So what’s the deal with these balloons? Provocation? Do they think nobody will notice?
Who is 'they'?
US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast
81–90 of 864 posts
Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
Probably didn't help that an Air Force general was openly and loudly proclaiming that war is inevitable. I looked up some speeches of his, and he is off the rails, like the German general in All Quiet Along the Western Front .
Do you have a link or name of the guy? I haven't heard about this
Parent is presumably talking about recent comments by Gen. Mike Minihan (Air Mobility Command).
IMHO, people/news are blowing it out of proportion.
If the boss of FedEx said we're going to end up in a war with China, how much does that say about what defense contractors are doing?
What it was probably actually about was shocking the troops assigned to AMC, establishing an important mission and raising morale, and declaring business as usual was no longer acceptable.
Gotta be creative to make people excited about moving supplies.
See also: every ridiculous statement by every startup CEO in a bubble, ever
Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast
#83So what’s the deal with these balloons? Provocation? Do they think nobody will notice?
I'm pretty sure nobody here knows.
Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
I mean, it's nothing compared to the internal speeches that China gives its troops. Heck it's nothing compared to the speeches Xi gives internally to troops. Chinese troops are currently training on their missile corp on models of US aircraft carriers. Edit: Chinese propaganda video of attack on Guam - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBOho1AOKYY https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/36598/chinese-air-forc... https://…
my speculation is that the main goal of Chinese covid lockdown was to train and simulate mass policing of population in case of upcoming war.
My understanding is their vaccine doesn't work at all, they don't have a strong emergency medical care system, thus it was the only real option for them.
Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast
#85So what’s the deal with these balloons? Provocation? Do they think nobody will notice?
> provocation
Quite possibly. Minor provocations that by themselves are too inconsequential to warrant a response, nothing to start a war over, but incrementally provokes the target into lashing out in some way that is advantageous for China.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_salami_slicing_strateg...
(Other countries do it too, of course..)
Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast
#86Cheap balloon vs expensive missile, seems a good way to bankrupt us by sending continuous balloons.
A government that spends more money on their military than the rest of the world combined isn't at risk of bankruptcy from firing a couple missiles.
We're at risk of bankruptcy because our debt is 31 trillion dollars and in June we won't even be able to issue securities to continue bullshitting ourselves out of cutting spending. Welcome to America, we're broke because we spent all our money on guns rather than infrastructure, healthcare and education.
Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast
#87> Officials said the object was far smaller than the previous balloon, did not appear to be maneuverable and was traveling at a much lower altitude. "Not maneuverable" and "previous balloon" so is it fair to assume that it's a balloon as well?
That's an interesting catch. Still, it's known that the previous object was a balloon, so I'd say it makes more sense to expect those words are shorthand for "previous object (which was a balloon)". This new object may still be a balloon, but those words aren't admission of that.
Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast
#88So what’s the deal with these balloons? Provocation? Do they think nobody will notice?
Probe detection & response times for various approaches and altitudes, sigint for radio chatter that doesn't reach past the US, similar for active radar targeting high altitudes, wasting more US money than they cost China by a long shot, trial-run for a mass launch of these with potentially more interesting payloads than these sacrificial trial ones are carrying (even just as a kind of attention- and resource-wasting chaff during, say, an attack on Taiwan), radio-signal mapping for some crazy new passive guidance system. Lots of possibilities.
Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast
#89Cheap balloon vs expensive missile, seems a good way to bankrupt us by sending continuous balloons.
We already spent the money on the missiles, may as well use them.
Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast
#90Cheap balloon vs expensive missile, seems a good way to bankrupt us by sending continuous balloons.
The US Department of Attack budget for 2023 is $1.9 trillion dollars. A couple of missiles is petty cash.