New U.S. long-range weapons are capable of striking tactical targets such as missile bases and anti-aircraft radars a thousand miles or more away, but only if they have an aerial reconnaissance aircraft to pinpoint targets. The U.S. military has always used stealth drones as spies, but now, stratospheric "balloon weapons" in the U.S. Air Force experiment are becoming viable and capable alternatives that can be undetected by enemy air defense systems. "Balloon weapons" combine long-range capabilities and stealth capabilities to perform tasks that are impossible for other aircraft, and they are growing from tests and demonstrations, and the Pentagon said that in the near future "balloon weapons" will enter the scene of military operations.
Near-space vehicles such as stratospheric balloons can lurk anywhere at altitudes of 18,000 to 24,000 meters, well above the normal aircraft flight path. The balloons themselves have a tradition of observing shells during the American Civil War, but today they are so technologically advanced that they are sometimes mistaken for ufo by witnesses. And the Pentagon is advancing its "balloon weapons" program to better observe the "world order" of the post-Afghan era. On U.S. soil, "balloon weapons" may monitor drug trade and smuggling networks through their unique integrated sensors and communication systems.
British defence think tank RUSI analyst Justin Justin Bronk has said that there is a limit to how long reconnaissance aircraft (such as drones and balloons) can conduct reconnaissance in an area of interest. "Even with something like the Global Hawk, you can only fly over the area of interest for about 20 hours, and if they have to fly a long distance to get there for a mission, it may be less than 20 hours of monitoring time," he said. Balloon weapons "are the use of low-cost platforms that can monitor an area for several days at a time, which means that the military's intelligence gathering capabilities will be greatly improved."
Some say that surveillance satellites are not enough, although satellites fill some persistent gaps, but low-Earth orbit satellites 100-1200 miles away from the Earth's surface can only occasionally glimpse specific areas, while satellites in geostationary orbit ---- means that they move with the earth's rotation, stay in one position on the ground, and can only be used for strategic applications, such as observing the launch of ballistic missiles.
Balloon durability and load carrying capacity can help them cover pedestals that have been overlooked by aircraft. World View Enterprises, a private company that develops near-space technology for the Pentagon and NASA, refers to their balloons as "stratum meteorites." These giant pumpkin-shaped planes are up to 800,000 cubic feet tall. His surface can accommodate daylight and thermal cameras, radar, RF sensors, and solar panels.
And with newly developed sensors that can measure wind direction, and a design that can efficiently perform flight changes based on these readings, stratospheric "balloon weapons" can change altitude, capture the force of the wind, and stay in position for four days within 12 miles of a specified target. Admiral Ted, commander of the U.S. Southern Command, said: "We think 'balloon weapons' have the potential to be our game changer, which is a great, long-term, stable surveillance platform." ”。
In 1944, Japanese scientists first used intercontinental balloons for military purposes. Their "Fu-go" balloons carry 30,000-foot-tall incendiary bombs in an unsuccessful attempt to ignite a forest fire across the Pacific Northwest.
During the Cold War, a series of high-altitude balloons were projected into heights ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 feet. In 1956, the U.S. Air Force's genetic engineering released spy balloons disguised as weather balloons over the Soviet Union, which photographed top-secret facilities with downward-pointing cameras. This was the only way to observe the interior of the country before the advent of sputnik, but since unpowered balloons could only flutter with the wind, they collected very little useful information.
The solution to the balloon navigation puzzle is to enter the stratosphere, a less convective part of the atmosphere, where higher elevations coincide with higher temperatures. So with enough weather information, a balloon can go any desired direction by adjusting to the right height and riding the wind. Project Loon, run by Google's parent company Alphabet, developed this capability of stratospheric balloons in 2017. After Hurricane Maria in 2017, several of the balloons stayed over Puerto Rico in headwinds at different altitudes, providing internet access to 100,000 people.