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Look Up! Chinese Spy Balloon overhead

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  • toddnjoyce

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    LOL

    That article did not age well - "It might actually be easier to shoot down a Chinese satellite than one of these balloons."

    Considering we shot down a satellite with an Eagle in 1985, I’d say it aged just fine.

    We popped aerostat balloons in Iraq a couple time per year. Nothing new there, either.
    Hurley's Gold
     

    BigRed

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    Let’s see…the Chinese balloon flew over 1/4 of the US before public reports brought it into the media eye; the administration hid it’s presence as it spied on West Coast and the Rockies. Then, the baloon is allowed to traverse the rest of the nation and then shot down only after it has fully completed it’s mission.

    Sounds like a win-win for everyone (Biden family and the Chinese); the rest if us fon’t matter

    Wait for the reports that the payload was destroyed
     

    Renegade

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    Considering we shot down a satellite with an Eagle in 1985, I’d say it aged just fine.
    This shootdown took no significant effort and used weapons in standard inventory, pretty easy.

    Pretty sure we cancelled our ASAT program in 1988, and since we no longer have any Space Shuttle Door Gunners, shooting down a satellite seems like a tall order today.


    Safe to say which one was easier.
     

    Renegade

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    We did. But now we can shoot them down from Navy destroyers...assuming that system is out of testing...

    wasnt that a decayed orbit?

    Anyway back on topic - also interesting is 9X engaged target well outside its envelope spec. Possibly highest engagement ever but not sure if all of the Chinese U2 shootdowns were SAMs.
     

    baboon

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    Out here by the lake!
    That's one ugly ass ballon they shot down, but it was for the greater good of the country.
    pic506361.jpg
     

    easy rider

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    Pretty sure we cancelled our ASAT program in 1988
    Remembering that Russia was testing their ASAT system not too long ago, I had to look into that. While we may not be testing, this seems to indicate there is still an ASAT program.

     

    popper

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    So our fighters don't have guns on them anymore. Just hit the balloon and the payload pretty much stays intact. Until it hit the surface. Real PROBLEM -- cheaper to float steerable balloons over the US than launch ICBMs toward US!! We provide al the wind info to the GPS steered balloon and the GPS guided bomb hits accurately? Hmm, CCP ain't so dumb it seems. Ventusky says they could hit US and Europe but we can't hit Moscow.
     

    Renegade

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    Remembering that Russia was testing their ASAT system not too long ago, I had to look into that. While we may not be testing, this seems to indicate there is still an ASAT program.


    The point was it is easier to shoot down a balloon with F-22/9X than it is to shootdown a satellite. Anyone (like that writer) who thinks other wise is an uninformed doofus.

    Some more of his wisdom:

    The most likely reason it has not been shot down is because it is very difficult to shoot down.

    High altitude balloons travel at 80,000 to 120,000 feet.

    These balloons also emit little to no heat signature, which makes them very difficult to target using missiles
     
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    Renegade

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    So our fighters don't have guns on them anymore. Just hit the balloon and the payload pretty much stays intact. Until it hit the surface. Real PROBLEM -- cheaper to float steerable balloons over the US than launch ICBMs toward US!! We provide al the wind info to the GPS steered balloon and the GPS guided bomb hits accurately? Hmm, CCP ain't so dumb it seems. Ventusky says they could hit US and Europe but we can't hit Moscow.
    sarcasm? They all have guns, generally the same one in different configs20mm M61 Vulcan.

    I too wonder why they did not perforate the balloon with 20mm.
     

    joking

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    Obiden is taking credit already.

     

    BigRed

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    You've got a central state that will not defend your home but will confiscate your property with force and send it to a ****hole like Ukraine while at the same time hold open a door for an invasion from the south.

    Secession from this corrupted central state is LONG past due.
     

    Bozz10mm

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    Last I heard, the balloon was over Missouri on Friday. Today it gets shot down off the coast of the Carolinas. I'm surprised that it could move that fast.
     
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