Balloons have become a trend in world news, in the 21st century it seems strange that the military of different countries can engage in such an unusual activity as launching balloons.
Wolves new trend of war? These past few days, they only talked about them. In recent days, four wolves have been shot in North America, each of a different size and design. The Americans declared that the first downed balloon was Chinese, and said it was probably reconnaissance.
China has said that last year American balloons invaded China’s airspace more than 10 times, and that the downed balloon was probably a meteorological probe that went astray.
On February 12, the Ukrainian Air Force Command announced that Russia was launching balloons with so-called “corner reflectors” – metal structures in the form of octahedrons – designed to reflect the radar signal towards Ukraine.
For the Ukrainian military, these things have not been an unknown phenomenon. According to the official representative of the Ukrainian Air Force, Yuriy Ignat, these reflectors interfere with the operation of air defense, because they look like aircraft on radar screens.
On February 14, due to a weather balloon-like object, Moldova’s airspace was temporarily closed.
Why are balls necessary?
In an era where satellites surf the Earth’s orbits, it seems strange to invent something else to search for something on the surface of the earth that is perfectly visible from space.
Closer reconnaissance can be carried out using unmanned aerial vehicles and manned aircraft. Why invent others? There are many doubts about the advisability of using balloons.
A satellite, unlike a balloon, is difficult to shoot down with air defense systems. Today, only four countries can do so – the USA, China, India and Russia. But such an attack on an enemy spacecraft would cause international political complications.
It is possible to shoot down a drone, but heavy-class drones can “see” relatively far without endangering themselves by flying in the air defense coverage area, and light drones flying, for example , on the front line, has become a war. consumables.
The spacecraft flies in a certain trajectory, and is so high that it can study the surface in a very large plane, and the balloon moves below and at the command of the wind, which can blow in the right direction, or maybe the opposite. It is also not worth talking about a drone – it can fly on a complex trajectory under the control of an operator.
However, wolves have their own advantages that outweigh the disadvantages.
The ball is clearly visible in the air from a distance. But only for optical systems. On radar, such a ball, made of plastic, is almost invisible. Powerful ground-based radars will pick it up eventually, but it’s much more difficult to do so than spotting, say, an aircraft. Therefore, the balloon is more durable than it seems at first glance.
The second reason for the balloon’s survivability is that it cannot easily be shot down by a large object at a height of 30 kilometers. This requires a long-range anti-aircraft missile system.
However, most air defense systems, even in countries like the United States and Russia, are medium-range (the height of the Patriot PAK-2 missile is 25 kilometers), and if it does not go into the strike zone of a long -range anti-aircraft missile, then it has to be shot down by a special high-altitude interceptor fighter.
When intercepting one of the balloons in the United States, the Sidewinder missile of the F-16 fighter missed its target and exploded at an unknown location.
In this property, the balloon differs from an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, which, firstly, is clearly visible on the radar screen, and secondly, flies at a lower altitude.
A high altitude balloon flies due to the fact that it is lighter than air. They are filled with helium or hydrogen. Accordingly, he does not need to spend fuel to continue the flight. Such balloons can fly for days without falling.
The payload of the balloon VAL is 900 kilograms. This is a rather large balloon, but even with the various equipment – solar panels, control and communication systems – there is a large margin for photographic equipment and other sensors, because modern equipment is less the weight than in the past.
In the environment, the probe can collect information not only with the help of optical systems, but also by analyzing air samples, performing, for example, radiation reconnaissance.
Finally, the balloon has another advantage – it is relatively cheap. In any case, it is certainly not more expensive than the missile that can shoot it. And that means that making balloons is more economical than shooting them.
how to use
Exploration and surveillance have until recently been the primary occupation of probes.
However, the potential of such devices is great. The use of corner deflectors by Russian balloons in Ukraine is an example of how such aerial vehicles can be used.
Balloons with reflectors can be launched, for example, during a massive missile launch to overload or confuse the air defense system, which will be forced to make a large number of targets.
There was research in the US in the 1960s into using probes to drop various types of explosive devices, and it is possible that someone might want to try experimenting in this direction.
In any case, balloons are a relatively cheap method. Russia’s war against Ukraine has shown the effectiveness of cheap and unconventional solutions, and the frequency with which balloons have been mentioned in the news over the past week is that they are once again of military interest in various countries. .
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.