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>U.S military (Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard) are in the area off the coast of North and South Carolina.
>The Pentagon plans to shoot down a Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon.
>Ground stops ordered at major and minor airports in North and South Carolina, FAA closed airspace off the coast of the two states.
>F-22 Raptors and F-15s are airborne off the coast of North Carolina.
>USS Carter Hall (a U.S Navy dock landing ship) moving into position off the coast of the Carolinas to assist with recovery operations after the balloon is shot down.
>Biden claims he's going to "take care of [the balloon]."
Oh boy, I sure hope this doesn't result in anything fucking stupid.
@Marshall1Banana @picandor China should let a thousand flowers bloom...
It's time for OPERATION LUFTBALLON.
It's time for OPERATION LUFTBALLON.
Now how much did all of this military response cost? The cost alone of sending a fighter jet into the air alone is thousands for fuel alone, now add the additional costs of maintenance service and operations, lost services from FAA and nearby airports, deployment of troops, and cost to keep a military base operational outside of normal working hours? I wouldn't be surprised if the costs were ridiculous.
If I was China I'd keep sending these over and cripple operations within the US through attrition alone