Chinese spy balloon gathered intelligence from sensitive U.S. military sites, despite U.S. efforts to block it

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The Chinese spy balloon that flew across the U.S. was able to gather
intelligence from several sensitive American military sites, despite the
Biden administration’s efforts to block it from doing so, according to two
current senior U.S. officials and one former senior administration official.

China was able to control the balloon so it could make multiple passes over
some of the sites (at times flying figure-eight formations) and transmit the
information it collected back to Beijing in real time, the three officials
said. The intelligence China collected was mostly from electronic signals,
which can be picked up from weapons systems or include communications from
base personnel, rather than images, the officials said.

The three officials said China could have gathered much more intelligence
from sensitive sites if not for the administration’s efforts to move around
potential targets and obscure the balloon’s ability to pick up their
electronic signals by stopping them from broadcasting or emitting signals.

The Defense Department directed NBC News to comments senior officials made in
February that the balloon had “limited additive value” for intelligence
collection by the Chinese government “over and above what [China] is likely
able to collect through things like satellites in low earth orbit.”

On Monday, a Defense Department spokesperson reiterated that any intelligence
collected had "limited additive value" for China and said she could not
confirm that the balloon had transmitted any information back to China in
"real time."

National Security Council spokesperson Kirby John declined to answer
questions Monday afternoon about what kind of electronic signals or
communications the balloon could have accessed.

“Knowing it was going to enter U.S. airspace we took action to limit the
ability of this balloon to garner anything of additive or especially useful
content,” said Kirby. “So again, I won’t get ahead of what we’re learning off
this thing.”

Montana Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican, said, “The administration’s
explanation that the balloon had ‘limited additive value’ is little comfort
to Montanans and the American people and weak spin on an issue the
administration mishandled from start to finish.”

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Armed Services
Committee said, "We have consistently learned more from press reports about
the Chinese surveillance balloon than we have from administration officials.
... I intend to hold this administration accountable."

China has said repeatedly that the balloon was an unmanned civilian airship
that accidentally strayed off course, and that the U.S. overreacted by
shooting it down. Officials have not said which company, department or
organization the balloon belonged to, despite several requests for comment by
NBC News.

After the balloon was shot down in February, Biden administration officials
said it was capable of collecting signals intelligence.

The balloon had a self-destruct mechanism that could have been activated
remotely by China, but the officials said it’s not clear if that didn’t
happen because the mechanism malfunctioned or because China decided not to
trigger it.

The balloon entered U.S. airspace over Alaska on Jan. 28, according to the
Biden administration, which said it was tracking it as it moved. Within the
next four days, the balloon was flying over Montana — specifically Malmstrom
Air Force Base, where the U.S. stores some of its nuclear assets.

On Feb. 2, NBC News was first to report that the Chinese spy balloon was
flying over the U.S. and that President Joe Biden had considered shooting it
down, prompting the administration to publicly confirm that and disclose it
had been monitoring the balloon for days. Once the balloon’s existence became
public, China increased its speed, officials said, in attempt to get it out
of U.S. airspace as quickly as possible.

The U.S. shot down the balloon on Feb. 4 off the coast of South Carolina, and
officials are still analyzing the debris that was retrieved.

At the time, the U.S. government said it waited to shoot the balloon down
until it was over the ocean to avoid any damage or casualties on the ground.
The balloon, which was nearly as large as three school buses, would have had
a large debris field that U.S. officials could not control as it fell to the
earth.

“U.S. military commanders had determined downing the balloon while over land
posed an undue risk to people across a wide area due to the size and altitude
of the balloon and its surveillance payload,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin
said in a statement after the balloon was downed.

Officials have tried to reconstruct the balloon from the recovered debris.

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