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Stefouch t1_j9xnpk0 wrote

Well, they probably would have spend this money on a routine exercise. But that day they had a real target to train!

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chipperlew t1_j9y6t69 wrote

Came here to say this. The missed sidewinder is probably the only cost. Those planes would have been flying anyway. Possibly even shooting expensive missiles at dummy targets.

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Only_Razzmatazz_4498 t1_j9ycbot wrote

And even the firing of an actual sidewinder is probably worth it to get operational data. I’m sure they have to do some of those from time to time to make sure the systems are working.

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chipperlew t1_j9ycqbg wrote

Also, the whole operation, including the miss costs about the same as a single cruise missile. No coincidence there.

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dontsheeple t1_ja1mroz wrote

Even the sidewinder was bought and paid for years ago. The stockpile will be used up by missions or training and the remaining will be decommissioned after a certain date. They will just order more to maintain the stockpile minimums.

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Siggi_pop t1_j9yl573 wrote

"Finally i get to fire a missile" is probably what the pilot was thinking. Otherwise just a boring day at the office.

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ramriot t1_j9ygsjb wrote

Yup, except the "real target" was quite probably a perfectly legal pico-baloon hobby project from the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade that had already circumnavigated the planet a number of times.

So sure, let's have the military do exercises & shoot up private property.

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