During a portion of an interview with CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin released on Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stated that in response to the Chinese spy balloon that flew over the country last week, the United States ensured that its nuclear bases “were buttoned down” and that “movement was limited and communications were limited so that we didn’t expose any capability unnecessarily.” Austin also stated that the buttoning down applied to nuclear bases all across the United States.
Martin asked, “You don’t know what it was looking for, but you certainly know what you were concerned about it looking for. What were you concerned about it looking for?”
Austin answered, “Well, I — certainly, all of our strategic assets, we made sure that we were buttoned down and movement was limited and communications were limited so that we didn’t expose any capability unnecessarily.”
Martin then asked, “By strategic assets you mean the nuclear force?”
Austin responded that by “strategic assets,” he meant the nuclear force.
Martin then asked, “So, the nuclear bases across this country from Montana to Whiteman in Missouri, all across, they were all buttoned up?”
Austin responded, “They were.”
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