The U.S. military has observed a number of high-altitude Chinese surveillance balloons flying over the Middle East and Afghanistan in recent years, a top general said Monday.
The news is the latest disclosure about what U.S. officials are calling China’s “fleet” of surveillance balloons that have recently flown over the U.S. and 40 countries — including one the U.S. military shot down this month off the East Coast.
The balloons in U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility did not fly near sensitive U.S. military facilities or pose a threat to American forces, said Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, commander of U.S. Air Forces Central Command, at an event with the Center for a New American Security on Monday.
