Balloon games

Skybird · 02-04-23, 07:31 AM

Now its two of them already.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64521570

Supersoft reaction, though this could be far more dangerous. Intel damage. Spreading of chemcial or biological agents. Even a warhead.

Maybe damage on the ground, if shooting them down? That is as good reason to accept all the above risks, I'm sure.

Weather balloon. Not one, but two. Yeah, sure.

Otto Harkaman · 02-04-23, 08:22 AM

SIGINT sweep

...fitting a SIGINT (SIGnals INTelligence) system on a light balloon offers two advantages. Placed at altitude, electromagnetic sensors are less constrained by the effects of terrain- masking (trees, buildings and the roundness of the Earth). They thus gain in detection capabilities. A balloon also offers a very long endurance at altitude, at a lower cost than a fleet of aircraft or drones.

http://www.dmitryshulgin.com/2019/11...gint-aerostat/

Otto Harkaman · 02-04-23, 08:34 AM

The Pentagon’s next big weapon: Really big balloons
https://fortune.com/2022/07/05/the-p...-big-balloons/
(sorry paywall)

Why These Badass Balloons Are the Pentagon's New Secret Weapon
https://www.popularmechanics.com/mil...s-strattolite/

History of military ballooning
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histor...g#cite_note-26

Platapus · 02-04-23, 08:40 AM

Well we had our "weather balloons" that were "off course" over the Soviet Union in the 50's, so I guess fair play.

em2nought · 02-04-23, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Otto Harkaman

The Pentagon’s next big weapon: Really big balloons

Unfortunately our military misread that as needing really big "buffoons", and now they're all woke.

Otto Harkaman · 02-04-23, 11:19 AM

^

would be funny if not so worrisome

Catfish · 02-04-23, 12:32 PM

Ahem

Aktungbby · 02-04-23, 12:59 PM

I presume once the balloon reaches the Atlantic, the "safety to people on the ground debris-field" excuse for not shooting it down will be negated and we can practise how to destroy objects at 60,000 feet. I still recall the WWII Japanese Fu-Go high altitude firebomb balloon(9,000 made) that killed 6 people in Bly, Oregan in 1945. Clearly, there is a chink in our defensive aerial arrangements that needs to be immediately corrected. If nothing else, we should launch one of our own balloons and see if the Chinese "remain calm" as they are urging us to do...

Methinks our Secretary of State is "Blinkin' first" in the global game of pre-WWIII poker...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu-Go_balloon_bomb

Rockstar · 02-04-23, 01:11 PM

That’s not a Chinese spy balloon. It’s Phineas Fogg trying to break his old record.

Ocelot5 · 02-04-23, 03:14 PM

Congratulations to the F-22 on its first confirmed air to air kill!

Jimbuna · 02-04-23, 03:25 PM

Tis no longer a balloon.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-64524105

Otto Harkaman · 02-04-23, 03:28 PM

Perhaps we will have another Ospery book soon "Modern Balloon Busters"

Aktungbby · 02-04-23, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

[COLOR="Lime"]I presume once the balloon reaches the Atlantic, the "safety to people on the ground debris-field" excuse for not shooting it down will be negated and we can practise how to destroy objects at 60,000 feet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ocelot5

Congratulations to the F-22 on its first confirmed air to air kill!

Indeed! somebody reads my posts! Jeeze though! the debris field might have landed on a boatload of Haitian or Cuban refugees struggling to make it to the Florida Keys...I hope the USAF checked first...it wouldn't do to appear insensitive to the world's "huddled masses" striving for freedom and pissing off Florida governor Santos who'd already declared a national refugee 'state of emergency'!

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-...atlantic-ocean No doubt the F22 pilot's squadron mates will dub him "Luke"! Shooting anything at 60,000 feet ain't easy.

Quote:

Captain Eddie Rickenbacker said of Luke: “He was the most daring aviator and greatest fighter pilot of the entire war. His life is one of the brightest glories of our Air Service. He went on a rampage and shot down fourteen enemy aircraft, including ten balloons, in eight days. No other Ace: Britain’s Bishop from Canada, France’s Fonck or even the dreaded Richthofen had ever come close to that.”

nikimcbee · 02-04-23, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Otto Harkaman

Perhaps we will have another Ospery book soon "Modern Balloon Busters"

I vote this answer. Needs more Red Baron intro music though.

Skybird · 02-04-23, 04:31 PM

Shooting it down after the spying has been done and completed, and the last bits and bytes of info was broadcasted home.

Clever.

02-04-23, 07:31 AM	#1
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 42,614 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	Balloon games Now its two of them already. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64521570 Supersoft reaction, though this could be far more dangerous. Intel damage. Spreading of chemcial or biological agents. Even a warhead. Maybe damage on the ground, if shooting them down? That is as good reason to accept all the above risks, I'm sure. Weather balloon. Not one, but two. Yeah, sure. __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.

02-04-23, 08:22 AM	#2
Otto Harkaman Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Lexington, Kentucky Posts: 1,173 Downloads: 31 Uploads: 0	SIGINT sweep ...fitting a SIGINT (SIGnals INTelligence) system on a light balloon offers two advantages. Placed at altitude, electromagnetic sensors are less constrained by the effects of terrain- masking (trees, buildings and the roundness of the Earth). They thus gain in detection capabilities. A balloon also offers a very long endurance at altitude, at a lower cost than a fleet of aircraft or drones. http://www.dmitryshulgin.com/2019/11...gint-aerostat/ __________________ "If you want to know the age of the Earth, look upon the sea in a storm." -Joseph Conrad USS Pompano (SS-181) https://www.oneternalpatrol.com/uss-pompano-181.htm

02-04-23, 08:34 AM	#3
Otto Harkaman Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Lexington, Kentucky Posts: 1,173 Downloads: 31 Uploads: 0	The Pentagon’s next big weapon: Really big balloons https://fortune.com/2022/07/05/the-p...-big-balloons/ (sorry paywall) Why These Badass Balloons Are the Pentagon's New Secret Weapon https://www.popularmechanics.com/mil...s-strattolite/ History of military ballooning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histor...g#cite_note-26 __________________ "If you want to know the age of the Earth, look upon the sea in a storm." -Joseph Conrad USS Pompano (SS-181) https://www.oneternalpatrol.com/uss-pompano-181.htm

02-04-23, 08:40 AM	#4
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,362 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	Well we had our "weather balloons" that were "off course" over the Soviet Union in the 50's, so I guess fair play. __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.

02-04-23, 11:19 AM	#6
Otto Harkaman Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Lexington, Kentucky Posts: 1,173 Downloads: 31 Uploads: 0	^ would be funny if not so worrisome __________________ "If you want to know the age of the Earth, look upon the sea in a storm." -Joseph Conrad USS Pompano (SS-181) https://www.oneternalpatrol.com/uss-pompano-181.htm

02-04-23, 12:32 PM	#7
Catfish Dipped Squirrel Operative Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: ..where the ocean meets the sky Posts: 17,766 Downloads: 38 Uploads: 0	Ahem __________________ >^..^<*)))>{ All generalizations are wrong.

02-04-23, 12:59 PM	#8
Aktungbby Gefallen Engel U-666 Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: On a tilted, overheated, overpopulated spinning mudball on Collision course with Andromeda Galaxy Posts: 29,997 Downloads: 24 Uploads: 0	I presume once the balloon reaches the Atlantic, the "safety to people on the ground debris-field" excuse for not shooting it down will be negated and we can practise how to destroy objects at 60,000 feet. I still recall the WWII Japanese Fu-Go high altitude firebomb balloon(9,000 made) that killed 6 people in Bly, Oregan in 1945. Clearly, there is a chink in our defensive aerial arrangements that needs to be immediately corrected. If nothing else, we should launch one of our own balloons and see if the Chinese "remain calm" as they are urging us to do... Methinks our Secretary of State is "Blinkin' first" in the global game of pre-WWIII poker... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu-Go_balloon_bomb __________________ "Only two things are infinite; The Universe and human squirrelyness?!! Last edited by Aktungbby; 02-04-23 at 01:29 PM.

02-04-23, 01:11 PM	#9
Rockstar In the Brig Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Zendia Bar & Grill Posts: 12,614 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	That’s not a Chinese spy balloon. It’s Phineas Fogg trying to break his old record.

02-04-23, 03:14 PM	#10
Ocelot5 Nub Join Date: Aug 2020 Posts: 2 Downloads: 16 Uploads: 0	Congratulations to the F-22 on its first confirmed air to air kill!

02-04-23, 03:25 PM	#11
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 190,500 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	Tis no longer a balloon. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-64524105 __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!!

02-04-23, 03:28 PM	#12
Otto Harkaman Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Lexington, Kentucky Posts: 1,173 Downloads: 31 Uploads: 0	Perhaps we will have another Ospery book soon "Modern Balloon Busters" __________________ "If you want to know the age of the Earth, look upon the sea in a storm." -Joseph Conrad USS Pompano (SS-181) https://www.oneternalpatrol.com/uss-pompano-181.htm

02-04-23, 04:31 PM	#15
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 42,614 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	Shooting it down after the spying has been done and completed, and the last bits and bytes of info was broadcasted home. Clever. __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.