BREAKING! >>PENTAGON PREPARING TO SHOOT DOWN BALLOON OFF COAST OF SOUTH CAROLINA - TEXAS NEWS STUDIO

Joe Biden has ordered the military to shoot down the Chinese spy balloon and jets are now circling the aircraft after the FAA shutdown three airports in the Carolinas.

The Biden administration confirmed the shoot-down order around 2pm after the President this morning vowed, 'We're gonna take care of it,' as he stepped off Air Force One at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, upstate NY.

At least two jets are flying close to the balloon near Myrtle Beach.

The Federal Aviation Authority announced a 'ground stop' at Charleston, Myrtle Beach and Wilmington's international airports shortly after 1pm. That notice was originally in effect until 2.45pm EST but has now been extended to 3.30pm.

The Coast Guard advised mariners to immediately leave the area because of military military operations 'that present a significant hazard.'

Officials were aiming to time the operation so they could recover as much of the debris as possible before it sinks into the ocean. The Pentagon had previously estimated that the balloon, flying at about 60,000 feet in the air, was about the size of three school buses and that any debris field would be substantial.

In 1998, the Canadian air force sent up F-18 fighter jets to try and shoot down a rogue weather balloon. They fired a thousand 20-millimeter cannon rounds into it before it finally sank six days later.