The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the US spent at least $1.5 million in downing three unidentified aerial objects over Alaska, Canada and Lake Huron on the US-Canadian border.
The announced figure is for just the four advanced AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles used to shoot down the objects, each valued at at least $400,000, according to defense officials familiar with the matter. In addition, the first shot at the object hovering over Lake Huron is reported to have missed, allowing an additional missile to be used.
The quoted amount does not include the cost of searching for the wreckage by the Navy, Coast Guard and others, which will add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the price of the operation. The flights used to locate the balloons and eventually shoot them down are also not included in the cost estimate, according to officials, as the US military considers them part of its pilots’ training.
Last week, the US Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command reported that the US had completed the search for the remains of objects over Alaska and Lake Huron that were shot down amid fears in Washington that they could be Chinese balloons Are. As shot on February 4 near the coast of the state of South Carolina. The decision was made after a “systematic search” with airborne and surface sensors, which has not borne fruit.
In this regard, US President Joe Biden said that the three objects do not belong to the surveillance program of China or any other country and on the contrary, they would be objects of a commercial or investigative nature.
Fuentes: realidad.rt.com
