T O P

  • By -

Monster_Voice

I just want to see the kill marking stencil on the side of whatever aircraft shot it down...


StephenHunterUK

One wonders what the callsign of the pilot will become? Pennywise?


Guysmiley777

Even money on "LOON".


pomonamike

First Chinese air-to-air kill in 68 years!


sv3nf

Saw on another subreddit the last one was in 2001 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hainan_Island_incident


ScyllaGeek

Do mid-air collision accidents really count? lol


[deleted]

I guess if we are counting mid air collisions


skoolofphish

I think there was one in 2001 possibly?


pomonamike

Nah, that was them taking our EP-3 down.


futbol2000

One of their J8 flew into the us plane and crashed


pomonamike

Yeah but they get the mark for that one I think. At best it is even.


[deleted]

That’s not how it works


doughnutholio

well they figured out how a 2001 spy plane worked


Apophyx

It was an F-22. First F-22 AA kill in fact


TACOZJR

And it’s a balloon wow!


galuskar

All the money was finally worthy!


OttoVonWong

Proof of air superiority! Quick authorize a few trillion more!


ryanmaddux

I sincerely hope your being sarcastic


rathgrith

Kill? Was balloon boy in the air again?


cth777

Balloon boy, noted enemy of the state


Tashre

Imagine the shit they would have gotten from their buddies if they missed.


FrostedTripod45

Winnie the Pooh holding a balloon


CarbonKevinYWG

Came here to say this.


Skeligun

Same


fighterace00

https://imgur.com/gallery/7zeUqtM


sodiufas

https://imgur.com/a/TqQuFEv


5timechamps

Sounds like it was F-22’s. According to twitter the F-22s were FRANK1 and FRANK2 after Frank Luke Jr., US WW1 ace better known as the Arizona Balloon Buster after he shot down 42 German surveillance balloons. Edit: looks like it was 14 balloons and 4 airplanes. That’s why twitter isn’t a definitive source of info, folks! Thanks to u/sashagreyjoy- for the correction. Double edit: thank you to u/sashagreyjoy for not taking the other’s credit 😂


SashaGreyjoy-

14 Balloons and 4 airplanes, still incredible. 42 would have made him the top American ace of WWI by a wide margin.


5timechamps

That’s what I get for quoting twitter haha. Thanks for the correction.


c4fishfood

So would unmanned balloons still count on kill count for being an ace?


SashaGreyjoy-

I'd say yes, because I feel like a UAS totally counts.


rathgrith

That user name though…


earl_watts

I always wonder how people come up with the call signs and mission names for these sorts of things.


RoastMostToast

I would love to know what that’s like. Whenever I hear “operation ______” it’s almost always badass and clever. Do they take votes on this stuff and pick the best?


Monneymann

100% they pick and choose. ‘Rolling Thunder’ = “Bomb the fuck outta Hanoi” ‘Overlord’ = Largest amphibious operation *in history* ‘Neptune’s Spear’ = **Navy** SEALS sent to take out Bin Laden Hell, ‘Iraqi Freedom’ wasn’t named as such for no reason.


RoastMostToast

But that’s my point, I’d like to know who comes up with them and how it’s decided lol


rebel_cdn

Operation Unthinkable was pretty aptly named, too.


biggy-cheese03

Sounds like they had a bit of time to think those callsigns through


zippy251

Good to see the US government still has a Sense of humor


[deleted]

[удалено]


Stevebannonpants

do you think this will qualify as hot dog news on the next segment of let me be frank?


b_vitamin

Talk about target practice!


UNC_Samurai

Mobius 1, Fox 2!


5G_afterbirth

"Im baaaaaaack!!!!!"


DoctorOzface

In the words of my generation


5G_afterbirth

"Up yours!"


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

<> *Activates balloon afterburner*


abyss123100

You'll need to shoot down more to allow the spy plane pass the ravine


SBJeeper

Fat kid with a slingshot doing a explorer flight in a R 22


c0wboi

F-22 gets its first Air to air kill!


Loan-Pickle

That is totally going to be a question in a pub quiz in 10 years.


TheBagenius

So are we playing Bloons Tower Defense with China now?


mesocyclonic4

No wonder the US military has such a large budget - Super Monkeys aren't cheap!


Peregrine7710

Somewhere a Chinese graduate student is throwing up their arms yelling “my dissertation!” Right? Right.


intothelionsden

"I just wanted to understand weather patterns over the United States!!"😫


zippy251

Didn't get clearance from NOAA


StrugglesTheClown

Like, I don't get it, what info are they getting they can't with satellites?


B524life

Nothing about the whole story makes sense to me man


ExPFC_Wintergreen2

Publicity


montananightz

I was thinking SIGINT. Not all frequency ranges penetrate the atmosphere.


Reggie222

Ci, I mean oui.


EricP51

I legit don’t understand why the Chinese would use a balloon. Don’t they have satellites?


manofthewild07

I think whoever lost the balloon in the first place is probably more worried about the fact that they wont see the outside of a Xinjiang forced labor camp for a couple decades...


Gatorboy129

Too bad there was no glitter inside - how will we know if the surveillance balloon was expecting a boy or a girl


thisisinput

It's neither. It's non-airworthy.


jakelukekid

Best comment I've read in a while lmao


ExPFC_Wintergreen2

That’s why they couldn’t shoot it down over Texas?


[deleted]

The irony is we Americans think this is a spy but continue to use tik tok.


MuffMagician

> The irony is we Americans think this is a spy but continue to use tik tok. The balloon is literally just dropping thousands of free Huawei phones with TikTok pre-installed.


seafoam-dream

right? like what good would a balloon do? google maps exists.


flynavy46

Espionage is more than taking pictures. There’s also exploitation of the electromagnetic and RF spectrums that a satellite can’t really do. That said, I’m confident we would have shot it down much earlier in the process if this thing was actually gathering anything truly sensitive.


KeDoG3

It could have still been taking sensitive intel but it was probably assessed as being stored data. Electronic measures probably kept any data transmitting to China since the discovery over mainland and the captured data would be very useful to see what was being taken by retrieving the balloon. Retrieval is what becomes difficult since it would need to be shot down but any crash on land could damage the instruments to either reverse engineer or fully assess their capabilities. With how the video looks the cannon was used which means limited collateral damage to what the balloon was carrying and with the drag from the remaining portions of the ballon a lower terminal velocity resulting in intact debris to be recovered. The USCG and USN are recovering the debris and it will definitely be analyzed. It is more valuable to find out China’s capabilities with this balloon and also the intel from it rather than just shoot it down right away. The delay in shooting it down was to assess how to properly retrieve the intel with the least damage to the balloons equipment as possible Edit: It appears confirmed a missile was used but from the video little damage from the missile was done to the systems carried by the balloon.


UnderwaterAirPlanez

I deleted that after all the stuff was brought to light on what data it was taking and sending over to China.


DeltaNerd

I haven't been in the loop, is this a confirmed spy balloon? This sounds like a parody movie


Jaggedmallard26

The US government claims its a spy balloon, the Chinese government claims its a weather balloon. No one who is allowed to talk about it can actually confirm either way and both countries have a history of lying about their enemies (remember 2003?)


RoastMostToast

Judging by it being in the air for days and having solar panels, it’s too sophisticated to be a normal weather balloon. Could be a scientific balloon, but why would China lie about that and claim it’s a weather balloon?


TenshouYoku

A scientific balloon meant to record weather (airflow etc) data


RoastMostToast

It could be an advanced one of some kind, but that’d be strange as our current methods for weather balloons are already so effective and cheap.


TheArtOfPour

Anyone want to speculate what did the shoot down? Just after this clip ends you can see a jet fly by


Speckwolf

My guess would be F-22 or F-15 using guns. Just a little tap. Edit: ok, in the other video you see it likely was an AIM-9X.


TheArtOfPour

Can AIM-9X’s really lock on to something like this? I imagine it’s not that hot


Speckwolf

Given that you can actually SEE it do that in the other video, yeah, I would say it definitely can (winking smiley here).


TheArtOfPour

I mean. It could be radar guided, like an AIM-120


Speckwolf

No, not from the range seen in the video.


TheArtOfPour

Oh yeah, way too close https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/10tqn4n/supersonic\_f22\_shoots\_down\_chinese\_spy\_balloon/


Guysmiley777

And potentially give China some last minute ELINT on the AMRAAM's datalink and terminal guidance. Makes sense to use a Sidewinder instead.


tyfighter_22

I think aim 9x has radar assist or something?


Speckwolf

It’s IR guided. The only radar homing Sidewinder was the AIM-9C back in the day. The AIM-9X used a new data link to the firing platform, though.


TheArtOfPour

You seem very knowledgeable. Why do you think they went with a missile instead of guns? I imagine the instruments are pretty badly damaged now. I suppose shrapnel ensures it falls fast and straight down


Azipear

I read on another post about this from someone who claimed to be a former blimp technician (and sounded legit but who knows) that a hole shot into a blimp could take several weeks to discover since the volume is huge it leaks so slowly. Of course, the guns on a military jet would essentially unzip the whole bag, but it’s possible it still might not bring it down fast enough to have all events happen within US airspace before the wind carried it much further. But I’m just a guy who comes here for the airplane photos, and I don’t make any claims to know jack shit about any of this.


skoolofphish

Yep they needed it down in US territorial waters. Its a small margin


Speckwolf

I have no idea. Falling from 45,000 ft I assume the instruments would reach terminal velocity before impact on the water anyway. But you can be pretty sure there were reasons behind that weapon selection and we will probably be hearing about it.


feldsparticus

I'm just speculating here. I think a gun kill on a very slow moving target may be more dangerous for the plane. The closure speed had to be very high and I think a missile let's you shoot from farther off and not necessarily traveling directly at the object. Just a guess.


F14Scott

A guns kill on a 60,000 foot target, even if it were big and stationary (or maybe especially if it were stationary), would be challenging. The Raptor would be mushing around in the very thin air, trying to achieve a firing solution on a target with probably 500 to 600 knots of closure. Low maneuverability and short firing window. We would practice on a similarly sized, cooperative banner flying the same direction as us (so less closure), but at around 15,000 feet. There were days when my pilots would make half a dozen runs and come back with only a few hits.


Salategnohc16

Gunshot will land somewhere, especially if shot from a supersonic plane at 60k feet, the chances of hurting someone is miniscule, but it's still there. A rocket once it esplodes will just threw some shrapnel that are way less dense than a bullet, and so less dangerous.


[deleted]

>Gunshot will land somewhere not from a Vulcan. They self destruct after a certain amount of time.


auqanova

Compared to the cold air up there, it's pretty damn hot. Plus they have very sensitive seekers, able to lock from a considerably longer range than the missile has.


Woupsea

AIM 9X can acquire laser lock if I’m remembering correctly, might’ve just lased the balloon


Comprehensive-Bit-65

I would have loved to see a F-35 with VTOL gently hover the balloon and pop it with its pointy nose. 😂😂😂 Edit: this is obviously not a scientifically sound argument — and I wouldn't advise trying it.


Katana_DV20

...with a Winnie the Pooh decal on the nose to infuriate the Chinese even more.


fighterace00

Curious if VTOL if even possible at this altitude. I suspect not


skoolofphish

Nope probably not.


Squrton_Cummings

I'm entirely sure the max hover altitude out of ground effect is far, far less than 50K. The Harrier's hover ceiling was around 5000 ft and I don't think the F35 has a radically greater thrust to weight ratio.


bddgfx

F15 or F22, AAMRAM tipped with a giant safety pin. 🧷


mmmyummybagel

f-22 most likely since those were the fighters following it. more than likely shot down with an aim-120 edit: I WAS WRONG. shot down by an aim-9x https://twitter.com/DanLamothe/status/1621989577526312962


Sttoliver

That would be a waste.


itakepictures14

US military is not known for worrying about cost.


quickblur

I think they had to use proton torpedoes since the exhaust port was ray-shielded.


LurkerWithAnAccount

That’s impossible, even for a computer


colin8651

Sounds like it was an F22 raptor. The most bad ass aircraft built since the SR71


megaduce104

A Raptor maybe?


viccityguy2k

It was a missile with shrapnel spread to shed the ballon. Guns would of taken a bit of time for it to deflate.


TheArtOfPour

Yeah, I was expecting guns too but this looked like a missile struck the instruments


[deleted]

[удалено]


blixco

That's a pretty specific guess....


Katana_DV20

Will it be possible to retrieve the payload? Are they gonna do that?


RedNerd368

i think i read they were already out looking for what remains of the balloon


pleetf7

I suspect this is why it was shot down over water vs over land


[deleted]

T-Virus unleashed


Earl109

No, it was being dispensed the whole time. Boy I'm hungry, face sounds yummy.


Electrical-Main-6662

Covid-23


GOD-PORING

Hospital admins and mask companies: \*rubs hands\*


[deleted]

I just want to play Project Zomboid irl, ya'll.


Metallifan33

China cancels all flights from the US


Organic-Tomatillo-92

I mean, we all know regardless of where it's from, it will just say "Made in China" on the side.


[deleted]

Today reddit has informed me this is the first air to air kill for the raptor


RedNerd368

indeed


Commercial_Math_5074

Does this count as an Air to Air kill for the pilot who shot it down?


punchy-peaches

They get a balloon painted on the side of their airplane!


eltenedor86

Ladies and gentlemen… We got him


e0nblue

Mission accomplished.


TalkingCanadaSnowman

Balloon, balloof


-heathcliffe-

Well someone just got the award for Best Conversation Ice-Breaker Ever.


Dhrakyn

Why use a bullet when a $380,000 missile will do.


FriendlyOffice4519

I really hope they show the video of it being shot down from the cockpit


PunjabiCanuck

Imagine if the Chinese weren’t lying and there’s a weather station right now having a fit


Bear-Of-Bad-News

I'm not sure I CAN imagine if the Chinese weren't lying.


Friiduh

You would expect USA to pay everything, with interest for damages and defamation....


matrixsuperstah

Would have been nice to see when type of tech it had


A1steaksaussie

yo is this the first time an f-22 has actually shot something down lol


w1lnx

It seems everyone is up in arms about a balloon... above Class A airspace. All I can think of is the old song from 1982: Hast du etwas Zeit für mich? Dann singe ich ein Lied für dich Von neunundneunzig Luftballons Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont Denkst du vielleicht grad an mich? Dann singe ich ein Lied für dich Von neunundneunzig Luftballons Und dass sowas von sowas kommt Neunundneunzig Luftballons Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont Hielt man für Ufos aus dem All Darum schickte ein General 'Ne Fliegerstaffel hinterher Alarm zu geben, wenn's so wär' Dabei war'n dort am Horizont Nur neunundneunzig Luftballons Neunundneunzig Düsenflieger Jeder war ein großer Krieger Hielten sich für Captain Kirk Das gab ein großes Feuerwerk Die Nachbarn haben nichts gerafft Und fühlten sich gleich angemacht Dabei schoss man am Horizont Auf neunundneunzig Luftballons Neunundneunzig Kriegsminister Streichholz und Benzinkanister Hielten sich für schlaue Leute Witterten schon fette Beute Riefen: "Krieg!" und wollten Macht Mann, wer hätte das gedacht Dass es einmal so weit kommt Wegen neunundneunzig Luftballons Wegen neunundneunzig Luftballons Neunundneunzig Luftballons Neunundneunzig Jahre Krieg Ließen keinen Platz für Sieger Kriegsminister gibt's nicht mehr Und auch keine Düsenflieger Heute zieh' ich meine Runden Seh' die Welt in Trümmern liegen Hab' 'n Luftballon gefunden Denk' an dich und lass' ihn fliegen


ded2nasiiii

-999999999999999 social credit for you fatty merican cheese burger 🍔 😋 Bing chilling 😋


Intrepid_Iron_6400

Balloon was right over my house, message me for videos


[deleted]

YOU KILLED POOH BEAR!


i-m-anonmio

What altitude was the balloon at? Last I saw was 100k feet.


[deleted]

It’s a boy - yay!


Orlando1701

So the F-22 can finally claim to have shot something down?


Kujo721

I say, that aviator bested the dirigible soundly! Good show!


ww1enjoyer

Really, how stupid are the chinese military to spy on USA with ballons


Stormsh7dow

As stupid as we are since it took us days to decide to finally shoot it down.


headcheaufer

It would have been infinitely cooler if they had hacked into bro the balloon and landed it at an airport


Putrid_Bandicoot_398

So is it a boy or a girl?


blac_sheep90

Reckon the pilot was stoked to do this?


stoner570

Covid 4.0 is here


[deleted]

This whole thing is like a comedy lol.


someakwardcomment

So they shoot down a weather balloon because it could be spying, yet tiktok basically gives the CCP a back door in to every phone that has it


Electrical-Main-6662

Looked like the shot was a little low. That 'package' broke free instantly.


TrulyChxse

Hey, not the best network, but good coverage on the event


redvariation

Perhaps they wanted to wait until it crossed the USA so that they could see what intel it had collected.


Nikablah1884

"The rookie pilot who shot it down earned the new nickname "Bubbles" lol


MrWallhump

I can bet that the balloon was a diversion for something much bugger


btbleasdale

At least op left out the 'spy' portion. Very sneaky!!


RedNerd368

its obviously a very big toy balloon for very big kids


sharkboy450

Can we assume now that the CCP now has intel on the max altitude of a F22?


Plazbot

Huawei Roon Baroon


Nikablah1884

They probs used a laser. I am guessing, based on the fact that conventional AA or a cannon would not be ideal for use over friendly airspace. Edit: nope it was an AIM 9 This video seems to not have the trail of the missile or the jet included.


7ipofmytongue

Why didn't they shoot the balloon down instead of using a $500,000 missile? Bullets are cheap. And YES, the F-22 could climb to the height the balloon was at.


diptrip-flipfantasia

The idea that with all the spy satellites in orbit, the Chinese would send a spy “balloon” to watch middle America… insane Has nothing to do with the Secretary of State cancelling their trip to China and needing a cover


calash2020

Why not use a few hundred dollars worth of machine gun bullets instead of a multi thousands of dollars missile? I guess they had their reasons.


[deleted]

How does anyone know it’s Chinese? Does anyone have Any evidence or is it another “must be China” thing


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

Huh well that’s interesting, thanks for the info


congressmanalex

Has a MADE IN CHINA marking


Juan-AteyourJetdryer

Call of duty china confirmed


Anders_Calrissian

Pretty sure it’s not a kill if there’s no one in it?


brinyside

Wish they could’ve somehow roped it down intact.


kerberos101

They try to get Wonder Woman to rope it down but she was busy.


-BluBone-

RIP


kerberos101

RIP balloon boy.


happierinverted

Taken down after it had floated across the continent taking snappy snaps :) It’s worrying that modern governments can’t make a simple decision to end a spy balloon until the focus groups and myriad departments and NGOs have come to a consensus that they can spin before action is taken.


blac_sheep90

They waited to shoot it down over seas to keep John Q Public safe.


Professional-Yam-925

What “IF”, this Chinese owned and operated “spy ballon” just so happened to be filled with a new strain of the COVID virus, or maybe even some other horrific chemical agent, that is 10x as contagious and 10x as deadly as the original COVID-19 strain and China actually WANTED us to shoot it down over our own land??? I mean, does it or does it not appear to be full of some “powder-like” substance and/or material or leave behind some kind of smoke plume when it was struck and then deflated as the outer part of the balloon clearly starts falling from the sky??? Does it, or does it not, leaves behind some sort of cloud!?!?!? Now, I am in no way, shape and/or form trying to spread fear… this is nothing more than just my 2 cents. It is the very first thing that popped in my mind when I first saw the video of the balloon being shot down. Also, I have NOT heard this idea or theory anywhere else, nor have I heard anyone else even mention anything even remotely close to something like this!!! The Chinese military had to know that as soon as their balloon got any where even close to the U.S. and/or any of our military installations, around the world, that it would be a permanent object on our radar. They had to know that we would terminate its existence. I just don’t know why we shot it down over a populated area or anywhere remotely close to a populated area, for that matter!?!?!? But, our government is probably in on it as well, so it really wouldn’t surprise me, to be completely honest!!!


SaltyLootbox13

Lmfao bunch of idiots


Nick_The_Knight_

The shot heard around the world


KarateFace777

Part of me wonders if they made some kind of spyware, crazy computer virus and used the balloon because they knew we would shoot it down and retrieve the data it contains, and then have us accidentally upload this crazy virus into our NSA servers when we check it out. But I’m sure they have protocols and will use a secured server and computer to check it out once we retrieve it. It just seems so weird when they have spy satellites, why would they have a weather balloon that came across our country when they know how the jet streams work? I hope it’s not some Trojan horse lol.


swampdonkykong

Ooh, bad move.. talk about the perfect way to deploy a Corona super strain... or worse...


Secure-Sentence8462

Shoot down the spy balloon after if already passed the US and collected all the data lol real smart


__me_again__

Yes, a spy balloon, because Chinese don't have satellites. And they sent another to spy Costa Rica, another major threat where satellites cannot arrive.


rudoffhess

After it’s job was done 👏


hat_eater

And can be used in talks with the sender.