Fighter jets from Massachusetts supported mission to shoot down suspected Chinese spy balloon
WESTFIELD - Fighter jets that took off from Massachusetts were part of the mission to shoot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon that had been drifting across the United States for days.
The Department of Defense said that F-15 Eagles flying from Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield supported the F-22 jet that brought down the balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday afternoon.
"The 104th Fighter Wing prepares and deploys in support of domestic, humanitarian, and combat operations anywhere in the world," the website for the air base in Western Massachusetts says.
An F-22 Raptor fighter out of Virginia shot the balloon with a Sidewinder missile, the department said. A senior defense official told CBS News that there are no indications that any military personnel, civilian aircraft or maritime vessels were harmed.
Video captured by people on the ground shows the moment fighter jets shot down the balloon.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the mission to shoot down the balloon was conducted in coordination with the Canadian government. He said that President Joe Biden gave the go-ahead on Wednesday "to take down the surveillance balloon as soon as the mission could be accomplished without undue risk to American lives under the balloon's path."
