When regular F-22s were already used to shoot down Chinese spy balloons they employed AIM-9 missiles, which are cheaper than AIM-120. But there's no need to get particularly close: in fact for safety they want to remain well separated from the target and never get on a collision course.
But in general all of your comments here have been deeply uninformed about how this stuff actually works.
But in general all of your comments here have been deeply uninformed about how this stuff actually works.