Why These Badass Balloons Are the Pentagon's New Secret Weapon
Air-tracking laser beams, swarms of support drones, and total dominion at 70,000 feet.
By David Hambling
Nov 11, 2021
New long-range U.S. weapons will be able to hit tactical targets like missile bases and air-defense radar from a thousand miles away or more, but only if they have aerial scouts to pinpoint their targets. The U.S. military has used stealth drones as spies to this point, but now, experimental stratospheric balloons are becoming viable, capable alternatives that can go undetected by enemy air defenses. Balloons combine remote capabilities with stealth to perform missions impossible for other aircraft, and they’re graduating from tests and demonstrations to live military operations.
Near-space craft like stratospheric balloons lurk anywhere between 60,000 and 80,000 feet, far above normal aircraft flight paths. The balloons come in the tradition of those used for artillery spotting in the Civil War, but they’re so high-tech today that they are sometimes mistaken for UFOs. The Pentagon is advancing its balloon program to put better eyes on a post-Afghanistan world marked by near-peer threats in Russia and China, and locally, it’s possible balloons will surveil the drug trade and smuggling networks via their unique integrated sensors and communications.
Better than Satellites
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a38005873/pentagon-balloons-strattolite/
