- While the country was infatuated with the saga of the Chinese spy balloon, few people know the price tag of the equipment used to pop the balloon: a whopping $358.3 million, according to Reason.
- The balloon was shot down by the American F-22 Raptor fighter jet, a top of the line aircraft that has been hailed as an “exponential leap in warfighting capabilities.” It began development in 1986, and after decades of testing and refinement, officially entered service in the Air Force in 2005. The U.S. purchased 187 of these aircrafts from defense giant Lockheed Martin at a price tag of $67 billion, coming out to $358.3 million per plane.
