Originally Posted by
galaxy flyer
At 58,000’ air density is thin such that the F-22 would need about 220 KEAS to stay airborne and have any maneuvering capability. That equivalent airspeed equals M 1.2 and 260-ish calibrated. All boils down to a true airspeed of around 670 knots. So, a gun attack, if the gun opened, would be closing on the target at about 1200 feet per second and would open fire around 2,000’ range. No room for safe escape, high risk of collision.
the next problem with the gun is projectile dispersion, risk of hitting the payload. 50,000’ is limit for opening the gun door.
The AIM-9X can guide of light contrast in addition to IR, and can be targeted by datalink from the F-22 radar.
That's why I was asking about the computer aided targeting - one could set up the target based on radar from several miles back, line up as if to pass the balloon on one side (or below), and then turn (or pull up) so the gun sweeps across the target and the firing solution computer pulls the trigger when the round would pass through the target space. The plane's path would not line up for more than a fraction of a second and would carry off to the side. Collision and a 2000ft approach is clearly a problem if it requires Skywalker to decide when to pull the trigger, but not for HAL. Even better if HAL was told the plan and handled the maneuver from the initial line-up. The balloon, being the target, should offer a large enough margin for the timing to work out.