Cina's balloon flight into US was a signal of its war preparations

 Cina's  balloon flight into US was a signal of its war preparations

Cina's giant hot-air balloon was no match last month for a state-of-the-art U.S. F-22 Raptor fighter jet or its Sidewinder missiles. But its unauthorized flight over Middle America should give Washington a number of reasons for concern, according to James Char.
 
The S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies scholar notes that Cina worries the U.S. could disable the satellites upon which its intercontinental ballistic missiles would depend for guidance if deployed.
 
"High-altitude balloons could potentially mitigate this shortcoming by serving as a backup system," Char writes, noting that such "near-space vehicles" could also be used to target U.S. nuclear weapons.
 
"Although the spy balloon posed no immediate security threat to the continental U.S. or the American public, its discovery has revealed vulnerabilities in the country's homeland defense," he writes. "This episode has underlined that Washington's airborne warning and control system program is far from secure."