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A comment on Pentagon Declines to Answer If It Shot Down $12 Balloon with $400k Missile. Parent comment

Re:Pentagon Declines to Answer If It Shot Down $12 Balloon w... by mardifoufs on Sunday February 19, 2023 @06:54PM (#34863195)
I don't think there's a way to capture a balloon at 80 000 ft of elevation. Also, balloons would be just about the worst way to reliably deliver a payload without risk of it coming back to you. And there's also the fact that it's a scenario that has never happened, and there's nothing that would lead us to believe it has any chance of happening.
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Re:Pentagon Declines to Answer If It Shot Down $12 Balloon w... by kjkjadksj on Sunday February 19, 2023 @07:05PM (#34863296)
Easy, you use another balloon to grapple it, reduce lift, and therefore bring it down in a controlled manner. Of course this takes engineering and thought versus using a missile we can readily reorder.
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Re:Pentagon Declines to Answer If It Shot Down $12 Balloon w... by mardifoufs on Sunday February 19, 2023 @07:28PM (#34863461)
It's not about thought and engineering. If it was actually useful to do that, the military would've had no problem developing a solution like that. In fact, air to air missiles are infinitely more complex and engineered than any grappling balloon could ever be.

It's just that it makes no sense to build something that is completely useless, for a scenario that won't happen.

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Re:Pentagon Declines to Answer If It Shot Down $12 Balloon w... by dpkirchner on Sunday February 19, 2023 @07:19PM (#34863406)
Wonder how much time and money it would take to create a maneuverable balloon that could rise 80k feet and precisely make contact with another balloon (that may also have some maneuvering controls).
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Re:Pentagon Declines to Answer If It Shot Down $12 Balloon w... by akerl_ on Sunday February 19, 2023 @07:25PM (#34863436)
Ah yes, “easy”.
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Re:Pentagon Declines to Answer If It Shot Down $12 Balloon w... by maxerickson on Sunday February 19, 2023 @09:17PM (#34864227)
They wasted $500,000 on a missile when they could have spent billions on balloon force.
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Re:Pentagon Declines to Answer If It Shot Down $12 Balloon w... by Laaas on Sunday February 19, 2023 @07:03PM (#34863285)
Send up a similar balloon but with people.
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Re:Pentagon Declines to Answer If It Shot Down $12 Balloon w... by kjkjadksj on Sunday February 19, 2023 @07:06PM (#34863308)
You wouldn’t even need people, a drone would be fine
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Re:Pentagon Declines to Answer If It Shot Down $12 Balloon w... by Scalene2 on Sunday February 19, 2023 @07:21PM (#34863417)
What makes you think it was at anywhere near 80 000 ft?
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Re:Pentagon Declines to Answer If It Shot Down $12 Balloon w... by mardifoufs on Sunday February 19, 2023 @07:26PM (#34863447)
Maybe I'm confusing this one with the other balloon earlier this month? I could swear one of them was that high.
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