During World War II, Japan was deterred from invading the U.S. mainland by a fear of American citizens with guns in their closets. Folklore credits Japan’s Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto as saying: “You cannot invade mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass.”
Our guns were a threat to invaders then, and our guns are deterrents still. But now we’re seeing a new form of invasion via air, as demonstrated by a series of Chinese aircraft. On February 2, 2023, a Chinese balloon was detected over Montana. While the U.S.government considered the best course of action, many would’ve been happy to see Yellowstone’s Yellowstone’s favorite fixer Rip Wheeler take that balloon to the “train station” and never hear from it again.
Downing an aircraft over land necessitates knowing where the debris will fall; this is very different from a berm or other backstop when using a firearm during training. When you’re using a kinetic device like the $400,000 AIM-9X Sidewinder missile that eventually brought that bloated “aircraft” down in the ocean, you need to know where all the debris will end up.
What’s the definition of an “aircraft,” and why would you care? Per the FAA’s Title 14, it’s a device used, or intended to be used, for flight in the
