China

[Blitz24]

So many people are going to:

be re-educated / have never existed / be harvested for organs

People asking for Xi to resign. Clearly they mean in this case re-sign.

 

[AerodyManiac]

So many people are going to:

be re-educated / have never existed / be harvested for organs

Or be coerced to admit crimes they never did and express guilt in front of tape.

In all seriousness though, it’s incredibly gallant for those people to gather on the streets to oppose those measures and even chant slogans demanding Xi to step down, especially when the 20th congress has ended not long ago. It’s a wonder how the authorities managed to press on with the unwelcomed covid-prevention measures for as long as half a year, considering it’s just the will of a few vs. the will of millions. But I suppose that’s what you get for forming a cult following around the leader.

Now it remains to be seen how quickly the government will adjust the measures. I think I read somewhere that the newest members of the Politburo committee are famed for the harsh anti-covid measures they implemented when they’re still leaders of the big cities.

 

[Dennisch]

Even with all the restrictions in place, there's quite a bit of footage online about the Chinese being fed up with their government.

I hope they can get that revolution going that they need.

 

[Joey D]

Shame we can't shoot it down. Hopefully, it hovers over some desolate part of Montana (which is like a majority of the state) and we can introduce it to a sidewinder.

Pentagon: Chinese spy balloon spotted over Western US

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is tracking a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that has been spotted over U.S. airspace for a couple days, but the Pentagon decided not to shoot it down due to risks of harm for people on the ground, officials said Thursday.

apnews.com

 

[Tornado]

Shoot the damn thing down.

 

[Liquid]

"We know where it's going based on it's trajectory" is a strange reason to not shoot it down. Or scoop it up with a net and drag it down.

 

[Blitz24]

So is the US afraid to shoot it down because it will anger China or have they made shooting it down moot because it can no longer transmit any information?

 

[Joey D]

My guess is the military knows exactly what it is, what it's doing, and how much of a threat it poses. Given that they haven't shot it down means that it's probably not really a threat. Still, I wouldn't mind seeing them blow it out of the sky as sort of a message to the CCP.

And if it was nothing more than a "research balloon" then I don't think Antony Blinken would've postponed his trip to China.

 

[Liquid]

China hasn't publicly admitted that it's their balloon - so blow it out of the sky. What are they gonna do, admit they're openly spying? Openly violate US territorial integrity? Everyone spies on everyone else but nobody outright says it.

We know they know that we know that they know... Stupid public face politics.

 

[Tornado]

Cool. Then shoot it down.

 

[Shaun]

My guess is the military knows exactly what it is, what it's doing, and how much of a threat it poses.

This.

Still, I wouldn't mind seeing them blow it out of the sky as sort of a message to the CCP.

Very much this, I'd say it sends a message if it isn't shot down.

 

[Grand Prix]

The fact that nothing has been done about it yet probably tells them what they wanted to know already.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

I wonder what the Chinese are up to with this.

I don't imagine its for actual intelligence gathering...that would be very dumb. The real reason is probably to see what kind of response the US will have and to be provocative...probably for internal political reasons. Xi needs a distraction right now.

 

[Joey D]

The most interesting part of shooting down the balloon is that it's the first confirmed enemy air-to-air kill by any F-22 ever.

US downs Chinese balloon, a flashpoint in US-China tensions

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States on Saturday downed a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast on orders from President Joe Biden after it traversed sensitive military sites across North America, becoming the latest flashpoint in tensions between Washington and Beijing.

apnews.com

 

[Exorcet]

I wonder what the Chinese are up to with this.

I don't imagine its for actual intelligence gathering...that would be very dumb.

I think that could still be a legitimate aim. The balloon was meant to be detected perhaps to help understand US defense technology. This isn't unlike how the USSR/Russia would keep sending bombers to the US coast only to be escorted away. That let them get close to US fighters and scan for electronic emissions from them among other things.

The most interesting part of shooting down the balloon is that it's the first confirmed enemy air-to-air kill by any F-22 ever.

I was expecting a F-15 or F-16 to do the shooting partially for reasons I touched on above, but then again the balloon was so high that the F-22 would have the easiest time getting close for a visual inspection. It probably also had a luneburg lens and some non LPI mode for avionics just to keep any sensitive signals out of sight.

 

[Liquid]

lmao

 

[UKMikey]

It's Gary Powers all over again. Maybe it was supposed to be a "weather balloon"?

 

[Tornado]

Xi can piss in the wind.

 

[Blitz24]

It's Gary Powers all over again. Maybe it was supposed to be a "weather balloon"?

Maybe they believe the US mainland is and has always been Chinese.

 

[UKMikey]

It's Gary Powers all over again. Maybe it was supposed to be a "weather balloon"?

Sure enough...

Senior Defense Official and Senior Military Official Hold an Off-Camera, On-Background Pre

A senior defense official and senior military official hold an off-camera, on-background press briefing on the high-altitude surveillance balloon.

www.defense.gov

 

[Dennisch]

And now to escalate it into ridiculousness, the US should release high altitude Winnie the Pooh balloons over China.

 

[Blitz24]

Remember when China lost control of a "weather balloon" and it flew over the US?
It happened again.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Just for the sake of variety, I kind of wish they split into two balloons when we shoot them.

 

[Carbonox]

Just for the sake of variety, I kind of wish they split into two balloons when we shoot them.

Just wait till they send a ceramic. The US better have their sun god at the ready.

 

[Joey D]

At least the US is putting the F-22 to some use.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

At least the US is putting the F-22 to some use.

Are they even detonating the warhead of the missiles or just shooting it like a dart at the balloon? If I was in charge at the Pentagon I would try to figure out a unique way to take down each balloon. "Hey Dahlgren...you guys got that railgun working yet?"

 

[Exorcet]

Are they even detonating the warhead of the missiles or just shooting it like a dart at the balloon? If I was in charge at the Pentagon I would try to figure out a unique way to take down each balloon. "Hey Dahlgren...you guys got that railgun working yet?"

They may have aimed for the payload under the balloon. The balloon itself could be a difficult target believe it or not. It some ways it would act like countermeasures that missiles are designed to filter out. The shootdown made use of an AIM-9X which has some ability to "see" its target. I'd assume the hanging truss is something the missile would find more enticing than the balloon, but weapons these days are also reprogramable so the missile might have had tweaked software to help it chase balloons.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

They may have aimed for the payload under the balloon. The balloon itself could be a difficult target believe it or not. It some ways it would act like countermeasures that missiles are designed to filter out. The shootdown made use of an AIM-9X which has some ability to "see" its target. I'd assume the hanging truss is something the missile would find more enticing than the balloon, but weapons these days are also reprogramable so the missile might have had tweaked software to help it chase balloons.

If you freeze-frame right at 29 seconds, you can see the impact point:



Definitely looks like the bottom of the balloon or maybe the rigging or something. I'm not expert, but it doesn't look like a warhead detonation...I wonder if they just rammed the missile into some critical attachment point or something.

 

[Exorcet]

Definitely looks like the bottom of the balloon or maybe the rigging or something. I'm not expert, but it doesn't look like a warhead detonation...I wonder if they just rammed the missile into some critical attachment point or something.

Air to air missiles overwhelming rely on warheads to deal damage, also the warheads don't explode like bombs (and the AIM-9's is pretty small to boot). The warhead was likely armed, but whether the fuse set it off is another question.

 

[sirjim73]

If you freeze-frame right at 29 seconds, you can see the impact point:



Definitely looks like the bottom of the balloon or maybe the rigging or something. I'm not expert, but it doesn't look like a warhead detonation...I wonder if they just rammed the missile into some critical attachment point or something.

Maybe they used a giant pin