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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

#161

Post by this_steve_j »

scotty79 wrote: post #138

Why didn't they just down it safely harpooning it from a helicopter or something? Didn't they want to investigate the payload in detail rather than mangled remains? Was it really just a scientific baloon but US found it more useful to accuse Chinese of sending grotesquely large and not stealthy at all spy balloon? Otherwise why destroy it? EDIT: I stand corrected that USA just didn't have the technological capacity t…

The balloon was traveling at an altitude of 60,000 ft., well above the 40,000 ft height a commercial aircraft or the highest experimental helicopter can fly.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_China_balloon_incident

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

#162

Post by brewdad »

ozarker wrote: post #89
xracy wrote: post #86

This seems like a worse idea than just collecting the thing and putting it in a faraday cage.

How would you collect it?

With our Star Trek level tractor beam. Of course, maybe we wouldn’t want to reveal that kind of capability to the world just yet.

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

#163

Post by [deleted] »

unity1001 wrote: post #153
pxc wrote: post #102

I am so tired of China being used to stoke American jingoism, of politicians making a contest of who is really 'tough on China' and, most horrifyingly, of seeing other USians online practically salivate as they fantasize about a war with China. It's some cold war boogieman horseshit. And it's depressing to watch here on Hacker News, too, any comments that question the beating of those war drums go dead. Yesterday I h…

> You know, that time we rushed headlong into two useless forever wars Don't say it like that. Say it like as it is: "... rushed headlong into murdering 1 million people to rob their oil". Because that's what it was. And until people start calling it as it is, this kind of thing will keep repeating. ... And yeah, recently the US Congress arranged $500 million to anti-China propaganda, so you will see a LOT more of su…

[deleted]

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

#164

Post by eganist »

scotty79 wrote: post #159
Dalewyn wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree that using China as our 21st century boogieman is very tiresome, the fact of the matter is China is not a friend of the west.

So? The west is not a friend of China as well. And US has downright militant rethoric agains China.

> US has downright militant rethoric in defense of the independent nation of Taiwan*

Fixed that for you.

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

#165

Post by onlyrealcuzzo »

maximinus_thrax wrote: post #107
onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What did they use to shoot it down?

https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/32... > An F-22 Raptor fighter from the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, fired one AIM-9X Sidewinder missile at the balloon.

So it probably cost >$1M to shoot it down?

How much did that balloon cost to make?

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

#166

Post by LarryMullins »

Dalewyn wrote: post #137
pxc wrote: post #102

I am so tired of China being used to stoke American jingoism, of politicians making a contest of who is really 'tough on China' and, most horrifyingly, of seeing other USians online practically salivate as they fantasize about a war with China. It's some cold war boogieman horseshit. And it's depressing to watch here on Hacker News, too, any comments that question the beating of those war drums go dead. Yesterday I h…

While I agree that using China as our 21st century boogieman is very tiresome, the fact of the matter is China is not a friend of the west.

You're wasting your time trying to explain this to somebody who uses the derogatory "USian" to describe his supposed fellow countrymen.

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

#167

Post by scotty79 »

sabujp wrote: post #146

Spy balloon cost : $3k - $50k , you can even buy them on alibaba and some other sites: https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/China-hot-sale-surveillance-balloon-with_60454941082.html https://www.made-in-china.com/showroom/jennerjiang/product-list/catalog-1.html?view=0 Cost to shoot down balloon with F22 $400k for the AIM-9X, ~$85k for 1 hour of flight time, so ~$400 - $500k to shoot down one balloon that cost < $50k

I guess China just discovered a strategy how to drain US of some resources. Just let out a lot of scientific baloons and let the dirft away.

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

#168

Post by themodelplumber »

amelius wrote: post #114

So they waited until the balloon was over sea. This raises the question: why didn't the military see it coming and destroy it before it crossed the border?

I wonder...is there any value to:

- IDing components, maybe even using some x-ray tech like US satellites have

- Developing an idea of what this thing vacuums up, informationally

- Switching our monitoring posture to also vacuuming up the same as it travels along, as if we are co-spying on our own stuff

- Using the information product to help harden any sensitive information that was vacuumed, for counter-intel purposes

This would fit the general parameters of what the public saw happening (almost nothing, then bang as soon as the balloon is floating over literally nothing).

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

#169

Post by ancientworldnow »

iancmceachern wrote: post #144
treis wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is gigantic. It's definitely not cheap and most likely more than the unit cost of a missile.

Missles are pretty expensive, the sidewinders they used to shoot out down cost between 200 and 400k

A regular hot air balloon can cost 200-400k and this is substantially larger with more lift capability and had presumably expensive payload and propulsion. Worldview spent millions of dollars on a substantially smaller balloon that granted is capable of a few miles higher flight with less payload.

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

#170

Post by sebzim4500 »

sabujp wrote: post #146

Spy balloon cost : $3k - $50k , you can even buy them on alibaba and some other sites: https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/China-hot-sale-surveillance-balloon-with_60454941082.html https://www.made-in-china.com/showroom/jennerjiang/product-list/catalog-1.html?view=0 Cost to shoot down balloon with F22 $400k for the AIM-9X, ~$85k for 1 hour of flight time, so ~$400 - $500k to shoot down one balloon that cost < $50k

The balloon that was shot down was visible to the naked eye at 60k feet. It would have had to be far larger than the products you have linked to.
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