capable of collecting signals intelligence.The balloon had a self-destruct mechanism that could have been activated remotely by China, but the officials said it’s not clear if that didn’t happen because the mechanism malfunctioned or because China decided not to trigger it.
The U.S. shot down the balloon on Feb. 4 off the coast of South Carolina, and officials are still analyzing the debris that was retrieved.
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