Chinese spy balloon floating over the US

[sferrin]

The tracks I've seen on this had it traveling North as it crossed the Aleutian chain before hanging a Roger and crossing over mainland Alaska. If this was the first time a PRC balloon made that route change, it seems likely the change caught them off guard. I'm wondering if China has sent legitimate science balloon missions along that path to the pole recently specifically to set up the expectation that a balloon on that route wasn't a concern.

It's not like it was an SR-71 and didn't give them time to react.

They weren't tailing it with a MiG-25, either. The thing crossed from the Mississippi river to the coast of South Carolina in a day. It was fast enough that by the time whatever station was monitoring it realized the thing was diverting, the window to safely set up a shoot over water was closed.

"The tracks I've seen on this had it traveling North as it crossed the Aleutian chain before hanging a Roger and crossing over mainland Alaska. "

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Topic is closed. Any additional discussion of a technical nature rather than geopolitical can be added to a "News Only" topic if required.

 

[sferrin]

"Before shooting at a Chinese spy balloon from 58,000 ft. on Feb. 4, mission planners were not aware of an F-22 having ever fired an AIM-9X Sidewinder at any target at that altitude similar to the 200-ft.-tall balloon drifting over the Atlantic Ocean, a defense official says.

Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and North American Aerospace Defense Command, said they decided to use the missile over others, such as the AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile, so the Raptor could be at a closer range and the Sidewinder’s much smaller warhead would limit damage to the balloon.

“We assess from an effectiveness standpoint that it was going to be highly effective and that was proven on Saturday,” VanHerck told reporters.

Pentagon and White House officials are sharing more details about the balloon as an effort continues to collect debris from a large swatch of ocean near South Carolina. VanHerck said the large balloon had a structure about the size of an Embraer Regional Jet under it. Officials planned to down it over water to limit the damage from thousands of pounds of components such as large solar arrays, batteries, glass and other hazardous materials.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Feb. 6 that the balloon had propellers and a rudder, which allowed it to change course and conduct limited maneuvers, though it mostly stayed with the jet stream. It was able to slow down and loiter over sensitive locations, he said"

Officials Share More Details On Chinese Balloon As Debris Sought | Aviation Week Network

Pentagon and White House officials are sharing more details about the balloon as an effort continues to collect debris.

aviationweek.com

 

[TomcatViP]

F-22 get a confirmed (and very public) kill:

As fighter jets closed in on Chinese balloon, hobbyists were listening

A group of aviation enthusiasts was scanning radio frequencies for the exchanges between the pilots as an F-22 fired a missile and downed the balloon.

www.airforcetimes.com