Radio audio of Chinese balloon shoot down

The War Zone; YouTube ^ | FEB 7, 2023 | Ken Harrell; Howard Altman

[gandalftb]

0:33: FRANK01: What I recommend is that we go back to the tanker for one top-off and will be back on station in approximately two zero mike and then we move the tankers to about 40 miles south of the shoot line. The shoot line is at 1-3-0 currently.

1:01: FRANK01: A-firm. If..a..yeah we could probably make it happen we'll just need up our gas or else we will be diverting.

1:32: HUNTRESS: …when it comes to the firing line you asked for Whiskey 137 or Whiskey 122?

1:37: FRANK01: We can adjust it depending on what is easiest, but right now I'd recommend an attack heading of 1-4-0 which would take it just through 177.

1:53: HUNTRESS: …Whiskey 137 is clear.

1:54: FRANK01: Copy all, system. Looking at my display it’s Whiskey 122 on an attack heading of 1-4-0. Should be well-deconflicted.

2:07: FRANK01: We are negative 12-sixes from you guys. Can we test a couple of different ways for you to push 12-sixes?

2:13: EAGLE01 Yeah I would check. I’m having trouble keeping a radar lock for any more than a second on him. I will keep trying. I have some Link 16 degrade and I have a lost jackal, but I am fine entry on the net.

2:23: FRANK01: FRANK copy. We are jackal sour. We are timber sweet with you. However, we are not seeing any 12-sixes from you.

2:33: EAGLE01: Eagle copy. I’m gonna take some space and try to have a good run-in to see if we get 12-sixes off three mikes.

2:48: FRANK01: FRANK01 with a positive of Gasman 02.

2:53: HUNTRESS: FRANK01 stand by priority. Track Charlie Zulu 5-3-5. Bullseye. 0-0-5 16 64,000 suspect. You are ordered to engage. Time is 1905 Zulu. I authenticate Romeo Sierra, use AIM-9Xs approximately six to eight nautical miles from shore.

3:46: HUNTRESS: FRANK01. HUNTRESS. Clarification. AIM-9X preferred. Other ordnance authorized. Six to eight nautical miles from shore. Preferred. Six to 12 nautical miles authorized. How copy?

4:03: FRANK01: Copy all. Visual Eagle 2.

4:08: EAGLE02: EAGLE02 is under TOI headed east for 3-5-0.

4:16: HUNTRESS: HUNTRESS supersonic speed is authorized if you manage to avoid populated areas.

4:31: EAGLE01: Confirm EAGLE01 has good eyeball on track.

4:38: EAGLE02: There’s a lot of masking since we are so much lower than it so we have to stay a little bit further away. Intermittent all the way throughout these turns we have good eyeballs.

4:49: FRANK01: Package. FRANK01. Steak. Charlie Zulu 5-3-5. Bullseye. 0-1-1-15. 64,000. Heading 1-4-0 right-hand turns.

5:10: FRANK01: HUNTRESS, FRANK01…we’re going to need you to back us up because we don’t have a high-fidelity line on the coastline. Looking for you to provide six-mile map call when you are observing the TOI at six nautical miles off the coast.

5:32: HUNTRESS: Whiskey 137 will be your out gas.

5:38: FRANK01: FRANK01 copy. We do not have Whiskey 137 plotted. Unfamiliar. We'll need a bra.

5:44: HUNTRESS: About 100 miles south of Whiskey 177. Very marked up.

5:50: FRANK01: Copy all. And HUNTRESS out gas…turning northbound to meet 'em.

6:03: HUNTRESS: FRANK01. EAGLE01, HUNTRESS…we have them at 66 miles, we’ll have them track north after engagement.

6:09: FRANK01: EAGLE01. FRANK01. What luck. Laser.

6:13: EAGLE01: Got her a few times, not at the moment.

6:17: FRANK01: EAGLE01. FRANK01. Request you push to my discreet on secure.

6:21: EAGLE01: EAGLE switching 233525.

6:30: FRANK01: HUNTRESS, FRANK 1… Just an amendment to the game plan just based on the limited ability for EAGLE01 to point for FRANK01. EAGLE01 will just marshall and commit north in trail of FRANK01… but it will help geometry to help point TOI one.

6:54: EAGLE01: Just like this, we’re on that currently. In a 1-8-0 heading in a slight climb left-hand turn.

7:03: FRANK01: Copy all. You guys will earn deconfliction from Frank above 3-5-0.

7:19: FRANK01: Just for our posturing to… TOI, I’m requesting… conditions, best time estimate for six miles offshore

7:31: HUNTRESS: HUNTRESS copy. Stand by.

7:34: HUNTRESS: FRANK01. HUNTRESS. Fire.

7:38: FRANK01: HUNTRESS. FRANK01. Go.

7:41: HUNTRESS: FRANK01 track. Charlie Zulu 535 Bullseye. 0-5-0 15. 64,000. Track east. Hostile. You are ordered to engage. Time is one niner 2-8 Zulu… Quebec Yankee. six to eight nautical miles offshore preferred. Six to 12 nautical miles authorized.

8:08: FRANK01: HUNTRESS. FRANK01 engaged. Charlie Zulu 5-3-5 Bullseye. 0-5-0. 15, 64,000. FRANK01 is preceding outbound. Copy restrictions. Six to eight nautical miles preferred. Six to 12 nautical miles authorized.

8:14: HUNTRESS: Good copy.

8:35: FRANK01: Package. Standby gameplan.

8:39: FRANK01: Package resteak. TOI of one. Charlie Zulu 5-3-5 Bullseye. 0-5-0. 15. Heading 1-4-0 lefthand turns.

8:53: FRANK01: EAGLE support angels as desired. Point TOI one. Charlie Zulu 5-3-5.

9:03: EAGLE01: EAGLE, Wilco.

9:05: FRANK01: FRANK. Shooter. Attack heading 1-4-0. Profile. 1.3 mach…delivery…five miles shot range.

9:20: FRANK01: FRANK, ops check 1-12.2.

9:25: FRANK01: And HUNTRESS, as a reminder from FRANK01, we are looking for you to count every single mile that the TOI gained offshore.

9:34: HUNTRESS: HUNTRESS copy. Track two nautical miles offshore.

9:43: HUNTRESS: HUNTRESS three nautical miles offshore.

9:49: HUNTRESS: HUNTRESS four nautical miles offshore.

9:54: EAGLE01: FRANK, can you give me about a 30-second out call?

9:57: FRANK01: FRANK, Wilco.

10:03: FRANK01: Copy all. We will turn inbound when we get five nautical miles off.

10:07: HUNTRESS: Ok, good to know, copy.

10:10: HUNTRESS: Five miles offshore.

10:19: FRANK01: Package in right, FRANK, sprint.

10: 29: FRANK01: FRANK01 is switches hot.

10:32: FRANK02: FRANK02 is switches hot.

10:33: FRANK01: HUNTRESS, FRANK01. Say range offshore.

10:37: HUNTRESS: HUNTRESS, five and a half miles…

10:39: EAGLE01?: EAGLE01, good eyeball.

10:50 HUNTRESS: HUNTRES. Six miles offshore.

10:54: FRANK01: FRANK01. Splash one! TOI 1.

10:59: HUNTRESS: HUNTRESS copy. Splash.

11:01: EAGLE02: That is a t-kill. The balloon is completely destroyed.

11:12: HUNTRESS: EAGLE01 will be on scene to man and maintain height. Eyeball.

11:24: EAGLE01: There appears to be metal chaff clouds…It’s definitely metal breaking apart. Screen for an altitude check.

11:36: HUNTRESS: …confirm weapons safe. Roll call.

11:38: FRANK01: FRANK01, switch is safe.

11:43: EAGLE01: EAGLE01, weapons safe.

11:44: EAGLE02: EAGLE02, weapons safe.

11:49: EAGLE01?: EAGLE is committing in the climb 3-5-0 to get above falling debris

11:56: FRANK01: EAGLE01, FRANK01. You have on-scene command, FRANK1 is flowing 2-1-0

12:17: EAGLE01: EAGLE01 is tally one… There appears to be debris above. I do not see anything below the white parachute for now.

12:26: HUNTRESS: HUNTRESS copy. White falling parachute with nothing below.

12:30: FRANK01: EAGLE02 saw a glimmer underneath the parachute. Unknown where it went.

12:37: FRANK02: FRANK02. Quite a bit of debris underneath the parachute shortly after splash.

12:42: HUNTRESS: HUNTRESS copy. Lot of debris after splash under the parachute and priority will be recorded for the splash.

12:57: EAGLE01: EAGLE01. TIGER09. A 1-5-P8 Alpha apparently at Whiskey 137 requests to push northbound Whiskey 177 remain on top with eyeball.

13:08: HUNTRESS: That copy EAGLE01 for that last instruction. EAGLE01 you can send him north to get pod footage on wreck and debris. I am masking my left hand turn.

13:45: EAGLE01: EAGLE would like all altitudes just to deconflict with some TIGERs. I’m going to follow the debris down so I can get a mark point on the ground.

13:59: FRANK01: Request a point out to abate..

14:01: HUNTRESS: Abate line center BRA 22-3-43 25,000. Track north bearing 0-4-0.

14:08: FRANK01: Sensor contact, I had open static on that frequency…

14:40: HUNTRESS: EAGLE01, HUNTRESS, prioritize lat-long.

14:43: EAGLE01: EAGLE01 is nine line at Charlie. Line four.

14: 51: HUNTRESS: EAGLE01, HUNTRESS ready to copy line four.

15:11: EAGLE01: …the parachute, there’s just no positive visual…we are currently at 29,000 feet. There is debris, looks to be directly above it, spreading out towards the east.

15:23: HUNTRESS: Copy. Parachute at 41,000. Debris above it, spreading to the east.

15:27: EAGLE01: I have no contact on debris near the water or lower, but as I descend I’ll keep looking.

15:36: EAGLE02: HUNTRESS, EAGLE02. The debris is still floating up at 55,000 and above. There’s a debris cloud up there. The parachute is much lower.

16:50: EAGLE01: My intention is to wait till splash and move on top at Cherub 1.5 for eyeball.

16:56: TIGER09: TIGER09 copy all. Request a spot to orbit.

17:04: EAGLE01?: Currently TOI along the coastline working northbound. Once spash happens to move on top of splash. Provide eyeball.

17:27: EAGLE01: EAGLE01. HUNTRESS: Standing by for the lat long [latitude, longitude] looking for the estimated size of debris field.

17:55: EAGLE01: EAGLE01,TIGER09 request. EAGLE01 TIGER09 requests to descend from Angles 29.5 to deploy smoke on top of…for splash.

18:05: TIGER09: we’re cleared down (inaudible) continuing to stay east of (inaudible) point. We will stay west to the shore and come down to Cherubs 1.5 deploy smoke on top of splash.

18:25: UNKNOWN: …field last known 35,000 feet to approximately 45,000 feet.

18:45: HUNTRESS: HUNTRESS copy. TIGER descending 10,500. EAGLE01. TIGER01. BRA 2-1-9-6 28,000 descending. Track northeast.

19:11: FRANK01: Can update line six, nine-line charlie 1-5 Bravo

19:16: HUNTRESS?: Standy. Standby. Standby. Priority… debris.

19:20: FRANK01: Copy, we’ll get the tanker turned.

19:46: ?: I have a (inaudible) for the impact.

20:22: ?: We’ve got about 20 minutes of flight time.

20:39: ?: Copy all. Eagle01. EAGLE02. HUNTRESS requests an altitude update of the debris field and (inaudible).

20:51: HUNTRESS: HUNTRESS copy. The debris field has dissipated. (inaudible).

21:23: EAGLE02: The winds remain 50 to 70 knots out of the north. So my best guess is the debris field is growing very, very, very slowly. I think you are going to find it about 15 miles or so east of our location by the time it hits the water.

24:22: HUNTRESS: TIGER just confirm that the smoke was to mark the parachute location for the Navy.

[FlipWilson]

I saw a different transcript:

POP!!!

[DSH]

Call sign FRANK for the F22 pilot references Frank Luke, the “Arizonia Balloon Buster” who destroyed 14 Germen observation Balloon on the Western Front in 1918

Yeah, so chosen ostensibly in "honor" of Frank Luke's exploits, but it smells more like "stolen valor" to me in this circumstance, using a couple of $130 million-a-pop aircraft to attack a slow moving gas bag.

Frank Luke was eventually KIA'd doing what he did. I wonder if these chuckleheads will paint a balloon kill mark on the fuselage of their jet, to commemorate their great achievement? Perhaps the greatest American military accomplishment since Reagan took Grenada.

[WeaslesRippedMyFlesh]

“Slingshot, engage.”

[jaydubya2]

[Larry Lucido]

[gloryblaze]

Just think. At the White House Command Center Commander in Chief Biden was running everything every step of the way. May as well have been in the cockpit himself as they fired.🤪

You could be Kamala's speech writer.

[smokingfrog]

Need a jet jockey to translate this. LoL

[smokingfrog]

[larrytown]

There is no weapon that the F-22 can carry that would be able to target the balloon that precisely.

Seems like their 20mm cannon could have done the job fine, and potentially not shredded the payload.

[Yo-Yo]

Seems like their 20mm cannon could have done the job fine, and potentially not shredded the payload.Not from 6,000 feet lower than the balloon, travelling over mach 1, while shooting at a target moving 15 knots.

[Yo-Yo]

I made an animated GIF of the shoot-down video yesterday:

[FtrPilot]

There is no weapon that the F-22 can carry that would be able to target the balloon that precisely.

I agree.

I'm surprised FRANK 1 didn't call the "Fox", just the "Splash".

2:23: FRANK01: FRANK copy. We are jackal sour. We are timber sweet with you. However, we are not seeing any 12-sixes from you.

2:33: EAGLE01: Eagle copy. I’m gonna take some space and try to have a good run-in to see if we get 12-sixes off three mikes.

Anyone know what "12-sixes" are?

How about "12-sixes off three mikes"?

[smokingfrog]

[OrangeHoof]

Chinese Spy: “We still cannot rocate this Rimbaugh person...”

[Chainmail]

During an actual war, will our Air Force be this chatty?

[larrytown]

So, the F-22 (or any American aircraft) isn’t capable of puncturing a balloon at 62,000 feet with any weapon cheaper than an AIM-9X?

That’s new information for everybody to know.

[EandH Dad]

The balloon was 200 feet tall. How many F-22’s would it take to put enough 20 mm holes in it to make a difference. Imagine a regular hot air balloon and how many .22 bullets it would take to bring that down. Our pilots did what they were supposed to do. Assuming the spy gear was neutralized over Montana, or earlier, it was the right plan to drop it over the horizon in shallow salt water.