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Tracking the Balloons o Doom

metwannabe said:
Seeing Navy Grumman C-2 Greyhound entering picture, part of debris collection?
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That's usually a cargo aircraft, I saw that the USS Carter Hall is in route to the area, currently just east of ILM, it's a landing dock with a large crane and left the port at MHX this morning.

 
WeatherNC said:
That's usually a cargo aircraft, I saw that the USS Carter Hall is in route to the area, currently just east of ILM, it's a landing dock with a large crane and left the port at MHX this morning.

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How close these fighter jets have to get to it to hit with those 20mm?
 
metwannabe said:
How close these fighter jets have to get to it to hit with those 20mm?
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Usually under a couple thousand meters, they can lob them a little further. I'm pretty sure the HUD gives a crosshair that accounts for aircraft pitch. Now a fighter traveling at say 400kts, that's a pretty short firing window.
 
metwannabe said:
Am I incorrect but that looked more like a missile that took it down
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It was hard to tell, but it did look like a clear takedown. The payload immediately detached and began to free fall, not great for collection efforts. Fox is reporting a missile.
 
metwannabe said:
I'm incorrect haha, seen better video, clearly fighter jet shooting it down with the 20mm
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Well I don't know what the heck I'm talking about.... now saying it might have been a missile. Interesting tactic if true, as ncweather said not good for collection efforts
 
metwannabe said:
Well I don't know what the heck I'm talking about.... now saying it might have been a missile. Interesting tactic if true, as ncweather said not good for collection efforts
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Do 20 mm rounds leave contrails when fired at 60k feet? This video on Twitter sure makes it look like a missile. However, more of a kinetic hit than explosion.

 
metwannabe said:
Well I don't know what the heck I'm talking about.... now saying it might have been a missile. Interesting tactic if true, as ncweather said not good for collection efforts
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They don't want to collect it. There could have been many non-populated areas over which to shoot it down. They already have the story going about how it's probably going to sink and how the salt water will likely ruin any chance to get anything meaningful from it.

How do they know it's Chinese?

How do they know it's a spy balloon?

How are we not able to detect aircraft until they are already over the US?

Why do we not want to retrieve it or get anything useful from it?

Why is launching a balloon whose trajectory is subject to random weather patterns the most efficient way for China to spy on us in 2023?

Why would we let it traverse the whole country of the United States/How do we know it wouldn't be dangerous to the US?

This is ridiculous.
 
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