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23

TIL a balloon can outmaneuver a half-million dollar high tech sidewinder missile and the most advanced military in the world can’t figure out where it flew off to….

submitted by Steelerfish to ClownWorld 2.3 yearsFeb 13, 2023 19:49:17 ago (+24/-1)     (www.thegatewaypundit.com)

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/02/report-air-force-f-16-shot-object-lake-huron-missed-first-attempt-first-missile-still-hasnt-located/



12 comments block

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[ - ] Spaceman84 1 point 2.3 yearsFeb 13, 2023 20:46:50 ago (+2/-1)

[ - ] dassar 0 points 2.3 yearsFeb 14, 2023 02:10:46 ago (+0/-0)

Sounds like Q-tier fan cope ... Just fcking zip them once they enter US air space - duh .

[ - ] Laputois 1 point 2.3 yearsFeb 13, 2023 20:52:30 ago (+1/-0)

At $300,000 - $400,000 a pop for a sidewinder, those balloons are getting expensive.

[ - ] bonghits4jeebus 0 points 2.3 yearsFeb 13, 2023 23:04:16 ago (+0/-0)

You know the Air Force loves the excuse to spend the money.

[ - ] Thyhorrorcosmic103 1 point 2.3 yearsFeb 14, 2023 03:51:03 ago (+1/-0)

Spend it or lose it!

[ - ] UncleDoug 0 points 2.3 yearsFeb 14, 2023 01:51:29 ago (+0/-0)

I'm even sure that reporting a sidewinder took down the balloon was an extension of the narrative and more lies.

F-22 Raptor ceiling 60K ft
In the air-to-air configuration, the Raptor carries six AIM-120 AMRAAMs and two AIM-9 Sidewinders.
AIM-120 (12mi range)
AIM-9X (Air Intercept Missile) 0.6-22mi; AIM-9X (10mi range)

While no one can ever guarantee a weather balloon will soar to a specific height, the balloons typically reach between 60,000 and 105,000 feet. However, the highest recorded weather balloon flight on record was launched in 2002 and soared to an incredible height of 173,000 feet.

Typically these Gen5 aircraft would not be armed to combat surveillance devices at that altitude.

However all these UFO/weather balloons were seen drifting at 20K ft (3mi)
The entire narrative is more BS than covid-19, just more lazy writing by zoomers in media jobs.

Also as Crackinjokes mentions below, they are heat seeking missiles, so another narrative failure.

[ - ] ModernGuilt 3 points 2.3 yearsFeb 13, 2023 21:17:19 ago (+3/-0)

It would be trivial to flood US airspace with cheap af eBay tier weather balloons to drain our weapon inventories instantly

[ - ] Crackinjokes 1 point 2.3 yearsFeb 13, 2023 22:25:05 ago (+1/-0)

Sidewinders are designed to either be heat seeking or searching for a radar image and a balloon is not going to be putting out the kind of heat that a sidewinder missiles looking for and I don't think they put out much of a radar image either.

[ - ] Belrial 0 points 2.2 yearsFeb 14, 2023 15:49:23 ago (+0/-0)

Sidewinder are only heat seeking.

[ - ] GlowNiggerDick 4 points 2.3 yearsFeb 13, 2023 23:06:11 ago (+4/-0)

You realize everything we know about this story is told to us by known liars. It's pointless to even talk about really.

[ - ] oyveyo 0 points 2.3 yearsFeb 14, 2023 04:10:40 ago (+0/-0)

Ya know if I were designing missiles, I would have it so the missile would self-destruct upon failure to target or running out of thrust. Or have remote detonation by the operator be a thing.

You mean these missiles just drop out of the sky when they're out of gas?

[ - ] ilikeskittles 0 points 2.2 yearsFeb 14, 2023 09:28:10 ago (+0/-0)

Doesn’t an F-16 have a gun? Wouldn’t that be a lot cheaper to shoot down a ballon?