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U.S. military shoots down suspected Chinese surveillance balloon

cnbc.com

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Re: U.S. military shoots down suspected Chinese surveillance balloon

#841

Post by charlieyu1 »

neuralRiot wrote: post #15
ironyman wrote: post #4

I actually think it might just be a stray weather balloon. If they considered it a security threat they would've downed it before it reached continental US. Overall it's a fair resolution. It's a good political move to raise public awareness of tensions with the PRC (you'd be surprised how many people don't know). Downing it is mostly symbollic and completes the safety narrative.

I’m not in the defense industry neither know how the Chinese spy agency works but I guess there are more covert ways to spy than sending a 20ft ballon half way around the world.

But not many ways are as cheap and close to the ground if you don't care about being found out.

Re: U.S. military shoots down suspected Chinese surveillance balloon

#842

Post by gonzo41 »

mike_d wrote: post #770
za3faran wrote: post #734

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure what the CCP is thinking. Are they simply trying to instigate a response with such a brazen display?

As a data point: previously spotted surveillance blimps in the Asia Pacific theatre use a clear balloon. Either China wanted to see if it would be detected, or is woefully behind the US equivalents.

equivalents such as: the U2 spyplane, the BlackBird and all of the satellites they have. Oh and all the GlobalHawks.

Re: U.S. military shoots down suspected Chinese surveillance balloon

#843

Post by JimBlackwood »

404mm wrote: post #382

I feel like the balloon takedown was seriously mishandled. Imo it should have been shot down right after it crossed our borders and before it started move over populated areas. That way there would be no surveillance and you could examine the payload. Now that it’s in the water, you may not even find it.

As mentioned in the article, so the order was there the moment it crossed the border.

> The high-altitude balloon was initially spotted over Billings, Montana, on Wednesday.

> Biden gave authorization on Wednesday to take down the balloon as soon as it could be done “without undue risk to American lives under the balloon’s path,” Lloyd said.

Re: U.S. military shoots down suspected Chinese surveillance balloon

#844

Post by charlieyu1 »

UltraViolence wrote: post #722

I'm very surprised that China would take the risk of fueling a political firestorm when these balloons are only marginally more effective than the satellites they already have. These intrusions are clearly a violation of our airspace and could even be considered an act of war. What the hell was Xi thinking? Is he trying to communicate that China can do whatever it wants with impunity? Did he even authorize this fligh…

> What the hell was Xi thinking?

You are levelling yourself to think someone whose education ends with grade school to be actually thinking. He has done so many stupid things over the last decade.

And in China, all foreign politics are internal politics. Playing strong against the rest of world, at least by how it looks, will bring more power to him within CCP.

Re: U.S. military shoots down suspected Chinese surveillance balloon

#845

Post by Hikikomori »

moomoo11 wrote: post #812
bbor wrote: post #804

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmmm… I wonder why the country with the biggest military (and their Allies) is the only place rich enough not to be a backwater? I implore you to think how you might answer that question if you were born in such a backwater. Especially if it was a backwater where the US had recently used that military to significantly influence the government, such as Iran, 1953 Guatemala, 1954, Congo, 1960, Laos, 1960, Iraq, 1963, B…

My backwater nation was previously a British colony. Today people who look like me do their best to put other people who like me down. Massacres happen, people live like insects in awful conditions just trying to survive while govt and industrialists operate without any loyalty or care for the country. No wonder people try to immigrate out. The Americans kicked British empire back to their island in the 1700s and imo…

American capitalism is imperialism 2.0.

Re: U.S. military shoots down suspected Chinese surveillance balloon

#846

Post by xxs »

riku_iki wrote: post #453
SnowHill9902 wrote: post #411

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was purposefully taken down once it was on shallow waters to preserve the equipment as much as possible.

electronics is damaged by water likely, it could have more chance to survive if hit the ground.

Water alone does not damage electronics - the electricity that flows through the water does, causing electrolysis. Most of the time the damage is also concentrated on the power delivery which tends to be trivial to repair. If the a higher voltage line (say 12V, 3.3V, etc) bridges to a dataline (around ~1V), it can fry ICs, though. For analysis even fried chips would be good enough.

Re: U.S. military shoots down suspected Chinese surveillance balloon

#847

Post by pifm_guy »

vineyardmike wrote: post #834
404mm wrote: post #382

I feel like the balloon takedown was seriously mishandled. Imo it should have been shot down right after it crossed our borders and before it started move over populated areas. That way there would be no surveillance and you could examine the payload. Now that it’s in the water, you may not even find it.

The US has great radar capabilities, so we obvious knew it was there. I think that raises the question of why we didn't shoot it down. Maybe we were curious where it was going and we wanted to see how capable at navigating it was? Is it too dangerous to shoot down over land? What was the diplomatic communication with the Chinese? There's many questions that may never be answered in public. It seems more than likely t…

Remember that Loon, the USA Google balloon project, sent similar balloons around the world, including over China.

They didn't shoot our balloons down.

Re: U.S. military shoots down suspected Chinese surveillance balloon

#848

Post by blitzar »

metadat wrote: post #2

Narrator: "A job well done by the US Military" I'm glad we have sufficient technology and capability to shoot down a balloon. What happens next?

Superbowl is in a week or so.

The F-22 that shot down the Chinese Spy Balloon is going to do a flyby.

Re: U.S. military shoots down suspected Chinese surveillance balloon

#849

Post by blitzar »

wesleywt wrote: post #784

While Americans panic. I think this is the dumbest way to do surveillance. Especially when China already has TicTok doing a great job.

For the cost of a balloon tied to some plastic junk you just make Americans collectively lose their shit.

Re: U.S. military shoots down suspected Chinese surveillance balloon

#850

Post by cm2187 »

404mm wrote: post #382

I feel like the balloon takedown was seriously mishandled. Imo it should have been shot down right after it crossed our borders and before it started move over populated areas. That way there would be no surveillance and you could examine the payload. Now that it’s in the water, you may not even find it.

None of it makes sense. They shot it down over the US coast where you are similarly likely to hit a boat or a bather than hitting someone in some empty fields of the midwest (and what about the canadian mountains!). They say it doesn't pose any threat to aviation but nevertheless closed the airports on its path. They say that they are confident it is an intelligence gathering operation by the chinese, but that they don't get anything more than they would get from a satellite (why would they use balloons then, are we suggesting the chinese are stupid?).

I have no idea what's the real story here but it is obvious we are being bullshitted.

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