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A comment on Chinese surveillance balloon spotted over U.S., Pentagon says. Parent comment

Re:Chinese surveillance balloon spotted over U.S., Pentagon ... by Barrin92 on Friday February 03, 2023 @12:23AM (#34637458)
>Why wouldn't we prioritize simply acquiring the thing for analysis of what sort of optics and other capabilities they're floating through our air-space?

Because there's a good chance America's three letter agencies have that figured out already anyway and the thing is technically ten years out of date.

Conducting some potentially risky and costly shootdown of a balloon over US territory seems out of proportion.

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Re:Chinese surveillance balloon spotted over U.S., Pentagon ... by pengaru on Friday February 03, 2023 @12:59AM (#34637636)
> Because there's a good chance America's three letter agencies have that figured out already anyway and the thing is technically ten years out of date.

Scrambling F-22s to intercept something harmless we understand so deeply makes no sense.

> Conducting some potentially risky and costly shootdown of a balloon over US territory seems out of proportion.

I didn't say anything about shooting it down. But if that's the US's only option, it speaks volumes to how incapable we are of handling such a threat without undue risk to ourselves. Embarrassing if so.

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