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lo_fi_ho t1_j9xpe37 wrote

Reply to comment by Hattix in [OC] Cost of Taking Down Unidentified Object Over Lake Huron by Metalytiq

The AIM-9 was designed to shoot down an aircraft with a high heat signature. The balloon was neither of those.

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Hattix t1_j9xpq36 wrote

This is the AIM-9X which uses an imaging infrared focal plane array and compatibility with JHMCS equipped helmets. They can lock on to balloons, as balloons would be reflecting solar IR and, besides, the sensor is an imaging sensor not a hotspot detector.

Even if it was an older AIM-9J or even older, with the passive IR sensor you're thinking of, saying "Yeah but they didn't use the right missile" isn't the endorsement of the air force you think it is!

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ferrel_hadley t1_j9xqi9r wrote

>s balloons would be reflecting solar IR

Solar IR is a small part of the downwelling solar spectrum.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0823/0287/files/atmospheric-absorption_848x452.png?v=1670339790

And the near infrared is heavily absorbed and emitted by CO2 and H20 so in those wavelengths that would be the ambient IR. The whole sky will look like it is those wavelengths.

You would also have to account for the upwelling radiation (very very very roughly shown here in Khiel and Trenberth 97 https://chriscolose.wordpress.com/2008/12/10/an-update-to-kiehl-and-trenberth-1997/ )

These wavelengths have always been a huge problem for IR.

Operating in these wavelengths is "the endorsement of the air force you think it is!"

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chipperlew t1_j9y7p8g wrote

Says the guy hyping up the Russian military. Gtfo here Pavel.

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Hattix t1_j9y82d4 wrote

Please quote directly where I said anything about the Russian military, Igor.

They're a bunch of useless conscripts and Siberian prisoners sent to fertilise the fields of Ukraine, Igor.

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chipperlew t1_j9y8cev wrote

So you’re admitting that you’re here to cast doubt on the US while hyping Russia. Just that you have not made that overt statement yet. Thanks for clarifying.

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Hattix t1_j9zxmqp wrote

Quit sowing discord, comrade, it's transparent. You FSB lot have been doing that for years now, it's old.

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