FACT: The Chinese have overflown the US with balloons before.
FACT: Chinese spy balloons have been publicly documented as far back as 2020 over Japan.
FACT: The United States used the shit out of balloons during the Cold War.
FACT: The Soviets discovered that the best way to do anything about it was build custom planes.
FACT: Weather balloons require reflectors to be visible to radar.
FACT: The Soviets gave up on radar and relied principally on optical detection. (2 links up)
- A special electro-optical sight was made for the M-17, able to detect a balloon with a diameter of around 100 feet from a distance of 19-25 miles and then automatically track it. The laser rangefinder coupled with it had a range of 5 miles.
FACT: The Soviets eventually gave up on projectile weapons and tested lasers.
- The first experimental A-60, known as the Izdeliye 1A, made its first flight on August 19, 1981, with Yevgeniy Lakhmostov at the controls. The aircraft’s laser gun was housed in the cargo hold. On the fuselage spine, there was a large fairing, covering a mirror system, by which the laser ray was directed onto the target. The gun had a range of 25 miles and was able to ‘shoot’ for a total of 50 seconds, at least according to the design specification; reportedly, the actual firing time was only 11 seconds.
FACT: The US also tested aircraft-based laser weapons in the '80s.
FACT: In 2018, the USAF commissioned a development project called "Irascible Pod" for testing on the U-2.
SPECULATION: IRASCIble Pod = Illumination/Refraction for AeroStat CounterIntelligence. C'mon. Y'all know we've done worse.
SPECULATION: We needed an excuse to deploy our 70,000ft ceiling, 400kt, 14-hour-flight-duration, LIDAR-equipped, CO2-laser-bearing balloon hunter-killer and we got it over the weekend.
