@_z_m_r_ Northcom is just an umbrella, the radars & tracking systems are purchased, deployed, operated & maintained by AF & SF.
Why I said incompetence?
AF & SF thought their radars couldn't detect the balloons. Balloons China has been bragging about since 2018 if not earlier.
BUT...

@_z_m_r_ BUT...
Their radars could detect the balloons.
They had algorithms within the system that were set to not show the balloons because they were moving too slow. It seems like no one in the AF or SF in 4 years figured out that they could change the algorithms & see the balloons.

@_z_m_r_ More accurately, some Tech Sergeant probably knew this, some engineer at the manufacturer knew this.
But the AF & SF officers assigned at Northcom did not know this.
Wanna bet the Chinese knew about these algorithms filtering out the balloons? Maybe they wrote them...

@_z_m_r_ Now if we had some oversight from Congress, that gap analysis might have noticed the algorithm issue might have been spotted before 2023.
Instead we have members of Congress telling people to think DHS should be running air defenses instead of doing their own job.