Lawmakers and lobbyists are pouncing on the Chinese spy balloon to push back against possible defense budget cuts — and make the case for even more funding.
Defense hawks in Congress cite many reasons to keep money flowing to the Pentagon: enemy fleets, hypersonic missiles, nuclear threats.Lawmakers and lobbyists are pouncing on a Chinese spy balloon’s seven-day incursion over North America this month to push back against possible defense budget cuts — and make the case for even more funding — as Congress grapples with the growing threat from Beijing and doubts about the military’s ability to detect similar objects.
The Chinese spy balloon stoked bipartisan uproar both at Beijing and at the Biden administration’s decision to wait to shoot it down. “This situation is a pretty stark reminder that we’re vulnerable and that China is aggressive. That’s just talking about the one balloon,” said Sen.. “It’d be a hard time to convince me we should be cutting anything in the defense budget.”of Mississippi, added that cutting the defense budget after a hefty increase “would be exceedingly unwise.”
Many lobbyists are seizing the opportunity by pitching new radars and other homeland defense systems to Pentagon officials and members on Capitol Hill. “If they do, I would flush them out in a heartbeat, because no, the logic would be for as much money as we spend, why weren’t you onto something like this?” Braun said.
The system is run jointly by the U.S. and Canada, and has been operating since the late 1980s to detect air threats such as bomber aircraft and intercontinental ballistic missiles. An upgrade, he said, could involve “an advanced system, [an] over-the-horizon radar.” Such a system could track cruise missiles and small drones that can’t be detected now, he told the Senate Armed Services Committee in March 2022.
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