What if The Chinese Spy Balloon Shot Back?

About this video

Max presents a hypothetical scenario in DCS flight simulator where he recreates the Chinese spy balloon intercept using an F-16, but imagines what would happen if the balloon shot back. He flies a simulated mission against Su-27 aircraft (substituting for the balloon due to simulation limitations) while explaining the tactics and procedures used during the actual 2023 balloon shoot-down off the coast of South Carolina. Max analyzes why the F-22 pilots chose the AIM-9 missile and discusses weapon effectiveness based on his own combat experience.

Key takeaways

• Max explains that in the actual balloon intercept, F-22 pilots used an AIM-9X missile without a warhead to puncture the balloon, and likely had backup weapons ready in case of a miss.
• Max recounts that when he flew F-15Es, a fellow pilot used an AIM-9 Mike (not the newer AIM-9X) to shoot down a lost Predator drone in Afghanistan, but it didn’t cause enough damage and the drone flew another 6 miles.
• Max demonstrates that in a hypothetical combat scenario, pilots would use mutual support tactics, maintain altitude and speed (‘altitude is life, speed is life’), and employ proper radar ranging and weapon selection based on threat distance.

Episode details: published February 6, 2023 · 29.6K views · 9:55 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. The analysis and commentary described are Max Afterburner’s, attributed to him — his channel includes hypothetical-scenario and news-react content, which is presented as his analysis, not established fact.

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