My original point was only that it was doubtful. I am overjoyed to be proven wrong on this. It does indicate a more subtle performance capability of the AIM-9X Sidewinder. (In previous attempts in the past, it had proven to be impossible.)
If the balloon were at 200,000 feet, I could see it might be difficult. This thing was at 60,000. Easy to take out the payload with guns, you don't even need a missile.
But if our military has no way to take out a balloon at 200,000 feet, they should come up with something because dirty bombs or EMP weapons or bioweapons delivered by balloon are a real threat.
At 60,000 feet, the only aircraft we had that could engage was the F-22 (which was used, service ceiling 65,000 feet). Not easy to take out with guns. The balloon was essentially stationary. An F-22 would be closing at about 1000 mph. Gun engagements are typically in pursuit flight where the velocity difference would be 0-100 mph. Past attempts to engage such balloon targets with guns resulted in failure, because profuse perforation was not sufficient to deplete the envelope of lifting gas (these things are BIG, and the differential pressure across the envelope is nil).
As it turned out, they used an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile, which is heat-seeking. I wouldn't have thought that it could work, since the balloon is at ambient temperature (-67 deg F). They waited until daylight to engage the balloon, and I now suspect they were homing on the reflected infrared light from the sun, against a very cold, high-altitude sky background (high signal-to-noise ratio). It also appears that they may have had a fuzing option that allowed the missile to penetrate the envelope and then detonate the warhead when it was inside the balloon. The blast would create perforations from the shrapnel, but the more important effect might have been the overpressure, which would have poppled the balloon (as it appeared happened). So, we can be satisfied that the Air Force did have a card up their sleeve.
I am skeptical that a balloon would be able to deliver an effective EMP effect. Of the high-altitude tests from Operation Hardtack I, only shot Yucca was balloon-deployed at 86,000 feet, but they did not recover the planned data. The other two shots, Teak and Orange, were deployed by Redstone missile to an altitude of about 70 km, sufficient to get into the ionosphere. It appears that the EM pulse from the bomb needs to be high enough to "ring" the ionosphere in order to produce the strongest EMP effects.
My original point was only that it was doubtful. I am overjoyed to be proven wrong on this. It does indicate a more subtle performance capability of the AIM-9X Sidewinder. (In previous attempts in the past, it had proven to be impossible.)
If the balloon were at 200,000 feet, I could see it might be difficult. This thing was at 60,000. Easy to take out the payload with guns, you don't even need a missile.
But if our military has no way to take out a balloon at 200,000 feet, they should come up with something because dirty bombs or EMP weapons or bioweapons delivered by balloon are a real threat.
At 60,000 feet, the only aircraft we had that could engage was the F-22 (which was used, service ceiling 65,000 feet). Not easy to take out with guns. The balloon was essentially stationary. An F-22 would be closing at about 1000 mph. Gun engagements are typically in pursuit flight where the velocity difference would be 0-100 mph. Past attempts to engage such balloon targets with guns resulted in failure, because profuse perforation was not sufficient to deplete the envelope of lifting gas (these things are BIG, and the differential pressure across the envelope is nil).
As it turned out, they used an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile, which is heat-seeking. I wouldn't have thought that it could work, since the balloon is at ambient temperature (-67 deg F). They waited until daylight to engage the balloon, and I now suspect they were homing on the reflected infrared light from the sun, against a very cold, high-altitude sky background (high signal-to-noise ratio). It also appears that they may have had a fuzing option that allowed the missile to penetrate the envelope and then detonate the warhead when it was inside the balloon. The blast would create perforations from the shrapnel, but the more important effect might have been the overpressure, which would have poppled the balloon (as it appeared happened). So, we can be satisfied that the Air Force did have a card up their sleeve.
I am skeptical that a balloon would be able to deliver an effective EMP effect. Of the high-altitude tests from Operation Hardtack I, only shot Yucca was balloon-deployed at 86,000 feet, but they did not recover the planned data. The other two shots, Teak and Orange, were deployed by Redstone missile to an altitude of about 70 km, sufficient to get into the ionosphere. It appears that the EM pulse from the bomb needs to be high enough to "ring" the ionosphere in order to produce the strongest EMP effects.