good carma will follow your donation to free republic
Posted on 01/28/2016 1:47:41 PM PST by BenLurkin
India will take up with Pakistan the issue of air intrusion by a huge balloon which was shot down by a Sukhoi-30MKI after it was detected coming from across the border into the Barmer region of Rajasthan by IAF radars on Tuesday morning.
Though the "commercial" balloon manufactured by a US company did not contain any suspicious payload like sensors and cameras or any explosive material, sources said it could have been used to probe Indian air defence capabilities. It's a standard military practice to fly aircraft, helicopters, drones and the like near a border to test an adversary's sensors and reaction time.
Interestingly, "Happy Birthday" and "CUPAFLOAT" were written on the helium-filled, 3-metre diameter balloon, which was at an altitude of 7.9-km when it was shot down by the Sukhoi at around 10.30am on Tuesday. Taking no chances amid a high security alert around the country on Republic Day, the Sukhoi fired as many as 97 rounds from its 30mm GSh-301 auto-cannon at the balloon to ensure it was destroyed in the air.
The defence ministry has taken serious note of the episode, especially since the balloon was flying at an altitude much higher than that of helicopters, and asked the external affairs ministry to raise it with Pakistan. .
"Our radars picked up an unidentified, shiny flying object entering our airspace. A fighter was quickly scrambled (from the Jodhpur airbase) to intercept it. The jet shot it down. It was balloon. There was no payload," said defence minister Manohar Parrikar, speaking on the sidelines of a function on Wednesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesofindia.indiatimes.com ...
Waiting for my Tax return.
Cool...
Balloons and cartoons. mooslims are no fun.
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