US Navy shares first images of shot-down Chinese balloon

US officials say it is 60 metres wide and tall, with a payload underneath weighing more than 900kg

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  US sailors assigned to Assault Craft Unit 4 prepare material recovered in the Atlantic Ocean. AP

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  FBI special agents assigned to the evidence response team process material recovered from the high-altitude balloon recovered off the coast of South Carolina. AP

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  US officials say the military has finished recovering the remnants of the large balloon and analysis of the debris so far reinforces conclusions that it was a Chinese spy balloon. AP

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  US Navy frogmen recover debris from the Atlantic Ocean. Reuters

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  A US fighter jet approaches the large balloon off the coast of South Carolina. AP

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  US sailors recover a Chinese surveillance balloon that was shot down at the weekend off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. US Navy / Reuters

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  The balloon landed and was recovered in US water. US Navy / EPA

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  Under orders from US President Joe Biden and with the full support of the Canadian government, American fighter jets shot down the balloon in US airspace. US Navy / EPA

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  A US Coast Guard helicopter flies over balloon debris during recovery work. US Navy / EPA

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  US sailors look for more debris. US Navy / EPA

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  The Department of Defence said the balloon was able to manoeuvre itself to a degree. US Navy / EPA

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  The Chinese government has insisted that it was a weather research balloon. US Navy / EPA

The US Navy on Tuesday shared images from the operation to recover pieces of the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon the military shot down at the weekend.

The photos show US Navy sailors on small boats in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Members of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group began salvaging parts of the “high-altitude surveillance balloon” on Sunday, the day the photos were taken.

US President Joe Biden issued orders to shoot down the balloon last Wednesday. It was first seen in US airspace over Alaska on January 28.

The US military advised waiting until the object arrived at a place where it was safe to shoot down without the risk of debris harming people below.

China has claimed that the vessel was a civilian balloon for meteorology research, which floated off course.

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  The suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts to the ocean after being shot down off the US coast, as seen from South Carolina. Reuters

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  President Joe Biden congratulated fighter pilots for taking down the suspected spy balloon. AFP

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  The balloon seen from Holden Beach. Reuters

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  Spectators watch from the coast. Reuters

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  A jet flies by the balloon. Reuters

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  Another spectator watches after the balloon was shot down. Reuters

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  The suspected Chinese spy balloon over Billings, Montana. AFP

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Monday confirmed that propellers and steering gave the vessel some control, which is not typical of weather balloons.

"It is true that this balloon had the ability manoeuvre itself, to speed up, to slow down and to turn," Mr Kirby said.

"So it had propellers, it had a rudder, if you will, to allow it to change direction. But the most important navigational vector was the jet stream itself, the winds at such a high altitude."

US officials said they were studying the debris of the vessel, which was 60 metres wide and the same distance tall, to learn more about China's surveillance operations.

Beijing filed a formal complaint with Washington and said the US was responsible for an "attack on a Chinese civilian unmanned airship by military force".

It said China could "take further action” against the US's “obvious overreaction and a serious violation of international practice".

The two superpowers have long experienced strained relations affecting economic communications, climate change efforts, technology and military operations.

After the incident, Washington postponed Secretary of State Antony Blinken's trip to Beijing, which would have made him the highest-ranked US official to visit in years.