[LonePalm]

And just what do you think the PRC gained from their little adventure?

It wouldn't have photographed anything we were interested in protecting. It is so slow anything within range of its cameras would have been covered well before it came over the horizon. The only thing they were going to see was what we wanted them to see.

Over the air communications? Hardly. Besides there are better ways of collecting that intel.

SpyNavy

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[Bob Ireland]

***And just what do you think the PRC gained from their little adventure?***

The published speculation is somewhat non-specific. As to seeing it coming, apparently it was not seen until there was a public outcry. All of this is beyond my expertise.

My main question to you would be: Why would the PRC undertake such a pointless mission? Is it only to demoralize public opinion and intimidate us? WHY didn't the administration choose to take the balloon out by the time that it reached the Aleutians? Why did they allow it to continue to navigate over the continental U.S.? Why wait until it left our territory and then shoot it down and mount a retrieval mission? NORAD admitted that they were not capable of tracking these high altitude slow moving UAVs - the 'picket fence gap'.

And, as I say, the Chinese themselves bragged about the capability of these balloons to effectively carry hypersonic missiles; perhaps that is true, perhaps not.

🤷‍♂️

[Bigg Red]

Then why did they do it?