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U.S. military shoots down suspected Chinese surveillance balloon

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

#491
post #336

This is technically the first combat kill by the F-22.

I wonder if the pilot gets to paint a balloon silhouette on his plane.

I don’t think F-22 pilots get to paint their aircraft. It would destroy the stealth coatings, which are so specialized they are measured to the milligram when removed (to ensure an adversary hasn’t taken some for analysis).

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

#492
post #338

I have been in "no politics, no news" mode for over a month. I try to do this about once a year. I have yet to tell my wife I do it, but when I am on this limited media consumption she always comments how pleasant I am to be around. I think it is a good thing for all of us to do once in a while, until 80 years ago most news was at best three or four days old, go back 120 years and you're getting only last weeks top t…

My favorite Russian joke of 2012 was this: — Daddy, which camp they are taking us to? — I don't know, son, I am not interested in politics.

I can't tell if the joke is the man is foolish or wise for not being interested in politics.

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

#493
post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

The US didn't get any of the Iraqi Oil. Ironically, it was Europe and China who benefitted in that regard. Also notably, the US 5th fleet defends freedom of navigation in the Gulf, which is mostly about Oil, and China is the #1 recipient of Oil! Funny, that.

I'm sure those million dead people in iraq are glad the fifth fleet is protecting trade or that America didn't actually directly steal their oil. The same goes for the countless lives and futures ruined for the people still living with the consequences of the Gulf War.

This is absurd and sounds exactly like a chinese nationalist rhetoric about what Mao did in the great leap forward. Hey, millions died, but think of how stable/prosperous everything was after that! Plus, our side had good intentions*. Two sides of the same coin.

(By the way, the US profits immensly from a stable gulf trade. Oil doesn't have to be exported to the US for america to profit from trade in the area. It's a commodity, and stable trade means stable prices internationally, which is extremely important to american interests. China might profit, too, but it's even more essential to American hegemony, which I agree can have its upsides)

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

#494

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The risk/reward ratio of that would be insanely bad. That's in the realm of "lizard people" in terms of likelihood.

You have NATO already providing training, signal intelligence, communications, weapons, advisory personnel and volunteers in Ukraine. Russia is already saying it’s in a limited war with NATO. Germany is already saying it’s at war with Russia. What I suggest is actually the F-22 is being using for signal intelligence over the Black Sea; helping guide in missles. Such as this attack https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europ…

> Germany is already saying it’s at war with Russia.

A german politician said they are at war and since then Berlin "has repeatedly stressed that it wants to avoid the NATO alliance becoming a party to the conflict."

This is a stretch.

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

#495
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…

The two Indian engineers who were murdered in Kansas in 2017, as Donald Trump's populist rhetoric began to climb after the election, was a damning proof that stoking jingoism harms innocent people first. Those gleefully cheering for extremely divisive rhetoric, based on misinfo and hyperbole, will be directly complicit in future tragedies caused by this.

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

#496
post #447

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ballon was at 60k feet and eye witnesses said it had the same apparent size in the sky as passenger jets flying nearby at 30k feet.

if only i paid attention in trigonometry..

Hmm, do we even need trig? Naively I would imagine that simple proportions would hold — e.g. same visible size @ twice the distance = object is twice as big

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

#497
post #482
post #440

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think they jammed it, considering how high it was. Intercepted .. I mean, China can use strong encryption too.

US military aircraft can remotely destroy electronics aboard other aircraft by aiming a highly focused beam precisely onto it, thus disabling it. They do t have to decrypt anything. They just have to fry it.

A great way to study those capabilities then would be to send a trial balloon... We aren't goijg ti necessarily reveal intricate details of our capabilities like that.

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

#498
post #437

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Must be nice being so privileged to talk down the very thing that maintains global trade channels (diplomacy) and keeps most of the world in check. Most of the world is backwater nations who oppress the shit out of their population making whatever faults you find in the US seem trivial. And yes the world isn’t fair and entropy exists. EU is basically a forced alliance after thousand years of constant fighting that le…

The idea people would still function while the entire east and west coast burns is the same fantasy at massive scale as people who walk around with guns thinking they are going to somehow defeat someone who has planned and already actively shooting at them.

I believe great many ICBMs would definitely make it to major cities and that is the end of the world.

We've already seen how people handle a pandemic, imagine active fallout but they cannot see the radiation. They'd be dropping like flies.

Once the power and water is gone, 99% of American civilization is gone.

Why do you think domestic terrorists are going after power stations (successfully so imagine national defense).

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

#499

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Sure. $1M for the AIM, and $100M for all the other gear and personnel involved.

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

#500
post #338

I have been in "no politics, no news" mode for over a month. I try to do this about once a year. I have yet to tell my wife I do it, but when I am on this limited media consumption she always comments how pleasant I am to be around. I think it is a good thing for all of us to do once in a while, until 80 years ago most news was at best three or four days old, go back 120 years and you're getting only last weeks top t…

Yip, I just stopped reading news for a year 2 years ago. Then I restarted again last year, and now I've stopped again. Definitely better for my mental health! (and you see enough headlines here and other places that I still feel pretty informed)
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