washington has accused beijing of acting irresponsibly after a chinese surveillance balloon was detected over the united states. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, has postponed a much anticipated trip to beijing over the incident. china says the balloon is a civilian airship which had deviated from its planned route. however, us defence officials argue the balloon, seen above sensitive areas in recent days in the western us, was a high altitude surveillance device. our security correspondent, gordon correra reports. i.have no idea what this thing is. a strange object in the sky, filmed by a member of the public in rural montana. and for those of you who think this mightjust be the moon, it is not the moon, the moon is off to my right, i can see it. it s not the moon, nor a ufo, but, us officials claim, a chinese spy balloon. it seemed so brazen and just so insane to me, it wasjust, like, this thing is so visible. and it s now sparked a major diplomatic row. the chine
it s part of another package of military support worth some $2.2 billion. in addition to the ground launched rockets, the package will include more air defence systems, anti tank missiles and armoured infantry vehicles. it comes as france and italy also announced further military aid afterfinalising plans to supply kyiv with a mobile air defence system. our north america correspondent nomia iqbal has more. this is a bit of a turnaround for the us in that ukraine really wanted this longer range missile. it s effectively twice the range of ukraine s r . weapon y it s normally launched from the air. this one is launched from the ground, but it doesn t actually exist in the us military stockpile. so it has to be made by the weapons industry. it is thought it could take some time for ukraine to therefore get it, probably around about nine months. ukraine actually wanted missiles that cover a much longer distance, but the us is still uncomfortable about that. there s concerns that it could b
ukraine actually wanted missiles that cover a much longer distance but the us is still uncomfortable about that. there s concerns that it could be used to hit targets deep inside russia. now, it s nearly a year since the invasion and the us has given more than $24.2 billion in security assistance and so far, there has been broad support. there has been a bipartisan support for president biden s position in helping ukraine but there are some cracks in that consensus. you have republicans who are now in control of the house who have said that they will not give a blank cheque to ukraine when it comes to helping them. at the moment, though, recent surveys do suggest around three in four americans believe that ukraine should still be supported by the us but, as we know, politics can change and if they can, so can policy. nomia iqbal reporting. well, all of this support from ukraine s allies comes as russia has been bombing the country s power network relentlessly. energy companies in ukrai
0ur north america correspondent nomia iqbal has more. this is a bit of a turnaround for the us in that ukraine really wanted this longer range missile. it s effectively twice the range of ukraine s weaponry. it s normally launched from the air. this one is launched from the ground, but it doesn t actually exist in the us military stockpile. so it has to be made by the weapons industry. it is thought it could take some time for ukraine to therefore get it, probably around about nine months. ukraine actually wanted missiles that cover a much longer distance, but the us is still uncomfortable about that. there s concerns that it could be used to hit targets deep inside russia. now, it s nearly a year since the invasion and the us has given more than $24.2 billion in security assistance. and so far there has been broad support. there has been a bipartisan support for president biden s position in helping ukraine, but there are some cracks in that consensus. you have republicans who are now
uncomfortable about that it be used it targets deep inside russia. also mentioning the defence systems in terms of equipment in the package that basically allows defence weapons to be integrated in the thin defence systems, and the last month, the third largest aid package the us assent ukraine and overall, up to nearly a year before the invasion of ukraine, the us is committed more than $24.2 billion in security systems. than $24.2 billion in security s stems. ~ than $24.2 billion in security system- than $24.2 billion in security s stems. ~ ., ., ~ systems. we look at that figure, $24 billion, is there systems. we look at that figure, $24 billion, is there still systems. we look at that figure, $24 billion, is there still appetite - systems. we look at that figure, $24 billion, is there still appetite in - billion, is there still appetite in congress to provide ukraine with support? 50 congress to provide ukraine with su ort? ., congress to provide ukraine with su ort? . , ., s