Anything to do with the military is already notoriously expensive. The US spends around $840 billion a year on its war hobby, and it’s only climbing. When we work out how much it cost to shoot down the Chinese weather balloon, it’s easy to see why.
Most people probably remember the frothing madness that arose around the balloon sighted above Alaska in 2023. Floating over US soil at a height of 65,000 feet, it got security services worried. What was it? Who sent it? What did it want? Whose birthday is it?
It was quickly identified as a Chinese balloon, but its purpose was unknown. People assumed the worst, and it was labelled as a spy balloon. Of course, this could not be allowed to stand. The Chinese could not be allowed to sneak peeks at Alaska without asking, and so it was to be destroyed.
Nobody could have predicted just how many millions it would cost to shoot the balloon down, though.
A Show Of Excessive Force, Of Course
To take down the balloon, the US faced a problem. The first was that it was really far away. Some guy with a long stick wouldn’t be enough. At 65,000 feet, the ‘Chinese Spy Balloon’ was out of range of many ground-based weapons.
So, an F-22 Raptor was used. These fighter jets, built by Lockheed Martin, are valued at approximately $143 million. This makes them one of the most expensive in the world. It was the perfect opportunity to show just what it could do.
Strapped to the million-dollar jet were AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles. These air-to-air weapons are used for short-range attacks. They each come in at over $300,000. They fired off one of these terrifying weapons into the floating bag of air and surveillance equipment.
The combination of jet and missile racked up a cost of millions, all for the sake of a balloon.
The incredible show of force by the US military was phenomenally expensive, but the perfect chance to flex its muscles to the world. Look at us. We’re the US. We can spend millions shooting a balloon out of the sky.
When questioned about the alleged spy balloon, the Chinese had a good old laugh. According to them, it was just a weather balloon that had drifted off course. They were shocked to find out their piece of meteorological equipment had caused such an expensive problem. However, to save face, the US refuted that claim. Instead, they released a whole load of news about how packed it was with American spy tech, of all things.
Why would China, one of the most technologically developed countries in the world, use American tech to spy on Americans with something as noticeable as a massive balloon?