Obviously a lack of understanding of the technicalities of performing such a task. Top Ceiling of an F-22 is 65000 feet. Balloon is about 65-70000 feet. Material foreign to sensors of most rockets. The F-15 would not have been able to perform this task. The F-22 also has special sensors to read Emissions from the device and prevent detection. It could have been rigged to self detonate. We also don't want to expose our technical capabilities to the adversary so time was given to study the device while likely jamming it's communications. Passive intelligence.
@Ceinwyn I'm not sure what you are getting at. We are lucky that the F-22 has been enough of a deterrence to boast that it hadn't shot something down. And the F-35 is almost double the cost of the F-22 program and had more delays. And it couldn't accomplish the task either. Aircraft are designed for specific missions. We routinely are tested by Russia and China off the coast of Alaska. And the F-22 is still feared. The primary purpose of the F-22 and F-15EX are to down a nuclear missile carrying aircraft before they launch. They also can perform anti-satellite operations.
