The China Thread (Threat)

[Ooh-Rah]

@Ooh-Rah maybe merge the balloon thread into this one? Otherwise your cross pollination is gonna' be wild.

Done.

 

[Marauder06]

It's interesting that there is so much in the news right now about this thing. We look SUPER weak about this.
It's a balloon. Poke a hole in it with a laser... or a 30mm cannon or a missile, bring that thing down gently and exploit it. Why is this even a national-level discussion?

 

[757]

Just stick "Pfizer" on the side of a missile and claim you mistook the balloon for a new Covid strain.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

Why is this even a national-level discussion?

I think THAT is the question of the day …

 

[Marauder06]

Just stick "Pfizer" on the side of a missile and claim you mistook the balloon for a new Covid strain.

Well, if it were true to the vaccine then the missile wouldn't work and it would cause heart attacks in people who didn't need the missile in the first place.

 

[AWP]

Just stick "Pfizer" on the side of a missile and claim you mistook the balloon for a new Covid strain.

Post of the Day contender starting off with a pretty high bar to clear.

 

[757]

Well, if it were true to the vaccine then the missile wouldn't work and it would cause heart attacks in people who didn't need the missile in the first place.

 

[JedisonsDad]

China is saying it is “of civilian nature” and was force off route.

微博

 

[AWP]

I strongly advise against calling this a weather balloon. - Francis Gary Powers

Someone didn't learn from us. - Roswell AFB PAO office

 

[Ooh-Rah]

China is saying it is “of civilian nature” and was force off route.

微博

I feel like I’ve seen this movie before….it will come to me.

 

[Marauder06]

China is saying it is “of civilian nature” and was force off route.

微博

If I had the ability it would be "of smoking wreckage" nature.

This can't be the first time something like this has happened. Either we're allowing this balloon to continue its course for whatever reason, or this is a severe national security failure.

At least wreck the electronics on the thing, if you're not going to take it down completely.

 

[Blizzard]

Help me understand why we let this penetrate US Airspace?

US is monitoring Chinese spy balloon floating over Montana

A massive Chinese surveillance balloon has been hovering over the northern United States for the last few days, senior defense officials confirmed on Thursday - with being briefed on Wednesday about his options, including shooting it out of the sky.

Biden suggested the high-altitude balloon should be shot down, after it was spotted and reported by civilians in a commercial airliner, U.S. officials told .

According to the article, this was its path of flight:

Also according to the article, F-22s from Nellis were sent to intercept. Which leads to the question, what took so long? How about the dudes up at Elmendorf?

As others said, the reason stated for not dispatching the balloon shows an incredibly strong lack of geography and population density of Montana. It's equally as irresponsible to let the thing float around unpredictably where at somepoint it could become a hazard.

 

[Marauder06]

One of the Air Force guys in the office suggested outfitting one of those C-130 jungle extractor-type planes for the mission. Not sure if that's plausible, but sure sounds interesting.

 

[AWP]

And people think our only border problem is with Mexico...

Can you imagine this shit happening in the 70's or early 80's? They would smoke that thing long before it reached Montana.
-----

One of the Air Force guys in the office suggested outfitting one of those C-130 jungle extractor-type planes for the mission. Not sure if that's plausible, but sure sounds interesting.

Maybe a better option? CORONA (satellite) - Wikipedia

 

[Deleted member 11415]

The balloon....one would hope they're having a fuckin pajama jammy jam party with it, continue too, exploiting everything (i.e. only described at the most basic level...
where data is being sent to, how its different from ours, not different from ours. What happens when this happens, what happens when that happens, etc etc.)

Pretty typical happenings when anyone sends anything from one country to another.



Earlier this morning, PRC sounded like they're implying it may be a civilian funded 1% of wealth endeavor by saying "they're investigating it."

If I knew anything about altitudes, I take bets on when someone starts trying to shoot it down.

super weird though.

Edited for short sentences.

 

[Devildoc]

The balloon....one would hope they're having a fuckin pajama jammy jam party with it, continue too, exploiting everything (i.e. only described at the most basic level...
where data is being sent to, how its different from ours, not different from ours. What happens when this happens, what happens when that happens, etc etc.)

Pretty typical happenings when anyone sends anything from one country to another.



Earlier this morning, PRC sounded like they're implying it may be a civilian funded 1% of wealth endeavor by saying "they're investigating it."

If I knew anything about altitudes, I take bets on when someone starts trying to shoot it down.

super weird though.

Edited for short sentences.

As I understand it is beyond the service ceilings of any fighter aircraft. But certainly not beyond missile range.

 

[Marauder06]

As I understand it is beyond the service ceilings of any fighter aircraft. But certainly not beyond missile range.

Space lasers.

 

[Deleted member 11415]

As I understand it is beyond the service ceilings of any fighter aircraft. But certainly not beyond missile range.

Seems from nerdy number series perspective, the Space Force would be the entity running point on a neighbor's wayward balloon.

But who knows in these different and changing times. Who knows.

Edited

 

[Cookie_]

Seeing how large the thing seems to be (three buses is the common comparison I keep hearing) I can understand not shooting it down over a population area like Billings.

Why it was allowed to drift all over the frozen lands of Northern Montana is a different thing though.

What I don't get is why they'd use a Ballon when they can (likely) get the same Intel using low orbit satellites.

It's either a test for our response or has another goal, such as testing the ceiling of the jets that are monitoring it.

 

[Dame]

And in the "why am I not surprised" category...


Andrew deGrandpré
@adegrandpre
Another update: Canadian officials now say they, too, are taking steps — “including the monitoring of a POTENTIAL SECOND INCIDENT” — to ensure their country’s airspace is secure.