Can't wait for the CNN/Fox News 24/7 live coverage for shooting down the balloon. Hosting retired military men, think tankers, government officials, Republicans, Democrats talking about it. Bonus points if they get an interview with the Chinese Chargé d'Affaires
Miscellaneous News
- Thread starter bd popeye
- Start date
Its official, they will shoot it down when it reaches the Atlantic Ocean. Where is Greta and Greenpeace, isn't this environmental damage?
solarz
Brigadier
I just thought of a way the US can solve its balloon problem:
Send up a balloon of its own, except this one has nuclear powered propulsion, and place it in the path of the Chinese balloon. When it gets within range, blow it up with a nuclear explosive.
As a safeguard, send Tom Cruise up with the balloon, so that if remote detonation of the nuke fails, Tom Cruise can take the nuke and jump on the Chinese balloon to manually detonate it.
Send up a balloon of its own, except this one has nuclear powered propulsion, and place it in the path of the Chinese balloon. When it gets within range, blow it up with a nuclear explosive.
As a safeguard, send Tom Cruise up with the balloon, so that if remote detonation of the nuke fails, Tom Cruise can take the nuke and jump on the Chinese balloon to manually detonate it.
With it having drifted across the air space for days and the huge pressure from the public they will pursue it as long as needed over international waters. Only instance i see where they would hesitate now is if it would leave through Mexico or Canada but that seems unlikely right now.
Quickie
Colonel
China wouldn't have to have the payload self-destruct which would imply an effort to hide something. The payload is part and parcel of what a weather balloon does, collect data and send them back. Ejecting the payload, or parts of it, over and into the ocean could also be an option.
If the balloon is just a civilian research balloon, the US shooting it down would be a historic moment. In the sense of showing the extent of US paranoia and incompetence. I don't know why anyone would think it'd be positive PR for the US unless they lie about the contents, which to be fair, they likely will.
You'll find the 'national security' stuff well dispersed with plenty inland in places like Inner Mongolia. Chengdu, Xian are well inland Tianjin, Shenyang, Dalian are near/on the coast but there's Russia and North Korea between it and the Sea of Japan and good luck approaching from Bohai!
The 'coastal stuff' you refer to is pretty much all commercial, ship yards aside but then you have to build those by water, that said they have sub yards on the Yangtze when inland!
plawolf
Lieutenant General
At that altitude, there is minimal internal pressure in the balloon, so if you puncture it, all you do is put a tiny hole in the material and it won’t pop like a balloon at ground level would. Helium will leak out, but very very slowly and it can take days for the balloon to drift down to earth.
To bring such balloons down quickly, you need an explosion to rip a huge tear in it so it looses structural integrity. For that, you need a missile, which opens up the problem of guidance. Radar won’t work, neither will regular IR. Only mainstream missile guidance that might work is high end imaging infrared (IIR), but those seekers are typically only used on short range AAMs, so you need a fighter with high service ceiling and a top of the range IRAAM to have a go at intercepting the balloon. Also, since radar is suboptimal, you ideally want IRST on your fighter to help it find and guide the missile until it’s own seeker can lock onto the balloon.
The PLAAF had the perfect package in the J10+PL10. I think the USAF sent those F22s to have a crack, but without IRST, they probably couldn’t get a firing solution.