An AA missile would certainly shoot it down with an airburst, but the point is just poking it full of holes is actually not that quick of a way to shoot one down.
Janeway said we were really low on photon torpedos and needed to conserve them so idk about using them.
Really? Like, I guess there’s not too much pressure pushing the gas out in this kind of balloon, but gas is still light and doesn’t need much of a push.
But it’s a huge balloon, and it will take a long time for the gas to leak out. The balloon will sag, and drop steadily, but it will still take an extended period of time to actually reach Earth, where the payload may still be dangerous.
Do not underestimate how hard it is to shoot down a lighter-than-air aircraft with projectiles is.
The holes matter but nowhere near as much as you think.
Couldn’t they fire something incendiary? The gas is flammable, a photon torpedo or something should do it.
An AA missile would certainly shoot it down with an airburst, but the point is just poking it full of holes is actually not that quick of a way to shoot one down.
Janeway said we were really low on photon torpedos and needed to conserve them so idk about using them.
Really? Like, I guess there’s not too much pressure pushing the gas out in this kind of balloon, but gas is still light and doesn’t need much of a push.
YA RLY
https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/97384/if-a-balloon-lies-within-gun-range-why-would-a-21st-century-warplane-shoot-it-w
But it’s a huge balloon, and it will take a long time for the gas to leak out. The balloon will sag, and drop steadily, but it will still take an extended period of time to actually reach Earth, where the payload may still be dangerous.
This might be a good use case for those fancy plane mounted high intensity lasers the military has been playing around with.