Pentagon Tracking Suspected Chinese Spy Balloon Over the US

[actaeon277]

US downs Chinese balloon, drawing a threat from China

China is threatening what it calls “further actions” after an American fighter jet shot down a suspected spy balloon off the East Coast of the United States on Saturday.

apnews.com

If they are saying that a country can fly aircraft without permission across another's borders..
I guess they'll demonstrate their resolve by allowing us to do the same.

 

[Onebad06vtx]

Let me see if I've got this straight. The guy who took off for 4 months during the California sea-ports debacle... and no one noticed... says the balloon Charlie Foxtrot was handled appropriately. No that does not increase my confidence in this administration.

Pete Buttigieg says Biden handled Chinese spy balloon 'appropriately' amid backlash from Republicans​

Pete Buttigieg says Biden handled Chinese spy balloon 'appropriately' amid backlash from Republicans

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg came to President Biden's defense on Sunday when asked about the Chinese spy balloon, saying it was "handled appropriately."

www.foxnews.com

He doesnt know alot about transportation,even though he has been rear ended a few times!

 

[KG1]

Move out of the way ChiComs. We've got to do mass surveillance on our own citizens with our balloons.

 

[BugI02]

You only have to prevent it from hearing your communications.

And they can be made relatively directional.

What about high resolution imaging? To prevent that you would need to prevent the balloon from communicating with a satellite

 

[actaeon277]

Also, when quoting ceiling limits for military aircraft...

How sure are you that the info is correct?
Cause when I was in it seems MOST of that info was not quite correct.
Information denial.

Also, an aircraft's ceiling.. varies.
There is no... at this height it's okay, and one foot higher it fails.

 

[BugI02]

Frequency hopping.
Sigh.
Right. Nobody figured that out. Since WWII radars had freq hopping, I find it difficult to believe the Growler couldn't handle it from a single 'aircraft'.

AN/ARC-231
The ARC-231 Skyfire is a software-definable radio for military aircraft that provides two-way, multi-mode voice and data communications over a 30 to 512 MHz frequency range. It covers both line-of-sight Ultra High Frequency (UHF) and Very High Frequency (VHF) bands with AM, FM and SATCOM capabilities,[1] including Integrated Waveform (IW). The ARC-231 radio also includes embedded anti-jam waveforms, including HAVE QUICK and SINCGARS, and other data link and secure communications features, providing battlefield interoperability. The radios utilize the MIL-STD-1553 data bus.

The HAVE QUICK program was a response to this problem. Engineers recognized that newer aircraft radios already included all-channel frequency synthesizers along with keyboards and displays for data entry. The only other system requirements to achieve the desired anti-jam functionality were an accurate clock (for timed synchronization) and a microprocessor to add frequency hopping to existing radios

Joint and combined operations require exchanging information, both voice and data, with other participating forces. The Single-Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System (SINCGARS) tactical radio has provided secure, low probability of intercept/electronic attack voice communications in the frequency hopping (FH) mode

Doesn't seem to have become obsolete despite being developed in The Two. The resistance to jamming comes from spread spectrum and Fast Frequency Hopping

 

[actaeon277]

Doesn't seem to have become obsolete despite being developed in The Two. The resistance to jamming comes from spread spectrum and Fast Frequency Hopping

And, the radio already suffers from missyncronization, misprogramming, and fratricide.

Sometimes it works.

It's still being 'worked on'.

 

[actaeon277]

And yes, like most things, stuff gets better on one side
jamming
then the other side gets better
anti-jamming
then the other side gets better
jamming


and so on and so on

 

[indyblue]

Wouldn’t a M.A.S.E.R. work?
Or is that what most of this EW hardware is based on?

 

[thompal]

Plus, are you going to assume the Chi-Coms aren't lying like the lying commies always do? They were playing the long game long before we shot the hell out of the redcoats in April 1775.

Well, since their excuse is that it merely went off course, I think we have to assume that they are lying, and they just expect us to believe their lie. Off course? By 6000 miles? To believe that is to believe that they are woefully inept. The Chinese are a lot of bad things, but inept isn't one of them.

 

[thompal]

If we shoot at the balloon, do we think a 9mm has enough penetration power at that distance

WHAT?!?? Do you want to blow its lung out?

 

[thompal]

Reports are the balloon has been shot down.

Anyone else feel like this is way too little too late?

Reminds me of Uvalde in a way. Stand around with your d*** in your hand watching until its too late.

Should have been neutralized in MT when it entered, BEFORE it did its thing, not AFTER its done doing its thing.

And you cant tell me it was safer to shoot it down in SC than it was in MT. The only place safer than MT was off the coast. And it doesnt appear it got that far.

I'd say the population density of Montana is only maybe slightly less than just off the coast of SC.

 

[thompal]

Serious question. What would a heat seeking missile lock onto with a helium or hydrogen balloon and a solar array?

I doubt that was a solar array. Most likely an antenna array. You wouldn't put a solar array in the shade of a giant balloon.

 

[Super Bee]

 

[Wolfhound]

I doubt that was a solar array. Most likely an antenna array. You wouldn't put a solar array in the shade of a giant balloon.

It probably has both antennas and solar.

 

[jamil]

 

[BigMoose]

Sigh.

Radio and laser jamming.

Laser would require LOS, or at least close enough to be a point source.
Radio doesn't.

Frequency hopping.
Sigh.
Right. Nobody figured that out. Since WWII radars had freq hopping, I find it difficult to believe the Growler couldn't handle it from a single 'aircraft'.
Especially when they are able to handle... let's say dozens.. of sources, of different freqs, at the same time.
And it has, in real environs, for a while

Frequency hopping doesn't matter. Airborne jammers just blast out the entire spectrum. Including the Growler. The old Prowler.. and the older Spark Vark (now gone)...

When I say brute force, it really is.. brute force.. its blasting radio noise on the entire RF spectrum. In the manner of a couple killowatts.

Which is why it was found to work so well on cell phones, and remote RF detonators.

 

[actaeon277]

Some good points in the video here.
Now it's claimed... BUT it happened in TRUMP'S admin.
Really?
Media, and the Dems, looking and hammering him for EVERYTHING they could find.
Year after year.
Now, a claim is made. No video. No pics. No witnesses.
And everyone in Trump's admin is denying it. None of them coming forward... really.

 

[actaeon277]

Also, once again..
A 'weather balloon' going off course, SHOULD result in one country talking to another country.
And the country being overflow should probably tell their citizens.
Maybe, someone should inspect it as best they can, and/or be there when it is recovered.

OR, shoot it down, you know, like sovereign countries do when they are overflown.

 

[KG1]

Also, once again..
A 'weather balloon' going off course, SHOULD result in one country talking to another country.
And the country being overflow should probably tell their citizens.
Maybe, someone should inspect it as best they can, and/or be there when it is recovered.

OR, shoot it down, you know, like sovereign countries do when they are overflown.

Agreed. If it was as if the ChiComs say, then they should have communicated it upfront. The fact that it wasn't makes it all the more suspect.

Did they think that if they kept their mouths shut it would just go unnoticed?