Some politicians are demanding that the Pentagon shoot down the Chinese balloon that has invaded America’s skies, but security experts told NBC News on Friday that’s easier said than done.
The United States has missiles in its arsenal capable of obliterating the balloon even at an altitude of 60,000 feet, but the falling wreckage could pose a danger to people on the ground, they said.
“You also have to look at the optics,” said Joshua Fitt, a security expert at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington D.C.-based think tank. “What if we missed? It’s still a tricky target. And it’s not as easy to pop a balloon like this as you might expect.”
Brynn Tannehill, an analyst at the Rand Corp., agreed. Using a missile to shoot down the balloon is “a risky proposition,” because most available weapons, including advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles (AMRAAM) and surface-to-air Patriot missiles, aren’t normally used on targets at such high altitudes, she said.
“These are exquisite weapons systems designed for high-end purposes, but balloons were never part of that purpose,” Tannehill said. “Patriots and AMRAAMs are like Lamborghinis or Ferraris — super high-end, super expensive — but you wouldn’t take either of them to an off-road rally.”
There could also be safety concerns if the missile veers off course.
“Even on a good day, missiles don’t hit 100% of the time,” Tannehill said. “When you miss something at that high altitude, the missile is going to keep going for quite a ways, and where it’s going to come down is not super predictable.”
Still, this kind of intrusion by the Chinese calls for a decisive response from the U.S. government, said Tom Karako, who runs the missile defense project at the Center for Strategic & International Studies.
“I know the Chinese are saying this is a weather balloon, but I don’t think anybody in the Pentagon believes that,” Karako said, adding that Chinese surveillance of the U.S. has become…
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