this post was submitted on 22 Jan 2024
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Taiwan's defence ministry said it had detected six more Chinese balloons flying over the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, one of which crossed the island, the latest in a spate of such balloons the ministry says it has seen over the past month-and-a-half.

The ministry earlier this month, in a strongly worded statement, accused China of threatening aviation safety and waging psychological warfare on the island's people with the balloons, days before Taiwan's Jan. 13 elections.

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[–] vimdiesel@lemmy.world 28 points 10 months ago (1 children)

They need to start shooting them down as soon as they enter Taiwanese airspace

[–] assassinatedbyCIA@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Wouldn’t that be a good way to waste a lot of valuable air defenses. If you’re spending millions to shot down balloons that cost thousands is that really a win?

[–] Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Who said it costs millions to shoot it down? It's a baloon, couldn't a prop plane with a machine gun take it down? Or just a cheap drone?

[–] assassinatedbyCIA@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (3 children)

They float at like 60000 feet plus. There’s a reason why america used the F22 to shoot the balloon down.

[–] USSEthernet@startrek.website 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Honestly, they didn't need to use an expensive missile to do it and blow the thing to pieces while wasting valuable intel they could have gained from it if more was intact.

[–] Cinner@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

The balloon was 200ft tall. The payload hanging beneath it was 200ft wide. The sidewinder has the ability to explode near its target which is why it was chosen. It was the equivalent of popping a party balloon with a firecracker. They also waited for it to be over a large body of water so the 2,000lb payload (many sensors, propellers, antennas, transceivers, etc) didn't fall apart on descent and crush people/things, and while they can control a missile if it misses it's target, they can't control bullets, which could rain down and hit whoever/whatever happened to be unfortunate enough to be in their path. Bullets fall at terminal velocity, even after they've lost initial momentum, that's why people on the ground die from guns being fired into the air during celebrations.

So unless they found a way to reverse a Globemaster mid-air and put the payload in the trunk, they made what seems to be the best call. Seeing as the first missile did miss on 1 of the 3 objects, I'd say that call was right.

The FBI has been analyzing the wreckage after the dive team retrieved it.

[–] Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works 2 points 10 months ago

Shit, that's crazy. So even a drone wouldn't work without some stupid expensive rocketry.

[–] Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

Send up a counter balloon. Or shoot it with a laser. Or send up a counter balloon with a laser.

[–] Bonesince1997@lemmy.world 17 points 10 months ago

All in all, they total 99 red balloons

[–] Kirca@lemmy.world 16 points 10 months ago (3 children)

I forgot about Chinese balloons lol, did anything ever come about after that one was shot down by the Americans?

[–] Tremble@sh.itjust.works 7 points 10 months ago
[–] Caaaaarrrrlll@lemmy.ml 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

The kid that leaked material about the war in Ukraine over Discord last year also leaked info about the balloon.

It's on the Internet... Here's a documentary that mentions it: https://youtu.be/AkgkBEuEHwU look around 3 minutes in

[–] Kirca@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

Thanks for this, something to listen to over my lunch break :)

[–] DolphinMath 11 points 10 months ago

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[–] Deceptichum@kbin.social 6 points 10 months ago

6 red balloons floating in the summer sky.

[–] Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works 6 points 10 months ago

Looks like the balloons are all full of hot air, just like the CCP!