US military hasn’t shot down foreign aircraft over American soil since World War II

The downing of the Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday marked the first time that the US military has shot down a foreign aircraft over American soil since World War II.

A military fighter aircraft shot down the floating drone as it flew six nautical miles out over the Atlantic ocean on Saturday, drawing to a close a dramatic saga that shone a spotlight on worsening Sino-U.S. relations.

‘We successfully took it down, and I want to compliment our aviators who did it,’ President Joe Biden said. Biden said he had issued an order on Wednesday to take down the balloon, but the Pentagon had recommended waiting until it could be done over open water.

Not since a Japanese aerial attack on US Navy ships in Dutch Harbor in Alaska in July 1942, when a fighter jet was shot down, has the military been forced to destroy a foreign aerial asset.  

US Navy personnel inspecting the downed Akutan Zeo in June 1942

The incident has come to be known as Akutan Zero. On June 4 1942, a model 21 Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter jet, was shot down by anti-aircraft fire from the 206th Coast Artillery Regiment which was defending the harbor. 

A shot severed the jet’s oil line and forced the 19-year-old pilot Tadayoshi Koga in to crash landing in waters around the Akutan Islands in Alaska. Koga died on impact, possibly from a broken neck. 

The plane meanwhile was recovered in tact and its discovery was referred to as a ‘prize almost beyond value to the United States’ as it revealed invaluable Japanese military secrets. 

The Japanese pilots had been ordered to destroy any downed Zero fighters but those on the mission decided not to in this case because they did not know if their comrade was still alive. 

Between 1942 and 1945, the US Navy’s Bureau of Aeronautics performed extensive tests on the jet, establishing its ranges, armor and fuselage structure. It was destroyed during a training accident in 1945, according to the History Channel.  

Less than a year earlier, US pilots George Welch, then 23, and Kenneth Taylor, then 21, managed to get airborne during the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor and were able to successfully take down at least six Japanese aircraft. 

In total, five other Air Force planes were able to get off the ground and help to drive the Japanese forces back. 

For their efforts, Taylor received the Purple Heart for bravery while Welch was nominated for the Medal of Honor but was denied allegedly because he took off without proper authorization, according to History.com.   

The secrets revealed by the Akutan Zero helped turned the tide in the war in the Pacific in America's favor

The secrets revealed by the Akutan Zero helped turned the tide in the war in the Pacific in America’s favor 

Less than a year earlier, US pilots George Welch, then 23, and Kenneth Taylor, then 21, managed to get airborne during the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor and were able to successfully take down at least six Japanese aircraft

Less than a year earlier, US pilots George Welch, then 23, and Kenneth Taylor, then 21, managed to get airborne during the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor and were able to successfully take down at least six Japanese aircraft

In total, five other Air Force planes were able to get off the ground and help to drive the Japanese forces back

In total, five other Air Force planes were able to get off the ground and help to drive the Japanese forces back

For their efforts, Taylor received the Purple Heart for bravery while Welch was nominated for the Medal of Honor but was denied allegedly because he took off without proper authorization

For their efforts, Taylor received the Purple Heart for bravery while Welch was nominated for the Medal of Honor but was denied allegedly because he took off without proper authorization

In taking out the Chinese balloon, multiple fighter and refueling aircraft were involved in the mission, but only one — an F-22 fighter jet — took the shot, using a single AIM-9X missile, a senior US military official said. 

The shootdown came shortly after the US government ordered a halt to flights in and out of three South Carolina airports, Wilmington, Myrtle Beach and Charleston due to what it said at the time was an undisclosed ‘national security effort.’ 

The flights resumed Saturday afternoon. 

The balloon first entered a US identification zone on Jan. 28, entered Canadian airspace three days later, and then re-entered US airspace on Jan. 31, a U.S. defense official said. 

US officials had publicly disclosed the balloon’s presence over the United States on Thursday. It has since been referred to as a ‘clear violation’ of US sovereignty. 

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin first announced the shootdown, saying the balloon was being used by China ‘in an attempt to surveil strategic sites in the continental United States.’ 

The GOP has expressed outrage at the presence of the balloon and the lack of transparency from the Biden administration. 

Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis told DailyMail.com ‘Communist China’s surveillance balloon violates international law and threatens our homeland. It’s an outrage that the Biden Administration spotted this balloon days ago as it was flying over the Aleutian Islands and did nothing about it.’

The recently reelected congresswoman added: ‘The president has not even made a comment about this unacceptable act of aggression by the CCP.

‘Whether it’s our border or air space, Congress must take action to protect it, because it’s clear this President won’t,’ she continued.

While the House Judiciary GOP Twitter account tweeted: ‘Joe Biden knew the Chinese spy balloon was coming. Tried to hide it from the American people. Let it fly across the ENTIRE COUNTRY.’

The message added: ‘And only after the entire country begged him to act, our great military shot it down. Embarrassing. Scary. Sad.’

On Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled his trip to China at the last minute. In statements on the balloon, the secretary called it an ‘irresponsible act’ and referred to it as a ‘clear violation of U.S. sovereignty and international law.’ 

Blinken, who had been due to depart Washington for Beijing late Friday, said he had told senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi in a phone call that sending the balloon over the U.S. was ‘an irresponsible act and that (China’s) decision to take this action on the eve of my visit is detrimental to the substantive discussions that we were prepared to have.’

***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk