China Watching

[Shado]

Earnest wrote: "I guess we won't know until the equipment is recovered by the Americans."

Yes, and that will take some time. Finding, reconstructing and evaluating the myriad of equipment pieces strung over a reported 7-mile-long debris field may take weeks or months. Relations between the two countries will be strained (more strained) for quite a while I would imagine.

The biased political "Monday morning quarterbacking" has already started with the Republicans second-guessing the Democrat's (Biden's) decision-making. Petty partisan politics is obscenely rampant in the States.

[jackspratt]

"The US military just confirmed in an official statement that there were at least THREE Chinese spy balloons that flew over the US when Trump was president. Trump kept it a secret and did not shoot them down."

Trump is denying that happened, so obviously it is true.

[Drunk Monkey]

Earnest wrote: "I guess we won't know until the equipment is recovered by the Americans."

Yes, and that will take some time. Finding, reconstructing and evaluating the myriad of equipment pieces strung over a reported 7-mile-long debris field may take weeks or months. Relations between the two countries will be strained (more strained) for quite a while I would imagine.

The biased political "Monday morning quarterbacking" has already started with the Republicans second-guessing the Democrat's (Biden's) decision-making. Petty partisan politics is obscenely rampant in the States.

Biden or any other sitting POTUS was never gonna come out of this looking good .. as the opposition party would just find the alternative to use as ammunition ..

** Shot it down too soon over a populated area (bad decision) - shot it down to slow waiting for it too go over the ocean (bad decision) ..

This balloon has been floating around for quite a while and im assuming any data n images collected would have been electronically fed back LIVE to the Chinese HQ so more than likely the XI n Co have learned quite abit about world weather patterns and where the USA store its nukes.

China reaction very predictable , but twill be interesting to see what is found from the wreckage be it weather data or other... and can any findings be believed especially if the information comes out in boost mode in 2024 in the run up to an election.

"The US military just confirmed in an official statement that there were at least THREE Chinese spy balloons that flew over the US when Trump was president. Trump kept it a secret and did not shoot them down."

Trump is denying that happened, so obviously it is true.

DM

[tamada]

To believe that China has suddenly started sending uncontrollable spy balloons sailing in the stratosphere and over cold war era Minuteman silos, is the stuff of nonsense. The timing fits the narrative: other MSM are reporting that China is "helping" Russia. Tell us something we're not supposed to know.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-aids ... 1675466360

Back to the spy balloon. "On Thursday evening, Dan Satterfield tweeted that he had reproduced the predicted trajectory of the balloon using National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) modeling to reverse-engineer the likely path the balloon would have taken in the preceding five days before it was spotted in Billings, Montana, given the weather patterns across the Northern Hemisphere."

https://www.newsweek.com/chinese-spy-balloon-tracker-questions-shot-down-1778754

The damn thing sailed over Alaska before spending a few days drifting south through Canada on a trajectory that any kid would have worked out was going to take it over the contiguous 48 states. But suddenly it's in Montana, over the missile silos. OMG!!!

Sheesh...

[Laan Yaa Mo]

Not to worry, superior minds than ours will discover the truth and issue a politically unbiased report that will settle the issue and ease our worried and overworked brains, no.

[Earnest]

47 pro-democracy activists are on trial in Hong Kong today.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/ho ... on-3256171

[mak]

Maybe it was lost.

[mak]

The difference between an American balloon and a Chinese balloon.

[Laan Yaa Mo]

47 pro-democracy activists are on trial in Hong Kong today.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/ho ... on-3256171

I am sure they will be given a fair trial, and if found innocent of any charges will be immediately set free.

[Khun Paul]

47 pro-democracy activists are on trial in Hong Kong today.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/ho ... on-3256171

I am sure they will be given a fair trial, and if found innocent of any charges will be immediately set free.

[Mosquito]

The difference between an American balloon and a Chinese balloon.

Don't you mean "American baffoon and a Chinese balloon."


Sorry, "When Opportunity Knocks......Don't Let is Pass You By"

[stattointhailand]

[Earnest]

A Chinese spy balloon meanders over North America and I'm wondering what advantage a balloon would have over a satellite (space vehicle). What do the Chinese gain in terms of intel?

...or does the balloon serve a political purpose?

To answer my own question; it's all about plausible deniability.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-64639407

But deriving intel from a balloon must have an advantage over a satellite too. What can the balloon do that the space vehicle can't?

[parrot]

Loiter over a particular area.
I'm not familiar with Chinese satellite recce capability, so it's possible that existing satellites that cover the desired area have degraded/failed, or the Chinese have developed new technology that the satellite systems don't have.

[stattointhailand]

My question would be more like, What the f*** are they up to that the Chinese want to find out about, and why are they so paranoid about anyone finding out that they need to shoot balloons out of the sky?

[Whistler]

Knowledge is power. The amount of data available through multi-sensory imagery is valuable in so many ways and it has been going on for decades. The Chinese can use basic imagery for military purposes and observe bases for activity and development, so if a hot missile war takes place, they already have an accurate list of targets.

The data from other sensory scanners use spectrographic, infrared and UV sensors to observe crop development, mine outputs, and predict shortages or excesses of needed agricultural products like wheat and barley so they can negotiate trade deals knowing the supply side of the USA's ability to deliver.

Sensors from craft more than 100 kilometres in space are amazingly precise, it was rumoured when I worked on a project with ACRES (Australia Centre for Remote Electronic Sensors) in the 1990's that USA satellites could read number plates from space, not bad if you are tracking Saddam or Ghaddafi with a view to kill.

To gather this data, it was not necessary to constantly transmit data, it could be accessed by 'store and forward' techniques after the craft was recovered or downlinked in another geography at a later date, it is possible that by shooting the balloon down over the Atlantic, that data gathered on the balloon's journey, was never able to be recovered after it crashed into the sea.

[rick]

Balloons do have advantages. Spy sattelites travel at speed and are only over a specific location for a short period. You either need multiple satellites or make do with periodic updates. Geosyncronous orbits stay at one spot relative to the Earth below, but are mainly used for communications and GPS; also at about 29,000 km up cannot see detail.
Balloons operate at 40-60 kms (or less) so can get a better view. Also cheap. And might loiter around for awhile

[Whistler]

Not really the case Rick.

There is no need to observe in real time, most things change very little day to day, so a daily scan is plenty good enough. Take Fench sattelites spot 5 and spot 7. They are in o polar orbit north to south. They scan over a 15 % peripheral orbit every 24 hours.

When they appear over PNG each day, they download data to an Alice Springs receiving station from the previous days sensory information while gathering data on the day. Military basis, crop data, coal stacks do not change on a minute by minute basis, a once a day download works fine.

[Stantheman]

Just my thoughts, but the balloon had nothing to do with the view, but with electronic interception, something that a satellite can't do well. Those large antennas kind of give it away.

[Whistler]

Just my thoughts, but the balloon had nothing to do with the view, but with electronic interception, something that a satellite can't do well. Those large antennas kind of give it away.

Stat, store and forward is done by most satellite's as they can be on the other side of the earth. Geostationary satellite's are an exception but these balloons were not in that category