Difficult to shoot a telling shot at a closing rate of 600 mph. And it turns out that the leakage rate is not so fast as for a party balloon in one's kitchen. These balloons are not pressurized. They ultimately shot it down with a missile. I did research studies on aerostats that could operate at 100,000 feet or so. That would be higher than any of our aircraft could fly, including U-2s. I'm thinking the most effective counter would be radioelectronic warfare (which we don't have).
Difficult to shoot a telling shot at a closing rate of 600 mph. And it turns out that the leakage rate is not so fast as for a party balloon in one's kitchen. These balloons are not pressurized. They ultimately shot it down with a missile. I did research studies on aerostats that could operate at 100,000 feet or so. That would be higher than any of our aircraft could fly, including U-2s. I'm thinking the most effective counter would be radioelectronic warfare (which we don't have).