Do you have a video of this happening? Not doubting you but considering how this balloon material would not have much, if any, of a heat signature. The solar panel array hanging off if it may but the picture published show this awful small hardware but maybe it really glowed on infrared against the very cold upper atmosphere??? Be interesting to know how was actually shot down.
BTW… MonkeyWerx has a good show on all the balloons: https://youtu.be/IHqBXwLDwZ0
I was initially thinking the same thing, but it occurred to me that they engaged it when the sun was shining. The solar IR reflection from the balloon could have been (should have been) a higher signature than the sky background at that altitude, allowing a heat-seeking missile to do the trick. From the video clip I saw (very tedious to watch), it looked like the balloon was just blown out like a candle flame. This would be consistent with a Sidewinder missile penetrating the envelope and detonating its warhead within the balloon. The overpressure would pop the balloon. This hints at performance flexibility with the Sidewinder that isn't advertised.
I had to analyze the flight patterns of a large number of weather balloons in order to assess them as a target option for the YAL-1A. We never got around to using it. I developed a fairly successful model for the ascent dynamics of the balloons, from first principles.
Well, it turned out I was wrong. They nailed it with an IR air-to-air missile. I tip my hat. I suspect the balloon was reflecting the IR from the sun, which would have stood out against the cold sky background (very cold at high altitude).
This means they could have done it before it crossed into U.S. airspace. So, they allowed it to progress along its path to see what path it would take. There is some suggestion that they may have been collecting communication intelligence from it (e.g., capturing its uplink signal). Not a bad approach: let it do its thing, find out what that is, and pop it at the end of the show.
Good news. Glad to be proven wrong. They used an F-22 fighter with an AIM-9X Sidewinder infrared-homing missile. All at high altitude.
Do you have a video of this happening? Not doubting you but considering how this balloon material would not have much, if any, of a heat signature. The solar panel array hanging off if it may but the picture published show this awful small hardware but maybe it really glowed on infrared against the very cold upper atmosphere??? Be interesting to know how was actually shot down. BTW… MonkeyWerx has a good show on all the balloons: https://youtu.be/IHqBXwLDwZ0
I was initially thinking the same thing, but it occurred to me that they engaged it when the sun was shining. The solar IR reflection from the balloon could have been (should have been) a higher signature than the sky background at that altitude, allowing a heat-seeking missile to do the trick. From the video clip I saw (very tedious to watch), it looked like the balloon was just blown out like a candle flame. This would be consistent with a Sidewinder missile penetrating the envelope and detonating its warhead within the balloon. The overpressure would pop the balloon. This hints at performance flexibility with the Sidewinder that isn't advertised.
I had to analyze the flight patterns of a large number of weather balloons in order to assess them as a target option for the YAL-1A. We never got around to using it. I developed a fairly successful model for the ascent dynamics of the balloons, from first principles.
Well, it turned out I was wrong. They nailed it with an IR air-to-air missile. I tip my hat. I suspect the balloon was reflecting the IR from the sun, which would have stood out against the cold sky background (very cold at high altitude).
This means they could have done it before it crossed into U.S. airspace. So, they allowed it to progress along its path to see what path it would take. There is some suggestion that they may have been collecting communication intelligence from it (e.g., capturing its uplink signal). Not a bad approach: let it do its thing, find out what that is, and pop it at the end of the show.