There's no coexisting with these people
(media.scored.co)
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It genuinely is hard to shoot down these spy baloons. They aren't like normal aircraft. Hence, why it took so long.
Considering it was also being tailed by ELINT aircraft pretty much the entire way, I am sure there was more going on than we are privy to.
If we can make defense systems that can intercept missiles flying at hundreds of miles an hour, we should be able to hit a big slow moving balloon.
It isn't hitting it that is the issue.
At maximum altitude it is something like 35 km up, two microns thick and filled with low pressure gas. It is very slightly more substantial than a cloud.
Poking a little hole in it will only allow gas exchange by diffusion. That is, very, very slowly. It won't pop like a latex party balloon!
Who said anything about 'poking a little hole'? High explosives with flak would rend it asunder. The array it was hauling was also a pretty big target.
So flack is launched from Anti-Aircraft Artillery. Got any laying about? How about AAA with the capability of hitting targets at an altitude of 35 km?
As for proximity fused cannon shells; cool! you are shooting at a cloud. Proximity to what?
Two fighter jets strafed the balloon with anti-aircraft cannons and it didn't care. It was eventually shot down with an air burst of a guided missile. That would be hundreds of thousands of dollars of ordinance.
The array was an insignificant target compared to the balloon, which was about the size of a football stadium at that point; Moreover shooting the array would not bring the balloon down.
They exist, they just aren't readily available.
You're right, it isn't like a plane. It's very large, moves slowly, and in a completely predictable fashion. Very difficult to hit.
Quick question. How are you going to fire a missile at something that a) doesn't have a friend-or-foe transponder signal, and b) also doesn't have the heat any significant heat signature?
You do what they did: design an anti-balloon missile to shoot at it, the majority of which are not readily deployable for combat because no one typically engages in combat with balloons.
It's a floating ball filled with air. You don't need specialized weapons to shoot at it, pretty much any sort of projectile will take it down. Missiles can be fired at things without signatures.
It's not going to be filled with air, otherwise it isn't going to float properly at 65,000 feet. You have to hit the thing. Most air to air weapons aren't designed to fight balloons, because nobody fights balloons (except on the off occasion that they need to fight a balloon).