Why the discovery of a Chinese balloon in US skies is such a big deal

**Norton** · 04-02-2023, 08:23 PM

I have Google Earth. I see all. Balloons are for kids.

**S Landreth** · 05-02-2023, 04:00 AM

Chinese balloon shot down over Atlantic Ocean by U.S.

The U.S. on Saturday shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon off the South Carolina coast, the Department of Defense announced.

The big picture: The balloon, which the Pentagon accused China of using to collect information on U.S. military sites, has heightened tensions between the two nations.

Driving the news: The balloon was downed by an American fighter aircraft above U.S. territorial waters, per the DOD.

President Biden had given his authorization Wednesday — a day before news of the balloon was made public — to take down the surveillance balloon "as soon as the mission could be accomplished without undue risk to American lives under the balloon’s path," the department said.
U.S. military commanders determined that doing so over land posed a risk and so they developed plans to take it down once the balloon was over water.
The procedure was done in coordination and with the support of the Canadian government, the DOD said.
Efforts to recover the remnants from the Atlantic Ocean were underway.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued an airspace closure around 12:45 p.m. EST in parts of North Carolina and South Carolina, pausing departures and arrivals from the Wilmington, Myrtle Beach International and Charleston International airports in order "support the Department of Defense in a national security effort."
The airspace and airports reopened around 3:30 p.m. EST, per the FAA.

What they're saying: "Today’s deliberate and lawful action demonstrates that President Biden and his national security team will always put the safety and security of the American people first while responding effectively to the PRC’s unacceptable violation of our sovereignty," the Defense Department said.

Biden told reports Saturday after the balloon was downed: "I ordered the Pentagon on Wednesday to shoot it down," adding that the Pentagon opted to wait until it was over the water.
When asked by a reporter earlier Saturday if there were plans to shoot down the balloon, Biden said in his first public comment about it, "We're going to take care of it."

**sabang** · 05-02-2023, 05:12 AM

Spoilsports! I think it would have been more fun to track it, and publicise it's flight path on the web for all to see.

**S Landreth** · 05-02-2023, 05:31 AM

^I couldn’t find the Chinese balloon on Flight Tracker. There wasn’t a flight number.

A senior U.S. defense official gave more details about the takedown, stating the balloon was hit at approximately 2:39 p.m. by a single F-22 fighter jet firing a single AIM-9X air-to-air missile.

_________

A how to guide.....

F-22 Raptor Launches AIM-9 Sidewinder Short-range air-to-air missile #shorts - YouTube

**bsnub** · 05-02-2023, 06:46 AM

Originally Posted by S Landreth

Chinese balloon shot down over Atlantic Ocean by U.S.

That has to be fake! OhDoh's Russian sources said that the US was not capable of shooting it down! I want my money back!

Never trust anything Putin's useful idiots post.

**sabang** · 05-02-2023, 07:55 AM

Considering all of the fuss you made of a high altitude balloon, reckon you guys should take up crochet.

**Buckaroo Banzai** · 05-02-2023, 08:18 AM

Originally Posted by sabang

Considering all of the fuss you made of a high altitude balloon, reckon you guys should take up crochet.

I know you are joking and balloons can be fun at parties or make funny animal shapes. I also had some fun with it in my first post in this thread.
But balloons have been used with great success in conflicts from the US civil war to now.
Balloons can be an inexpensive and relatively low tech delivery platform , and I promise you! you would not find any of it funny if you were the recipient of such delivery.

**39TG** · 05-02-2023, 08:19 AM

Sleepy Joe 1 Winnie the Pooh 0

Way to go Joe.

**harrybarracuda** · 05-02-2023, 08:37 AM

Originally Posted by Iceman123

Well the first line of your post is correct for what follows.

If you are clueless just say so, it’s nothing new.

These things are bit beyond you, aren't they?

**harrybarracuda** · 05-02-2023, 08:38 AM

Clever of the seppos to see through the chinky's cunning plan.

Why the discovery of a Chinese balloon in US skies is such a big deal-untitled-jpg

**Buckaroo Banzai** · 05-02-2023, 08:51 AM

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Clever of the seppos to see through the chinky's cunning plan.

If they were clever, they would had painted a smiley face on it

**harrybarracuda** · 05-02-2023, 09:03 AM

Originally Posted by Buckaroo Banzai

If they were clever, they would had painted a smiley face on it

That was on the other side.

**harrybarracuda** · 05-02-2023, 09:44 AM

Ah, that chinky sense of humour again.

China – which insists the balloon was a civilian research vessel – has expressed its "strong dissatisfaction and protest" against Washington's decision to shoot down the balloon, saying it was "overreacting" and "seriously violating international practice."

Live updates: US shoots down Chinese spy balloon off East Coast

**harrybarracuda** · 05-02-2023, 09:48 AM

I foresee more chinky whinging in the coming days.

The depth of the water where the debris from the balloon hit the ocean is approximately 47 feet, officials said.
The timeline on recovering the balloon from the Atlantic Ocean is unknown and a Navy salvage vessel is expected to be on the scene in a couple of days.

**harrybarracuda** · 05-02-2023, 09:53 AM

**sabang** · 05-02-2023, 09:55 AM

So it's now open season on barroons and energy pipelines

**VocalNeal** · 05-02-2023, 10:07 AM

The US overflew Russian airspace for years. Apparently that was OK. Pot and kettle.

**harrybarracuda** · 05-02-2023, 10:13 AM

Originally Posted by VocalNeal

The US overflew Russian airspace for years. Apparently that was OK. Pot and kettle.

What are you talking about, they let this fly all the way from Alaska to South Carolina.

**misskit** · 05-02-2023, 10:21 AM

Pentagon working to recover Chinese spy balloon, expects valuable intel from it

The U.S. military is working to recover the Chinese spy balloon that was shot down off the coast of South Carolina Saturday by a U.S. military fighter jet and expects to gain valuable intelligence from what it finds, the Department of Defense said.

As part of the recovery mission, several U.S. Navy and Coast Guard vessels established a security perimeter surrounding the area in the Atlantic Ocean roughly six miles off the coast where the balloon crashed after being shot down, DOD officials said. The vessels are searching for and collecting any debris associated with the balloon.

Because the device fell into a relatively shallow area, which has an estimated depth of 47 feet, the recovery mission is expected to be "fairly easy," one official stated. However, officials said there was no estimate for the length of the mission.

Officials added that recovering the balloon would give military investigators the rare opportunity to examine sensitive Chinese surveillance equipment. They also noted that the U.S. had taken steps to collect data from the balloon while it was making its flight across the country.

"I would also note that while we took all necessary steps to protect against the [Chinese] surveillance balloon's collection of sensitive information, the surveillance balloon's overflight of U.S. territory was of intelligence value to us," an official said. "I can't go into more detail, but we were able to study and scrutinize the balloon and its equipment, which has been valuable."

U.S. officials first revealed the existence of the balloon on Thursday after it was spotted above Montana. It was then closely tracked as it made its way across several Midwest states before flying through South Carolina.

On Saturday, after facing growing political pressure to deal with the balloon, the Pentagon scrambled an F-22 Raptor fighter jet based at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, which took the balloon down with an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile, according to the DOD.

"On Wednesday, when I was briefed on the balloon, I ordered the Pentagon to shoot it down, on Wednesday, as soon as possible," Biden told reporters Saturday. "They decided — without doing damage to anyone on — on the ground. They decided that the best time to do that was as it got over water, outside — within our — within the 12-mile limit."

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement that the balloon, which was being used to surveil "strategic sites" in the U.S., was an "unacceptable violation of our sovereignty."

Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, blasted the Biden administration for being too slow to act and argued the delay in shooting the balloon down signaled weakness. The U.S. first detected the balloon off the western coast of Alaska on Jan. 28, five days before acknowledging it publicly and seven days before shooting it down.

"Why was this allowed to go clear across the country for so many days? You know, you look at this, national security is one of the biggest things that any country can do. It is a core function of government," Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C, told Fox News after the balloon was shot down.

Page not found - MSN

**Buckaroo Banzai** · 05-02-2023, 10:24 AM

Originally Posted by VocalNeal

The US overflew Russian airspace for years. Apparently that was OK. Pot and kettle.

It was not OK. You must be familiar with the U2 incident in 1960.

**Buckaroo Banzai** · 05-02-2023, 10:29 AM

Originally Posted by misskit

Pentagon working to recover Chinese spy balloon, expects valuable intel from it

Please see post in Biden thread, which I posted several minutes ago.
Genius, simply genius

Why the discovery of a Chinese balloon in US skies is such a big deal-fn-geniouse-jpg

PS: why is the time stamp 10:27 when I posted this at least 15 min ago. Am I experiencing another temporal incident? I honestly don't know where John Connor is

**harrybarracuda** · 05-02-2023, 10:48 AM

Why the discovery of a Chinese balloon in US skies is such a big deal-328449440_1001079460871033_3378594209951665758_n-jpg

**harrybarracuda** · 05-02-2023, 11:31 AM

This marks the first air-to-air kill for the F-22. Open-source flight tracking information showed two U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors with the call signs “Frank01” and “Frank02” joined by a KC-135 areial tanker in the vicinity of the balloon’s path off the Carolina coast.
“The military jets using the call sign “FRANK” is significant. Frank Luke Jr. was an American fighter ace in World War I better known as the ‘Arizona Balloon Buster,’” tweeted Marcus Weisgerber, global business editor for Defense One “He is credited with shooting down 14 German surveillance balloons.”

US military shoots down Chinese spy balloon - Task & Purpose

**TTraveler** · 05-02-2023, 11:43 AM

Every Chinese influencer on Twitter is making fun of the US because of this.

**VocalNeal** · 05-02-2023, 11:56 AM

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

What are you talking about, they let this fly all the way from Alaska to South Carolina.

Where Gary powers was going.

...This is one they to which they had to admit.

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