4 ms·
https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3288543/f-22-safely-shoots-down-chinese-spy-balloon-off-south-carolina-coast/ https://www.defense.gov/
by maximinus_thrax 4y ago
https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3288543/f-22-safely-shoots-down-chinese-spy-balloon-off-south-carolina-coast/ https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/32...
> An F-22 Raptor fighter from the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, fired one AIM-9X Sidewinder missile at the balloon.
- onlyrealcuzzo 4y agoSo it probably cost >$1M to shoot it down? How much did that balloon cost to make?
- sabujp 4y agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34660282 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34660282
- LarryMullins 4y ago> So it probably cost >$1M to shoot it down? Basically free, when you consider they were going to fly planes and shoot missiles anyway for practice.
- herewulf 4y agoExcept the military has lots of different pots of money and lots of red tape about how they're spent. No guarantees the cost of this little escapade came out of a training fund.
- dragonwriter 4y ago> So it probably cost >$1M to shoot it down? AIM-9X looks to be around $400k, F-22 is $85k per flight hour, so, probably not.
- IAmGraydon 4y agoWhat's your point?
- programmarchy 4y agoSeems to be implying if it’s cheap enough then they could send 1 million balloons next time, and it’d be impractical to shoot them all down.
- xeromal 4y agoSounds like a job for a c130 at that point. lol
- ttul 4y agoSure. $1M for the AIM, and $100M for all the other gear and personnel involved.