The U-2 and balloons – Some history, and some thoughts
dragonladytoday.com
dragonladytoday.com
That is a picture of a unreleased photo, on a u2 enthusiast site in an article that only is talking about the history of theU2
Some Osint digging reveals this was very recently likely leaked to them
So in actuality, they haven't been pushing the u2 usage at all. I never saw owing public trackers spot the u2 while the spy balloon was over the country
No, this article is catching attention because it's a unique perspective from a unreleased photo. ... picture of a picture style similar to the keyhole satellite photo leak from the last president
https://twitter.com/ZcohenCNN/status/1628497300891791360
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FpmVm_TXgAUrlnm?format=jpg&name=...
I mean, the text of the linked page contains the following:
> While the CIA was developing the revolutionary U-2 at great speed in late 1955, a sceptical USAF pressed ahead with an alternative means of photographing the Soviet Union. Over 500 large camera-carrying balloons were launched from western Europe, the theory being that the prevailing jetstreams would carry them west-to-east across the Soviet landmass, so that they could be recovered 8-10 days later in northern Asia.
> Codenamed Project Genetrix, this scheme was not a great success, with less than 10 percent of the camera payloads recovered. Many others were shot down by Warsaw Pact fighters, or simply drifted down to earth. The USSR collected the evidence, displayed it in Moscow, and issued strong protest notes.
> The CIA wasn’t enthusiastic about the project, and the success of the early U-2 overflights in 1956-57 suppressed any thoughts of balloon reconnaissance.
Which reads like cheerleading for the U-2 (see also the Global Hawk comment at the end) and cherry-picking from the relevant history to do so.
1. How much does it cost to take off an airplane that shoots a balloon?
2. How much does it cost to shoot a balloon with the aircraft that can shoot it?
3. How much does it cost to build a balloon that has Software Defined Radio+camera and a transmitter/a battery+solar panel for energy+a SoC? (My guess is that this is < $1000)
Why not just send a (< $1000) low cost drone to kill these?
Quadrotors are right out for a number of reasons, but a purpose-built fixed wing might be possible although likely not for under $1000. You'll need massive wings and some kind of propulsion system (likely hydrocarbon-based) that can suck in a huge amount of the thin atmosphere to try to get what little oxygen is available. The prevailing winds at altitude can be moving quite fast, so you'll need an airframe that can handle those forces as well as a propulsion system that can generate enough thrust to overcome those headwinds.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Chinese_balloon_incident#...
Where can I buy this for < $1000 ?