Speaking of, that helium is a precious non renewable resource.
A party balloon shut down El Paso International Airport; estimated cost –$573k
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Re: A party balloon shut down El Paso International Airport; estimated cost –$573k
#102Thinking more practically though. Why wouldn't there be "narco drones", with drone technology becoming so ubiquitous and cheap? And what would their operators care about airspace restrictions? The practical ones, as in "not get sucked into a jet engine or damage a wing and cause a plane crash"?
Why would they fly near an US airport though? There are miles and miles of border with practically no people living near.
(Regardless, seems building a wall was kind of a waste of money.)
Re: A party balloon shut down El Paso International Airport; estimated cost –$573k
#103Thinking more practically though. Why wouldn't there be "narco drones", with drone technology becoming so ubiquitous and cheap? And what would their operators care about airspace restrictions? The practical ones, as in "not get sucked into a jet engine or damage a wing and cause a plane crash"?
Practically drugs comes into the US via containers and packages. And since the government has never even come close to shutting that operation down why screw around with drones?
Re: A party balloon shut down El Paso International Airport; estimated cost –$573k
#104The rate of return on this is phenomenal. A 53" balloon costs $9.99. You could shut down all large and medium hubs in the US for $629.37/day. The asymmetry is astounding and I'm surprised we don't defend against this kind of attack more efficiently.
On the plus side, this method of disabling the target is cheaper and more environmentally friendly than using a guided missile. Any object can just be locked on to and effortlessly zapped out of the sky - that’s impressive.
Re: A party balloon shut down El Paso International Airport; estimated cost –$573k
#105The rate of return on this is phenomenal. A 53" balloon costs $9.99. You could shut down all large and medium hubs in the US for $629.37/day. The asymmetry is astounding and I'm surprised we don't defend against this kind of attack more efficiently.
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Re: A party balloon shut down El Paso International Airport; estimated cost –$573k
#106The rate of return on this is phenomenal. A 53" balloon costs $9.99. You could shut down all large and medium hubs in the US for $629.37/day. The asymmetry is astounding and I'm surprised we don't defend against this kind of attack more efficiently.
"99 red balloons" starts playing in the background.
Ninety-nine dreams I have had
In every one, a red balloon
It's all over and I'm standin' pretty
In this dust that was a city
If I could find a souvenir
Just to prove the world was here
And here is a red balloon
I think of you, and let it go
Re: A party balloon shut down El Paso International Airport; estimated cost –$573k
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
Really making you wonder why does DHS have direct access to this hardware?
The former TV personality slash alcoholic slash sexual predator that is running the DoD probably gave it to DHS at the request of the cowboy hat wearing psychopathic domestic animal killer that runs that agency.
hey friend, this comment is better suited for Reddit than here, even though likely agree with you.
Re: A party balloon shut down El Paso International Airport; estimated cost –$573k
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a shame the F-22 wasn't publicly allowed to get its second A2A kill! ;)
Fyi, the f-22 logged a second kill shortly after the first: https://apnews.com/article/pentagon-shoots-down-unknown-flyi...
Which is generally believed to have been a radiosonde launched by hobbyists in the US:
Re: A party balloon shut down El Paso International Airport; estimated cost –$573k
#109Thinking more practically though. Why wouldn't there be "narco drones", with drone technology becoming so ubiquitous and cheap? And what would their operators care about airspace restrictions? The practical ones, as in "not get sucked into a jet engine or damage a wing and cause a plane crash"?
How would flying drones be useful to a drug runner? Their priorities are to transport a large amount of material over a long distance and to avoid detection. Drones have a relatively low payload capacity, have limited range, and are easily detected - they're not practical.
(A very different kind of "drone" has seen quite a bit of use in drug running - remote-controlled submarines! They've proven able to carry a large load over a long distance while remaining hard to detect.)
Re: A party balloon shut down El Paso International Airport; estimated cost –$573k
#110More alarmingly, the laser weapon was deployed before the FAA actually shut down the airspace: https://apnews.com/article/faa-el-paso-texas-air-space-close... I'd say these trigger-happy clowns chasing tough-guy optics are going to get innocent people killed, but then they already have -- multiple times.
Reading between the lines, it seems like the FAA shutdown the airspace to make public the fact that the DoD wasn't cooperating with the FAA.