JUST IN: Chinese Balloon Lifted U.S. Army Efforts to Sense Emerging Threats (UPDATED)
5/23/2023
By Laura Heckmann
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — When a Chinese balloon “floated across the country” nearly four months ago, the Army received “lots and lots of questions” that prompted a sharpened focus on one of Army North’s homeland defense priorities: domain awareness, according to a service leader.
Among the questions were, “How come we couldn’t see this? It’s not that sophisticated — it’s a balloon, right?” said Lt. Gen. John R. Evans, Jr., commander of Army North, at the National Defense Industrial Association’s Science & Engineering Technology Conference Tuesday.
A balloon with a “very small radar cross section, floating at 60,000 feet, moving at 40 knots is not the kind of thing we’re looking for,” Evans said. But it showed Army North maybe it should be.
The incident highlighted a need to optimize sensors “to be able to see the things that you’re looking for,” he added.
https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2023/5/23/army-focused-on-domain-awareness-amid-evolving-threats
