House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner said Sunday that the Biden administration appeared eager to take down two unidentified flying objects in North American airspace in recent days after being criticized for waiting to destroy a Chinese spy balloon.
The apparent change in behavior is a welcome one, the Ohio Republican said, but he questioned why the same quick action was not previously taken.
“I would prefer them to be trigger happy than to be permissive,” Mr. Turner said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “But we’re going to have to see whether or not this is just the administration trying to change headlines.”
The White House said that a Chinese spy balloon that flew over the U.S. earlier this month was above civilian air traffic and did not pose an immediate threat, but the two recent unidentified objects over Alaska and Canada were far lower and thus required swift action.
Mr. Turner described that argument as a “fallacy.” What is “more important” for policy discussions going forward is the revelation that U.S. radar systems appear to be inadequate, he added.
“We don’t really have adequate radar systems. We certainly don’t have an integrated missile defense system,” Mr. Turner said. “We’re going to have to begin to look at the United States airspace as one that we need to defend and that we need to have appropriate sensors to do so. This shows some of the problems and gaps that we have.”
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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