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Belushi TD wrote: ↑Fri Feb 03, 2023 3:47 pm
As I posted in the other thread on this topic...
F-35 with vectored thrust to pop the balloon. Wait until its over unpopulated farmland (not grazing land, farmland, since its, you know, winter). Then pop the damn thing. Pick up the chunks. Write the farmer a check.
MikeKozlowski wrote: ↑Fri Feb 03, 2023 1:19 pmBut even if somebody threw away the book, it would still take a few hours if for no other reason than they wouldn't keep fully assembled missiles on hand, and then they need to check them out, then take them the 4.25 miles from the bomb dump to the ramp, and then load them.
It's a balloon, from a state we aren't at war with. That means it's going nowhere fast, and indeed turning up fast. Saying that F-22s were "scrambled" is journalese for "they took off".
And the idea that you genuinely scramble fighters at extremely short notice to go and take a look at an incoming weather balloon of unknown origin which has just come over from Canada and only decide after doing so that you aren't going to shoot it down is just risible.
Maybe. There are benefits to being able to immediately execute the order, which requires setting it up beforehand. It’s quite possible that the fighters were launched for that very reason, especially if they expected the order would be given.
Belushi TD wrote: ↑Fri Feb 03, 2023 3:47 pm
As I posted in the other thread on this topic...
F-35 with vectored thrust to pop the balloon. Wait until its over unpopulated farmland (not grazing land, farmland, since its, you know, winter). Then pop the damn thing. Pick up the chunks. Write the farmer a check.
Belushi TD
You said an F-22 in the other thread
Edit. No you didn’t. Dammit. Mea culpa!
Hmmmm.... I may have originally said F-22, then thought that it was the F-35 with the vectored thrust and made an (in)appropriate edit. And either way, I displayed my ignorance, so I'm ok with just calling it even if you are!
Uh, they’re preparing the population for nuclear war
Do I recall correctly that the PRC is rather vulnerable (more so than the size of the country would suggest) to a counter population strike?
Yes.
Stuart told a story where that was very pointedly indicated to formerly bellicose Chinese generals, in a way that sent them running for the head.
If anything, it’s probably even more true now. My understanding is that the Chinese population is urbanizing but not suburbanizing, packing large swaths of their most productive people into the dense urban centers.
Uh, they’re preparing the population for nuclear war
Do I recall correctly that the PRC is rather vulnerable (more so than the size of the country would suggest) to a counter population strike?
Yes.
Stuart told a story where that was very pointedly indicated to formerly bellicose Chinese generals, in a way that sent them running for the head.
If anything, it’s probably even more true now. My understanding is that the Chinese population is urbanizing but not suburbanizing, packing large swaths of their most productive people into the dense urban centers.
Nightwatch2 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 12, 2023 10:35 pmVery true
Reality doesn’t appear to be part of their calculation
I wouldn't assume that the people making the videos are the same ones responsible for grand strategy. The production values on that one for instance make it look like it was done by a 15 year old boy, which has never been a particular thoughtful demographic in any country...
War is less costly than servitude. The choice is always between Verdun and Dachau. - Jean Dutourd
