(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) The downing of China's alleged spy balloon marked the first time
the F-22 Raptor fighter jet brought down an airborne target since
it debuted in combat in Syria and Iraq almost a decade ago, defense
analysts said, trend reports citing al
arabiya .
“Shooting down China's balloon was indeed the F-22's first
air-to-air kill,” Rebecca Grant, an Air Force systems specialist
and president of IRIS Independent Research, said by email in
response to questions.“Americans watched an unfriendly aircraft
get shot down over our skies.”
Defense publication The War Zone said on its website that the
incident“may be the highest altitude air-to-air kill ever. The
F-22 was flying at about 58,000 feet off the South Carolina coast
when it fired an Aim-9X Sidewinder missile at the balloon that was
hovering at between 60,000 and 65,000 feet, Pentagon officials said
Saturday.
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