Look this story is embarrassing, but the intercept was free. The entirety of it will come out of the training budget the pilots don't have to do for the month. As to the missile, apparently its $400k a pop. That balloon cost millions.
Cost is not the issue. Far more interesting is what was reveled. We have a political block to take down a foreign object in our airspace. The thing flew over the entire continental US. The F-22 can engage extremely fast (relative to the plane) targets at at least 65 000 ft with apparent ease (wikipedia's spec sheet previously said "more than 50 000 ft).
Edit: forgot to mention. The intercept was easy because the balloon was flying relatively low for a balloon. These things are hard to kill. If it were 80 000 ft, would you shoot it down with an F-22 and reveal a very secret characteristic of it? Or use a very expensive SAM?
Even if it were a weather balloon, the sensors on it would be insane and worth more than the missile. A spy satellite's sensors? Those lenses are filthy expensive.
Size matters, even just considering raw material costs. The fabric is not a cheap coarse cotton garment that would otherwise have become a pair of Levi's. Its full of Helium. On top of that the balloon's size makes it a difficult structural problem.
Cost is not the issue. Far more interesting is what was reveled. We have a political block to take down a foreign object in our airspace. The thing flew over the entire continental US. The F-22 can engage extremely fast (relative to the plane) targets at at least 65 000 ft with apparent ease (wikipedia's spec sheet previously said "more than 50 000 ft).
Edit: forgot to mention. The intercept was easy because the balloon was flying relatively low for a balloon. These things are hard to kill. If it were 80 000 ft, would you shoot it down with an F-22 and reveal a very secret characteristic of it? Or use a very expensive SAM?