The cost of a current Sidewinder missile is about $440,000. The cost per hour to operate an F-22 is approximately $70,000. This is what was used to shoot down the latest balloon over Alaska.
Turns out, the likeliest explanation of what they shot down is that it is a balloon launched by a hobby group called the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade. They regularly and legally launch small balloons carrying transmitters broadcasting on HAM radio frequencies. The balloons cost between $12 and $150 depending on size. The limit is 4 pounds and the amount of helium used is carefully calculated to put the balloon at an altitude in the jet stream.
The transmitters broadcast every 10 minutes and hobbyists track them on HAM radios. This particular balloon had already been around the world several times when it went off-line at a time and location that corresponds with the shoot down.
Pr. Biden has publicly stated that the three objects shot down since the first Chinese balloon was shot down off the Atlantic coast are all likely research or hobby devices.
I was going to tell a couple of dad jokes today, but you just can't make up anything this funny.
It's only money.....OUR money.
ReplyDelete"Critics have questioned whether Biden ordered the subsequent spate of object shoot-downs because he was stung by criticism of his decision to allow the Chinese spy balloon to hover over sensitive US facilities from Alaska to South Carolina before ordering its downing." from the New York Post
ReplyDeleteLet's see, they tracked that Chinese balloon from its launch in China, let it complete its mission, then, because some cowboy in Montana actually saw it and made it public, they let it complete its mission before shooting it down. Seems legit to me, how about you?
These HAM balloons are pretty small, I wonder how a Sidewinder could hit it? Even though one did miss. Wouldn't a couple of rounds of 20mm in the balloon itself done the job?
Sometimes it makes you wonder if our government is telling the truth to us.
I'll pay cash money at launch cost + 10% to the first HAM group that puts a similar balloon up that repeats on HAM frequencies at intervals "I have Epstein's client list, and proof of Shrillary's crimes!"
ReplyDeleteComedy gold, I tell ya.
LOL, Aesop has the right idea...
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