China has a global spy balloon operation collecting intel on other countries' militaries, including 'strategic bases' in the US, officials say

• The downed Chinese surveillance balloon is part of a global network, US officials say.
• According to multiple reports, the systems gather intelligence on other countries' militaries for possible conflict or periods of high tension.

The Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon that a US fighter jet recently shot down is part of a broader global operation carried out by Beijing, US officials have revealed, and their mission has been to collect data on various militaries.

A stealth F-22 Raptor fired a single air-to-air missile at the Chinese balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday after the surveillance asset spent the previous few days floating southeast across the continental US. The downing of the balloon sent debris plummeting over 60,000 feet into the Atlantic Ocean. In the aftermath, Pentagon officials revealed that this was not an isolated incident.

"We are aware that there have been four previous balloons that have gone over US territory. This is what we assess is part of a larger Chinese surveillance balloon program," Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters at a Wednesday briefing. "This is a program that's operated for several years."

Ryder said the purpose of the Chinese surveillance balloons was to study "strategic sites," including "strategic bases" in the continental US. The general added that the scope of this program extends across five continents and includes regions like Latin America, South America, Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Europe.

This global surveillance operation has been collecting intelligence on other countries' militaries in case there's an increase in tensions or if a conflict erupts, according to multiple reports, citing multiple US officials. The Chinese balloon program has gathered information on military assets belonging to the Philippines, Japan, Vietnam, India, and Taiwan, the Washington Post reported.

Some of these countries border the strategic South China Sea, where Beijing has made sweeping territorial claims and built-up its military presence in the region. It has also increased its aggressive behavior toward the self-ruling democratic island of Taiwan, actions which the Pentagon has described as "provocative and destabilizing."

Ryder said on Wednesday that in previous cases where the balloons were spotted above the US they were not actually identified as surveillance systems, but follow-up intelligence analysis later allowed the US to determine that the balloons were of Chinese origin. It was not immediately clear when, exactly, previous balloons in other regions were determined to be Chinese surveillance devices.

"We're confident that what we've learned about this program enables us to be able to monitor and be on the lookout for these capabilities," Ryder said.

A senior US defense official said last weekend that the most recent Chinese balloon entered the US Air Defense Identification Zone on January 28 and passed into the country's airspace over Alaska. Two days later, it entered Canadian airspace before re-entering US airspace on January 31 over the Pacific Northwest.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said President Joe Biden authorized the military on February 1 to shoot down the balloon as soon as it could be done without risking the lives of those below. On Saturday, the US Air Force F-22 fired the AIM-9X Sidewinder missile to take down the balloon as it was operating between 60,000 and 65,000 feet, while the US Navy worked to recover debris from the water.

China's foreign ministry lashed out at the US for downing the balloon, calling the move "unacceptable and irresponsible." US officials have pushed back on this, stating that the balloon violated sovereign airspace and that the military acted accordingly.