Top military commander confirms alarming report: First missile missed target over Lake Huron

ChildofLight

Well-Known Member
Top military commander confirms alarming report: First missile missed target over Lake Huron

An F-16 fighter jet deployed to intercept an unidentified flying object over Lake Huron on Sunday reportedly fired not one, but two missiles before striking the object.

"The first Sidewinder heat-seeking missile missed the target," a government official told Fox News.

On Tuesday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley confirmed what Fox News reported. "Yes, the first shot missed," he said.

The admission was particularly concerning because initial reports claimed that military officials were not sure where the missile ultimately landed. But Milley told reporters on Tuesday the errant missile "landed harmlessly in the water of Lake Huron" and has been recovered.

It's not clear why the government did not immediately disclose the missed shot.

"We made sure that airspace was clear of any commercial civilian or recreational traffic. We do the same thing for the maritime space, so we’re very, very deliberate in our planning," Milley said. "We’re very, very careful to make sure that those shots are in fact safe."

The AIM-9x Sidewinder is a heat-seeking, short-range air-to-air missile. The missiles cost about $400,000 each.

The Lake Huron object was the third unidentified object intercepted by American military forces in as many days. On Friday, fighter jets were scrambled to shoot down an object over Alaska, and on Saturday, U.S. pilots downed an object over Canada.

More from the New York Times:

The latest object had first been spotted on Saturday over Montana, initially sparking debate over whether it even existed. On Saturday, military officials detected a radar blip over Montana, which then disappeared, leading them to conclude it was an anomaly. Then a blip appeared Sunday over Montana, then Wisconsin and Michigan. Once military officials obtained visual confirmation, they ordered an F-16 to shoot it down over Lake Huron.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Monday that recovery operations are underway to retrieve debris from the downed objects. However, no debris has yet been discovered, he said. The government, therefore, apparently remains in the dark as to what was shot down.

Still, Milley vowed the object debris would be recovered. The process was delayed, he said, because all three objects crashed into "very difficult terrain."

https://www.theblaze.com/news/lake-...02-14&utm_term=ACTIVE LIST - 7 Day Engagement
 

ChildofLight

Well-Known Member
What particular kind of heat does the missiles seek?
They can’t retrieve the debris due to the difficult terrain? Maybe they need to call in the Cajun Navy. I bet they could retrieve it in no time with no complaints.
 

Wally

Choose Your Words Carefully...
Sidewinders use infra-red seekers to find heat. As targets turn, the heat signature can disappear as the hot parts or exhaust are no longer visible.

Fighter jets discharge flares and make sudden turns to put the heat seeker missile of the trail.

Other missles use radar and look for objects and home in on them. Chaff is a cloud of confetti that creates an image to confuse the radar missiles.

There are other counter measures aircraft use to deceive missiles, but sometimes if the target is small enough a missile simply misses.
I thought Sidewinders did a burn and then time out and explode. Maybe others do.

One of the ways missiles work is to explode and create a cloud of shrapnel to hit like a shotgun or shred panels and wing areas.

If that target was direct hit, it may be that there is precious little of it left to find.
It may also be that surveillance vehicles have self destruct devices to reduce what is recovered to burnt scraps
 

kathymendel

Well-Known Member
If a heat seeking missile misses it's target, does it then seek out the next closest generated heat to target?
If so, would it really be the cold waters of Lake Huron? Or a boat on Lake Huron? Or, the next heat generating item
in the sky over or near the lake?
Something is not adding up for me here ...............
Can anyone explain?
 

Wally

Choose Your Words Carefully...
AIM-9 rocket burns for a couple seconds and fly about 2 miles. At that point they either self destruct or go inert and plummet.

IF there are multi targets within range then it may try to hit another if it misses the first.

That's why the USAF is careful where it shoots. At 188 lbs that's a lot of missile to crash into something.


If you watch the balloon shoot down, you'll see the rocket cutoff then inertia takes it to the balloon (steered by onboard computer)
I'm pretty sure Sidewinders are fire and forget.

And those are the cheap missiles.
The older Phoenix could go over 100 miles and was guided by an F-14. Both have been retired.

We have 3 million dollar AMRAAMs now.
 
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athenasius

Well-Known Member
Why aren't we being shown video of these balloons.
Could be because they are just weather balloons.
because your govt and mine likes secrecy. If it's not in plain sight like that first balloon that got shot down they prefer not to share details.

because embarrassing questions might be asked by the general public.

Heaven forfend we should find out that Trudeau and O'Biden couldn't hit the side of a barn door if their lives depended on it and that they've been underfunding the navy, air force and army for years so that they can't do the job of protecting the citizens.
 

Tall Timbers

Imperfect but forgiven
What particular kind of heat does the missiles seek?

Normally it'll lock onto the heat signature of aircraft engines. I don't think it's really the right weapon to take down these balloons. It would seem to me that a nose gun would be better but I'm not sure which of our planes still have those. The A-10 does but it doesn't fly at high altitudes.
 

Tall Timbers

Imperfect but forgiven
If a heat seeking missile misses it's target, does it then seek out the next closest generated heat to target?
If so, would it really be the cold waters of Lake Huron? Or a boat on Lake Huron? Or, the next heat generating item
in the sky over or near the lake?
Something is not adding up for me here ...............
Can anyone explain?

It simply may have been a dud, pretty rare I think in US Air Force munitions.
 

Wally

Choose Your Words Carefully...
Normally it'll lock onto the heat signature of aircraft engines. I don't think it's really the right weapon to take down these balloons. It would seem to me that a nose gun would be better but I'm not sure which of our planes still have those. The A-10 does but it doesn't fly at high altitudes.
F-15, F-16, F-22 have onboard 20mm cannons. The F35 has a 25mm and the A-10 a 30mmGAU [way overkill for an aircraft] with a ceiling of 45,000

They are quite effective at destroying the target, which I think we wanted to avoid in some cases as we wanted to examine the object.

I checked the 20mm ammo and it is HE [high explosive] with a timed self destruct to limit projectiles reaching the ground.
 

Wally

Choose Your Words Carefully...
So, we were able to find and retrieve the missile that missed the target, but have been unable to find the object that was shot down?? How convenient!!!
Most likely the AIM-9s have a locator beacon so we can find them easily.
The object shot, if is is surveillance, would not have a beacon. And if blown into bits over water, would be near impossible to find.
It took days to find the Edmund Fitzgerald and no crew were ever found.
 

Tall Timbers

Imperfect but forgiven
F-15, F-16, F-22 have onboard 20mm cannons. The F35 has a 25mm and the A-10 a 30mmGAU [way overkill for an aircraft] with a ceiling of 45,000

They are quite effective at destroying the target, which I think we wanted to avoid in some cases as we wanted to examine the object.

I checked the 20mm ammo and it is HE [high explosive] with a timed self destruct to limit projectiles reaching the ground.

Interesting, in all my Air Force years I didn't think the F-16 or 15 was packing rounds like that. I'm glad they still do. Wonder why they're using Sidewinders, then...
 

Wally

Choose Your Words Carefully...
Interesting, in all my Air Force years I didn't think the F-16 or 15 was packing rounds like that. I'm glad they still do. Wonder why they're using Sidewinders, then...
They learned from Nam and the IAF. Missiles were not that good, and if it came down to dog fighting or ground targets, a good 20mm was an excellent weapon.

My guess is they wanted it down not destroyed so they can check it out. I suspect the AIM-9s go clean through the balloon and can cause and easier decent

where a stray 20 mm HE will blow the cargo thing to bits.

I think some of the AIM's are linked to the pilot headgear for some guidance, besides live fire missile practice is hard to come by.

I'm hoping they give some solid info, but if its spook world stuff, we'll likely never know.



One other thing on the first balloon, is the jets might be at their max ceiling and the target out of accurate or effective range of the gun.
 
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