Must close to ~1,000 feet for an air-to-air 20mm guns kill. The AIM-9X allows a standoff shot at ~1 NM or greater. Important if one of the balloons might include weapons or explosives. Also, have heard these are non-warhead shots in order to preserve as much of each balloon as possible for recovery and analysis. Difference between using a shotgun versus an arrow.
Thanks.
Time to see if we have any surviving Phoenix missiles. They have 50nm range.