The F-22 has gone from zero kills to two in under a week.
And now three.
US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast
841–850 of 864 posts
Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast
#842Earlier quoted context omitted.
In the US the government doesn't control what the press reports.
The government makes statements to the press, leaks to the press and when politicians throw barbs at each other over an issue, the press reports their statements about the issue and the issue. No one said the press was being controlled.
My point is, even if you didn't personally see the balloon, some people did, and so it was reported in the press (as is their job). The government didn't have any control over that, but once it happened, they had to address it.
Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast
#843Earlier quoted context omitted.
> the US government spends at least 4x more on healthcare, education and welfare And we’re terrible at all three vs nations that spend fractions less…
Yes, and that's why we should oppose more tax increases and more government spending, and focus instead on how to make government more efficient and get more value for the money we do spend.
Be careful. Cutting education will decrease our future efficiency.
Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast
#844Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wow that's really fascinating. I wonder what sorts of properties allow geologists to characterize sand to that level Also wonder how effective it is. Especially nowadays in such an interconnected world where products, and especially sand, could be coming from the opposite side of the globe
"mineral and diatom composition." Sand with a variety of both of those can look much more varied, under a microscope, than you might imagine.
It being varied doesn't surprise me. What surprises me is that it doesn't vary that much within a sample. That you can parse out specific patterns or characteristics enough to figure out exactly where this sample of sand is from
Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast
#845Earlier quoted context omitted.
I heard rumors that during the bosnian war they were making fake SAM sites using microwave ovens with the door taken off. Get them to fire an air-to-ground missile at a device you got from the junkyard and an extension cord.
Microwaves transmit on a frequency nowhere near missile systems and are not modulated in any way resembling a missile fire control system, but cool story. ECM gear in US warplanes can classify a system based off its emissions and people think they're fooled by a microwave oven?
> Microwaves transmit on a frequency nowhere near missile systems
S band is used for target acquisition a whole lot.
> and are not modulated in any way resembling a missile fire control system
Yup, but when you're deciding whether or not to launch a HARM it's better safe than sorry. In turn, asymmetries accrue.
Indeed, you can't really afford to ignore the microwave oven S-band emitter, because you could use even a literal microwave oven for illumination with passive radar techniques for target acquisition pretty well.
Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast
#846Earlier quoted context omitted.
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The Pentagon showed during the whole Afghanistan situation that they are perfectly comfortable making Biden look bad to the press. I see no reason why they would lie to run cover for him now.
Well I meant more the MSM than the pentagon but regardless they just do whatever suits the narrative at the time don't they?
Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast
#847Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your own govt isn't going to sabotage its infrastructure in war with an adversary.
Ok please tell me how me personally worrying about that will protect said infrastructure in any way.
Well for one you'll be able to inform and request your local govt to avoid using Chinese equipment in infrastructure.
Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast
#848I feel sorry for the pool soul who decided to send up their DIY weather balloon with gopro to get that space shot. Who knows he might even have a video of a F-22 sending a missile over.
A $400k missile and an F-22 sortie costing probably a similar amount. I really hope for their sake the government doesn't try to charge them that cost.
It does indeed sound like something like that. The size of a small car would mean a tiny payload as those balloons get huge in the stratosphere. One thing I wonder is why it didn't burst. Weather balloons are meant to burst as soon as they get that high.
Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast
#849Earlier quoted context omitted.
How much does a weather baloon cost? ...compared to a F22 flight, a missle + all the logistics? If it's cheap enough, there will probably be youtubers and tiktokers buying them en-masse just "for the lulz".
Each one of those sidewinder rockets is half a million dollars. Think about how much healthcare, food, housing, we are burning up with this nonsense.
Weird that they used a sidewinder actually.
I mean, those are IR missiles and such a balloon wouldn't have a great signature.
Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast
#850Earlier quoted context omitted.
Did we have operatives taking sand samples or was that some over-exuberant librarian who got to say "I told you so" to their bosses?
That's an interesting aspect to this story to me. Maybe it was truly based on intel and the geological survey was a farce to justify the facilities targeting. That wouldn't surprise me, there's a ton of lore around WWII and military activity in general. Or maybe the US government chooses to fund all areas of research, like mineral surveys, in the hopes they can call on a field of knowledge repository to use in a war…
There was also a lot of deliberate misdirection to cover intelligence sources, many of which would probably persist in history to this day.