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PaperclipPerfector  4mo ago (text post)   2584 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for July 20, 2025

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Remember that Chinese hot air balloon over America? Why isn’t similar technology being used in Russian / Ukraine war? Seems like you could fill one up with drones that then free fall out and use guidance to hit locations in the interior of the country. Wouldn’t the weapons used to destroy something 70k feet in the air be considerably more expensive than the production of decoy balloons?

For one thing, the winds at high altitude pretty much always blow from West to East in the mid lattitudes, posing issues if you're Russia in this scenario.

For another, I doubt that big slow balloons are that hard to shoot down, even at 70k feet. Modern multirole fighter planes can get to 55k-60k, and specialized interceptors can get to 80k. You wouldn't need a big fancy missile to get from 60k feet to 70k feet. You might even be able to hit it with an autocannon.

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