Here are two cool photos of the shootdown of the Chinese spy balloon by an F-22 Raptor using an air-to-air A9X sidewinder missile. The aircraft fired the missile at an altitude of 58,000 feet while the balloon was hovering at an altitude of between 60,000 and 65,000 feet. The balloon was shot down about six nautical miles off the coast off South Carolina and the debris field is said to be roughly seven miles wide.
They used a missile. I would have liked to see them put a few holes in it so it could settle to the Earth and be dismantled by experts.
I read that it would take hundreds, if not thousands of 20mm rounds, to bring the balloon down quickly. It is filled with helium under only 1 psi. As an example, in 1998, Canadian F-18s shot at a wayward 100-meter weather balloon, with 1,000 rounds. It managed to stay airborne for another six days. A missile, however, would tear a large hole in it. The Navy is currently recovering it from the ocean sea floor. Luckily, it is in only 47 feet of water. Hopefully, we will get to thoroughly analyze the Chinese surveillance equipment if it has not been damaged by the salt water.
The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard are working to establish a perimeter around where the balloon fell into the Atlantic Ocean and is searching for debris. The search is expected to be “fairly easy,” given that the balloon was shot down about six miles off the Carolina coast in about 47 feet of water. The Chinese cannot make up their mind about the balloon. First, they said that it wasn't their balloon. Then, they said that it was a weather balloon. After we analyze the technology and prove it was on a spy mission, I wonder what their next excuse will be?
This reminds me of a little-known secret of WW II. In an effort to bring the war to the U.S. mainland, Japan launched nearly 10,000 bomb-bearing balloons onto the Pacific jet stream, from Nov. 3, 1944, to April 1945. Around 300 of them landed in the United States- a few started forest fires in the western states and one . killed a woman and her five children in Oregon. Each balloon carried two incendiaries and a 33-pound antipersonnel bomb. In 1945, a Japanese Balloon Bomb Killed Six Americans, Five of Them Children, in Oregon | History| Smithsonian Magazine
A quick search indicates anything above 18,000 ft is not considered US airspace. Reports indicate the balloon was at 60,000 ft.
The Sparrow missile probably had a proximity fuse which allowed the warhead to explode near the balloon and tear a large hole in it.
