Originally Posted by
Been Accounting
Isn’t a missile overkill?
Isn’t there a cheaper option? Trailing 100m of barbed wire (or a high-tech equivalent)?
My (limited) understanding is that the options for bringing the balloon down (the first one) were restricted. They opted to use a Sidewinder minus it's warhead as the best way to bring it down where they wanted. This second object we know sod all about. Could have been another big surveillance balloon, could have been something else entirely. Trying to second guess tactical decision with zero knowledge is like pissing down your trouser leg. None here know what it may have been or what threat it may have posed. Could have been anything. Worth remembering that large numbers of weapons and training rounds are expended during training. Even if this was nothing significant it was worth the cost of the weapon for training.