Chinese Spy Balloon Flying Over the U.S.

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WDD said:
Nah…. Make it a LASER kill!
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What's the use of Jewish Space Lasers just sitting up there in orbit unless we do something with them? Actually there may be a glimmer of truth to that.
 
Capngrog said:
The lady down the street is a realtor and is convinced that the Chinese are using the balloon, and others like it, to identify available real estate that is near sensitive military installations.
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They can do that from cars - and have done that in Texas.
 

They used a new crack scouting team to find this latest one
 
The History Guy has a good video about shooting down balloons...

Last bit was interesting: He said that, around the world, between 900 and 1500 balloons are launched *every day*. Most of them are the common weather balloons, of course.

Ron Wanttaja
 
RyanShort1 said:
laser
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Sounds reasonable. Or maybe a low tech solution?

Not the ship, the chain shot.

YdyVStC2A9CWAWqzhBzBqV.jpg
 
MBDiagMan said:
JKeep shooting them down. Target practice is always fun. Shoot down enough of them and they’ll stop sending them.
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I hope we figure out a more cost effective way to shoot them down without expending a bunch of half million dollar side-winders. Not to mention the cost of dispatching an F22, although that F22 would probably be on a training mission anyway, so that cost might be a wash.
 
JOhnH said:
I hope we figure out a more cost effective way to shoot them down without expending a bunch of half million dollar side-winders. Not to mention the cost of dispatching an F22, although that F22 would probably be on a training mission anyway, so that cost might be a wash.
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Better to spend them on drones? Or have our pilots never shoot a real one?
 
Salty said:
Better to spend them on drones? Or have our pilots never shoot a real one?
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I wouldn't think that shooting balloons is such great practice for WW3.

WW4 perhaps.
"I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." - Albert Einstein.
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JOhnH said:
I wouldn't think that shooting balloons is such great practice for WW3.

WW4 perhaps.
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My point is that the weapons will be shot regardless. It’s not costing more.
 
Salty said:
My point is that the weapons will be shot regardless. It’s not costing more.
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My point was in response to a comment that if the Chinese keep sending enough of them and we keep shooting them down, they will quit sending them. But balloons are much cheaper than Sidewinders, and if they send "enough" of them, we will run out of sidewinders, and/or the money to buy more.
 
JOhnH said:
...and if they send "enough" of them, we will run out of sidewinders, and/or the money to buy more.
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If we can’t afford to pop a ballon or two a week, we won’t ever sustain a war. I suspect we have a very adequate supply.

Besides, it’s not the value of the balloon, it’s the value of whatever intelligence they’re gathering that matters.
 
JOhnH said:
My point was in response to a comment that if the Chinese keep sending enough of them and we keep shooting them down, they will quit sending them. But balloons are much cheaper than Sidewinders, and if they send "enough" of them, we will run out of sidewinders, and/or the money to buy more.
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Do the missiles have a "shelf life"? If so, better to use them somehow than just junk them, IMO.
 
Half Fast said:
If we can’t afford to pop a ballon or two a week,
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No doubt. But balloons are cheap. What if they send thousands a week? And no, I don't think that would happen without sparking a real war, but once again, I was responding to a post that said let them keep sending them and we will keep shooting them down. All I said was if that happens I hope we find a cheaper way to shoot them down.
 
Imagine being the first F-22 pilot to become an ace for shooting down balloons! That will be some serious bragging rights and deep respect from your fellow combat veterans!
 
The first balloon was clearly different from the others: higher, larger, and with solar panels and sensors.

Not sure what’s up with the most recent two. MAYBE they were just tethered balloons to help these guys get Netflix and, when the season was declared closed, they just let them go, to stir things up.
https://www.nationalfisherman.com/a...-returns-in-2023-despite-closing-of-fisheries

Yes, tongue in cheek. But there are other uses for balloons besides lower-tech spying.
 
It’s not like there are any groups or countries who might have incentives to challenge the United States. /S
There is definitely not a proxy war underway…
 
topgun260 said:
Imagine being the first F-22 pilot to become an ace for shooting down balloons! That will be some serious bragging rights and deep respect from your fellow combat veterans!
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During WWI, balloon kills counted just as much as aircraft kills. The balloons back then were a leeeetle better defended than these, though....

Ron Wanttaja
 
Spring Ford said:
Sounds reasonable. Or maybe a low tech solution?

Not the ship, the chain shot.
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Grape or case shot might be a better pick; a shotgun effect to maximize the chance of hitting.

The problem is the face that you're shooting these over your own territory. Don't really want shot raining down over the populace. Ideally, you'd just put holes in the balloon so it descends gradually, and you'd have to chance to warn those below that it might be coming down. That'd give you the option to bring it down earlier. Grapeshot using hard-frozen ice chunks come to mind, but IIRC, the Mythbusters showed it wouldn't survive being fired from a gun. May not melt on the way down, either.

I'm afraid these last two balloons are going to turn out to be our own weather balloons, or some private enterprise. If we're going to make a policy of indiscriminately shooting these down, we need to minimize the collateral damage.

Ron Wanttaja
 
Piperonca said:
What's the use of Jewish Space Lasers just sitting up there in orbit unless we do something with them? Actually there may be a glimmer of truth to that.
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You lost me a bit. “Jewish” space lasers?
 
wanttaja said:
Grape or case shot might be a better pick; a shotgun effect to maximize the chance of hitting.

The problem is the face that you're shooting these over your own territory. Don't really want shot raining down over the populace. Ideally, you'd just put holes in the balloon so it descends gradually, and you'd have to chance to warn those below that it might be coming down. That'd give you the option to bring it down earlier. Grapeshot using hard-frozen ice chunks come to mind, but IIRC, the Mythbusters showed it wouldn't survive being fired from a gun. May not melt on the way down, either.


Ron Wanttaja
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Ice chunks don't have to retain much integrity to down a balloon. Penetrating ballistics gel is a different animal.
 
wanttaja said:
Grape or case shot might be a better pick; a shotgun effect to maximize the chance of hitting.
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Or an airborne "shotgun" like a Zuni FRAG rocket or Hydra rocket with Fletchettes?
 
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