04/12/23, 13:35 History of military ballooning - Wikipedia

History of military ballooning

Balloons and kites were the first inventions used in aerial warfare
and their primary role was observation. Balloons provided a
reliable and stable means of elevating an observer high over the
battlefield to obtain a birds-eye view of troop positions and
movements. An early instrument of aerial intelligence collection,
they were also useful for creating accurate battlefield maps, an
important ingredient for battlefield success. Incendiary balloons
also have a long history. The incendiary balloons carry hot air or
something that can catch fire to destroy enemy territory. They
could also hold small bombs for combat. The history of military
ballooning dates back to the late 18th century, when the
Montgolfier brothers, Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne, first
demonstrated the potential of hot-air balloons for military use.
The first recorded military use of balloons was during the French
Revolutionary Wars, when the French military used balloons to
gather intelligence on the movements of the enemy. Balloons were
also used during the American Civil War, where they were used L'Entreprenant at the Battle of
for reconnaissance and communication. Fleurus (1794)

In the late 19th century, military ballooning began to evolve, as

advances in technology allowed for the development of more sophisticated balloons and
equipment. Balloons were equipped with cameras, telegraphs, and other instruments that allowed
for more detailed and accurate reconnaissance and observation.

During World War I, military ballooning reached its peak of development, as balloons were used
extensively for reconnaissance and observation by both the Central powers and the Entente.
Balloons were used to spot enemy movements, direct artillery fire, and provide early warning of
enemy attacks. They also used for transporting goods, messages, and people across the battlefield.

After World War I, the use of military balloons declined, as aircraft and other technological
innovations made them less relevant. However, balloons were still used for some specialized
purposes, such as for meteorological observations and for training pilots. During the Cold War, the
United States sent hundreds of high-altitude balloons over Eastern Bloc countries to gather
intelligence on their nuclear capabilities, before replacing them with its newer spy planes.

Today, military ballooning is not widely used, as other technologies such as drones and satellite
have taken over its main roles.

Kongming lantern
Kongming lanterns were used as military signalling. The lantern was invented in the late Han
dynasty, when Han dynasty chancellor Zhuge Liang (Kongming) was surrounded by Wei dynasty
General Sima Yi at Pinlo, Sichuan. Zhuge Liang used paper-made "lanterns," or hot air balloons, to
signal the rescue forces. The Kongming lantern became a common military signal in China. The
Mongolian army studied Kongming lanterns from China and used them in the Battle of Legnica

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_military_ballooning 1/11
04/12/23, 13:35 History of military ballooning - Wikipedia

during the Mongol invasion of Poland.[1]

This is the first time ballooning was known in the western
world. Flying the Kongming lantern is now a civilian festival of memorizing chancellor Zhuge
Liang in the Lantern Festival.

Early Western balloons

Early French balloons

The first successfully flown balloons were made in France by

France 1870 Siege of Paris, Hot Air
Balloon Le Washington, obverse
the Montgolfier brothers in 1782–1783. They were rigid-style
spheres made of cotton or silk stretched over a simple light
wood frame resembling a large egg. These rigid balloons were
held up over a fire so that the smoke billowed well into the
cavity of the sphere. It was thought that the smoke made the
balloons rise, but actually it was the hot air of the smoke that
caused the elevating. The first decisive use of a balloon for
aerial warfare was performed by the French Aerostatic Corps
using the aerostat l’Entreprenant ("The enterprising one") at
the Battle of Fleurus in 1794. The following year, during the
Siege of Mainz an observation balloon was employed again.
However, the French military use of the balloon did not
continue uninterrupted, as in 1799 Napoleon disbanded the
French balloon corps.[2]

In 1804, Napoleon
considered invading
England by landing troops
transported by balloons. He
consulted his 'Aeronaut of
Official Festivals', Sophie
Blanchard, about whether
invading England by
balloon was viable. She told
Balloons escaped from the Siege of
him that the invasion would Paris (1870–1871)
likely not succeed due to
The reverse of this token. Eugène the unpredictable winds in
Godard was the balloonist of the Le the English Channel.[3]
Washington on 12 December 1870
In 1854, French aeronaut Eugène Godard performed several
manned balloon demonstrations at the wedding of Austrian
Emperor Franz Joseph I. The Emperor was so impressed that he drafted an agreement with the
Godard stating that in the event of a war, he would build balloons, organize balloonists companies,
and perform observation ascents for the Austrian military. However, in 1859 the French went to
war against the Austrians, and Godard's observation balloons were used instead by French forces,
contributing to a victory for Napoleon III over Franz Joseph. Godard's aerial reconnaissance
balloons were again employed by the French in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War and the
Siege of Paris.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_military_ballooning 2/11
04/12/23, 13:35 History of military ballooning - Wikipedia

During the 1900 Boxer Rebellion in China, the French forces did bring a balloon with them,
although there is no record of it ever having been deployed.

Austrian use at Venice in 1849

The first aggressive use of balloons in warfare took place in 1849.[4][5] Austrian imperial forces
besieging Venice attempted to float some 200 paper hot air balloons each carrying a 24–30-pound
(11–14 kg) bomb that was to be dropped from the balloon with a time fuse over the besieged city.
The balloons were launched mainly from land; however, some were also launched from the side-
wheel steamer SMS Vulcano that acted as a balloon carrier. The Austrians used smaller pilot
balloons to determine the correct fuse settings. At least one bomb fell in the city; however, due to
the wind changing after launch, most of the balloons missed their target, and some drifted back
over Austrian lines and the launching ship Vulcano.[6][7][8]

Balloons in the American Civil War

With the outbreak of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln did consider the
possibility of an air-war mechanism. This had some of the top balloonists in the country vying for
position as chief aeronaut of a would-be aeronautics division. The scientific community as well
showed great support in influencing Washington to consider the use of balloons. Eventually it was
Prof. Thaddeus S. C. Lowe who would be awarded the title Chief Aeronaut of the Union Army
Balloon Corps.

The first major-scale use of balloons in the military occurred during the Civil War with the Union
Army Balloon Corps established and organized by Prof. Thaddeus S. C. Lowe. Originally, the
balloons were inflated with coal gas from municipal services and then walked out to the battlefield,
an arduous and inefficient operation as the balloons had to be returned to the city every four days
for re-inflation. Eventually hydrogen gas generators, a compact system of tanks and copper
plumbing, were constructed which converted the combining of iron filings and sulfuric acid to
hydrogen. The generators were easily transported with the uninflated balloons to the field on a
standard buckboard. However, this method shortened the life of the balloons, because traces of the
sulfuric acid often entered the balloons along with the hydrogen.[9] In all, Lowe built seven
balloons that were fit for military service.

The first application thought useful for balloons was map-making from aerial vantage points, thus
Lowe's first assignment was with the Corps of Topographical Engineers. General Irvin McDowell,
commander of the Army of the Potomac, realized their value in aerial reconnaissance and had
Lowe, who at the time was using his personal balloon the Enterprise, called up to the First Battle of
Bull Run. Lowe also worked as a Forward Artillery Observer (FAO) by directing artillery fire via
flag signals. This enabled gunners on the ground to fire accurately at targets they could not see, a
military first.

Lowe's first military balloon, the Eagle was ready by 1 October 1861. It was called into service
immediately to be towed to Lewinsville, Virginia, without any gas generator which took longer to
build. The trip began after inflation in Washington, D.C. and turned into a 12 mile (19 km), 12-hour
excursion that was upended by a gale-force wind which ripped the aerostat from its netting and
sent it sailing to the coast. Balloon activities were suspended until all balloons and gas generators
were completed.

With his ability to inflate balloons from remote stations, Lowe, his new balloon the Washington
and two gas generators were loaded onto a converted coal barge the George Washington Parke
Custis. As he was towed down the Potomac, Lowe was able to ascend and observe the battlefield as

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_military_ballooning 3/11
04/12/23, 13:35 History of military ballooning - Wikipedia

it moved inward on the heavily forested peninsula. This would be the military's first claim of an
aircraft carrier.

The Union Army Balloon Corps enjoyed more success in the battles of the Peninsula Campaign
than the Army of the Potomac it sought to support. The general military attitude toward the use of
balloons deteriorated, and by August 1863 the Balloon Corps was disbanded.

The Confederate Army also made use of balloons, but they were gravely hampered by supplies due
to the embargoes. They were forced to fashion their balloons from colored silk dress-making
material, and their use was limited by the infrequent supply of gas in Richmond, Virginia. The first
balloon "pilot" in the Confederate "air force" was Edward Porter Alexander.[10] By the summer of
1863, all balloon reconnaissance of the Civil War had ceased.

First balloon assignments

The first assignment for tethered military balloons was given to

the Union Army's Corps of Topographical Engineers for
mapmaking, and observation of enemy troops as early as 1850. Up
until that point, maps were made from ground level perspectives
and their innate inaccuracy led to many a battlefield failure. The
aerial perspective ostensibly improved mapmaking, especially
when combined with the use of photography.

General Irvin McDowell, commander of the Army of the Potomac,

called on the balloon to perform aerial observations of enemy
encampments and movements in the First Battle of Bull Run.
With Lowe's techniques proven to the top commanders, he was
eventually tasked to build seven balloons and a series of hydrogen
gas generators to inflate them in the battlefield. Even though
Thaddeus Lowe was Chief Aeronaut, his bitter rival John La
Mountain is credited with having made the first aerial
Intrepid being cross-inflated from
observations of intelligence value while stationed independently
Constitution in a mad-dash
at Fortress Monroe. attempt to get the larger balloon
in the air to overlook the
The balloon, under flight direction of Prof. Lowe, was also used to
imminent Battle of Fair Oaks.
direct artillery fire from an unseen location onto a Confederate
encampment. The balloon, Eagle, was ascended with tether and
telegraph from Fort Corcoran north of Falls Church, Virginia.
(The use of a telegraph to a balloon was previously successfully tested by Lowe on June 18,
1861.[11]) An artillery battery was located at the easterly Camp Advance. With a series of
predetermined flag signals, Lowe directed fire onto the Rebel encampment until the shots were
landing on target. This first-used concept was the predecessor to the Forward Artillery Observer
(FAO) and revolutionized the use of artillery even to modern day.

Prof. Lowe was once approached by the young Graf Ferdinand von Zeppelin in 1863, who was at
the time acting as a then-civilian observer for the Union Army, about possibly serving as an aerial
observer with Lowe, but this was forbidden by Union military authorities during the Civil War
years, due to von Zeppelin's then-civilian status. The future rigid airship pioneer was instead
directed to the camp of John Steiner, a German aeronaut already in the United States, to get his
first flight experience in a balloon, which von Zeppelin was able to do at a slightly later time while
he still was in the US.

The first aircraft carrier

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_military_ballooning 4/11
04/12/23, 13:35 History of military ballooning - Wikipedia

Balloons and generators were loaded onto the USS George Washington Parke Custis, a converted
coal barge. The balloons were towed down the Potomac River and were able to ascend and make
observations of the battle front as it moved toward Richmond. On November 11, 1861, Lowe made
the first observations from a balloon based from a ship. This is the first ever recorded observation
from an aerial station by water, essentially the first-ever aircraft carrier (balloon tender).

Lowe went on to make observations at Fair Oaks, Sharpsburg, Vicksburg and Fredericksburg
before political ambush both from within the military and in Congress forced him to resign in April
1863 at which point he returned to the private sector. The Balloon Corps all but ceased to exist by
August 1863.

Confederate ballooning

The Confederates tried their hand at ballooning as well, more only to counter the balloons of the
Federals. One type of balloon was a Montgolfier style of a rigid, cotton, “hot smoke” balloon. The
attempts worked, but their handling techniques were poor at best and the balloon was easily lost
and captured by the North.

Another style is referred to as the “silk dress balloon,” aerostat envelopes made of multicolored
dress making silk (not actually silk dresses) which, when gas was available, were used effectively
over Richmond. Again, these were easily lost, destroyed or captured, and the lack of supply made it
impossible to replace them. They were relieved when the Union Army had discontinued the use of
balloons.

The Confederate Balloon Corps also made use of an aircraft carrier, the CSS Teaser. The Teaser
transported and launched one of the Confederate balloons to several observation positions before
being captured by the Union Navy in July 1862.

Paraguayan War

On 6 July 1867, during the Paraguayan War, observation balloons were used by Brazil, assisted by
the Allen brothers, James and Ezra, after their aerial intelligence pioneering for the Union
army.[12]

British ballooning

Between 1862 and 1871 efforts by two Royal Engineers officers, were made to catch the attention of
senior British officers to the potential use of balloons. In July 1863 experimental balloon ascents
for reconnaissance purposes were conducted by the Royal Engineers on behalf of the British Army,
but although the experiments were successful it was considered not worth pursuing further
because it was too expensive. However, by 1878 a Balloon Equipment Store was established at
Woolwich by the Royal Engineers.[13] By this time the limitations imposed by the need to produce
hydrogen in the field by some portable apparatus and finding a suitable material for the envelope
of a war balloon had been resolved.

In 1888 a School of Ballooning was established at Chatham, Medway, Kent. It moved to Stanhope
Lines, Aldershot in 1890 when a balloon section and depot were formed as permanent units of the
Royal Engineers establishment.[14]

Balloons were first deployed by the British Army during the expeditions to Bechuanaland and
Suakin in 1885.[15] They were also deployed during the Second Boer War (1899–1902), where they
were used in artillery observation with the Kimberley column and during the Siege of
Ladysmith.[16][17][18][19]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_military_ballooning 5/11
04/12/23, 13:35 History of military ballooning - Wikipedia

On October 5, 1907, Colonel John Capper (late Royal Engineers) and team flew the military airship
Nulli Secundus from Farnborough around St. Paul's Cathedral in London and back with a view to
raising public interest.[20]

World War I
World War I was the high point for the military use of
observation balloons, which were extensively deployed by both
sides. The British, despite their experience in late 1800s Africa,
were behind developments and were still using spherical
balloons. These were quickly replaced by versions, commonly
referred to as kite balloons, which were flyable and could
operate in more extreme weather conditions; at first the
German Parseval-Siegsfeld type balloon, and then French
German observation balloon
Caquot type dirigible. By World War I, artillery had developed launching at Équancourt in the
to the point where it was capable of engaging targets beyond Somme (22 September 1916)
the visual range of a ground-based observer. Positioning
artillery observers on balloons, generally a few miles behind the
front lines and at altitude, allowed them to see targets at
greater range than they could on the ground. This allowed the
artillery to take advantage of its increased range.[21]

Because of their importance as observation platforms, balloons

were defended by anti-aircraft guns, groups of machine guns
for low altitude defence, and patrolling fighter aircraft.
Attacking a balloon was a risky venture but some pilots relished
the challenge. The most successful were known as balloon
busters, including such notables as Belgium's Willy Coppens,
German war plane brings down a
Germany's Friedrich Ritter von Röth, America's Frank Luke, tethered kite balloon (1918)
and the Frenchmen Léon Bourjade, Michel Coiffard and
Maurice Boyau. Many expert balloon busters were careful not
to go below 1,000 feet (300 m) in order to avoid exposure to
anti-aircraft guns and machine-guns.

World War I observation crews were the first to use parachutes,

long before they were adopted by fixed wing aircrews. These
were a primitive type, where the main part was in a bag
suspended from the balloon, with the pilot only wearing a
simple body harness around his waist, with lines from the
harness attached to the main parachute in the bag. When the
balloonist jumped, the main part of the parachute was pulled German Balloon Corps, 1910
from the bag, with the shroud lines first, followed by the main
canopy. This type of parachute was first adopted by the
Germans and then later by the British and French for their
observation balloon crews.[21]

Observation balloons began to be used at sea for anti-

submarine purposes towards the end of World War I.[22]

Prussian Balloon Corps Barracks at

Tegel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_military_ballooning 6/11
04/12/23, 13:35 History of military ballooning - Wikipedia

The idiom "The balloon's going up!" as an expression for impending battle is derived from the very
fact that an observation balloon's ascent likely signaled a preparatory bombardment for an
offensive.[23]

World War II
Barrage balloons, widely known as "blimps," were used by the United Kingdom to intercept air
attacks by German bombers and V-1 cruise missiles.

Japan used recently discovered high-altitude air currents to send fire balloons (or Fu-Go balloon
bomb) carrying explosive payloads to the United States. About 300 made it across the Pacific,
causing some property damage and at least six deaths. The US government called for a press
blackout on all balloon incidents, fearing what might happen if the Japanese started using fu-go to
deliver biological weapons.

Britain used free balloons in a number of ways including Operation Outward which launched
nearly 100,000 small balloons to drop incendiaries on German occupied Europe or to trail wires to
short out electrical distribution cables.

Balloons also were used at sea, particularly by the US Navy for anti-submarine work.[24]

The Red Army of the Soviet Union used Observation Balloons for artillery spotting. 8 "Aeronautical
Sections" existed and 19,985 observation flights were performed by balloonists of the Red Army
during the war, clocking up 20,126 flight hours. 110 Soviet Observation Balloons were lost.

Postwar
The US military developed high-altitude ballooning programs
for nuclear detection and surveillance, such as Project Mogul
(linked to the Roswell Incident), Project Genetrix and Project
Moby Dick. They also worked on the E77 balloon bomb,
refining the principles of the Japanese fire balloon explosive-
delivery system.

Genetrix in particular was a program run by the U.S. Air Force,

Navy, and the Central Intelligence Agency during the 1950s.[25] Observation balloon over
Disguised as meteorological research, it launched hundreds of Afghanistan, 2011
surveillance balloons that flew over China, Eastern Europe, and
the Soviet Union to take photographs and collect intelligence.
Manufactured by the aeronautical division of General Mills,[26][27] the balloons were about 20
stories tall, carried cameras and other electronic equipment, and reached altitudes ranging from
30,000 to over 60,000 feet, well above the reach of any contemporary fighter plane.[28][29] Many
were blown off course or shot down by Soviet air defenses. The overflights also drew protests from
the target countries, while the United States defended its action.[30] To increase effectiveness and
minimize diplomatic blowback, it replaced the balloons with the newly developed U-2
reconnaissance plane, which was believed to be more difficult to detect.[29]

Also during the 1950s the Fulton surface-to-air recovery system (STARS) was developed for
retrieving individuals from the ground using aircraft. It used an overall-type harness and a self-
inflating balloon with an attached lift line.[31]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_military_ballooning 7/11
04/12/23, 13:35 History of military ballooning - Wikipedia

Since 1996, the United States has invested over $2 billion in Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile
Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System or JLENS, which built aerostats to track low-altitude
targets. The project received attention for its balloons accidentally untethering from their
moorings and the influence of industry lobbyists in keeping it alive.[32][33]

Aerostats have been used by US and coalition military forces in Iraq and in Afghanistan.[34]

In 2019, the United States Southern Command commissioned surveillance tests using 25 balloons
made by Raven Industries across six states.[35] Funded under project COLD STAR (Covert Long-
Dwell Stratospheric Architecture) by the Pentagon, the balloons are stealthy, navigate using AI,
and can harvest complex data. Initially created to locate narcotic traffickers, they were later
transitioned into military service.[36] Tom Karako, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies, said the balloons can serve as communication and datalink nodes, as trucks
for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) to track airborne targets, and as platforms
for various weapons.[35]

Around the same time, DARPA and several defense contractors were working on the Adaptable
Lighter-Than-Air (ALTA) program,[37] which aimed to make stratospheric balloon navigation more
precise and reliable using doppler laser. The mature technology was transferred to the U.S.
military in 2019.[36]

Other similar prototypes have been in development in China and the United States.[38][39]

In 2023, suspected surveillance balloons from China reportedly drifted off-course across North
and Central America.[40]

During its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russia launched balloons with corner reflectors to exhaust
Ukrainian air defenses.[41]

See also
Aerial warfare
History of aerial warfare
Balloon (aeronautics)
Balloon propaganda campaigns in Korea
Barrage balloon
Fort Omaha Balloon School – home of World War I training program
Incendiary balloon – history of balloon bombs launched by Japan against the United States in
World War II
Observation balloon
Operation Outward – British World War II programme to attack Germany by means of free-
flying balloons
Roswell incident - A military balloon crash that was claimed by the army to be a conventional
weather balloon, gave rise to conspiracy theories of a flying saucer
Thaddeus S. C. Lowe – father of military aerial reconnaissance in the United States
Union Army Balloon Corps
2023 Chinese balloon incident

References
1. Joseph Needham (1965). Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical
Technology, Part 2, Mechanical Engineering; rpr. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_military_ballooning 8/11
04/12/23, 13:35 History of military ballooning - Wikipedia

2. Joubert de la Ferté, Sir Philip (1955). The Third Service. London: Thames and Hudson. p. 1.
3. Scurr, Ruth (2022). Napoleon: A Life in Gardens and Shadows. Vintage. p. 152-53.
4. Air Power in the Age of Total War (https://books.google.com/books?id=YSSPAgAAQBAJ&pg=P
T43), John Buckley
5. The Future of Drone Use: Opportunities and Threats from Ethical and Legal Perspectives (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=WytEDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA355), Asser Press - Springer,
chapter by Alan McKenna, page 355
6. Military Aircraft, Origins to 1918: An Illustrated History of Their Impact (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=7pS1QpH8FRgC&pg=PA9), Justin D. Murphy, page 9–10
7. Military Ballooning During the Early Civil War (https://archive.org/details/militaryballooni00hayd/
page/17), The Johns Hopkins University Press, F. Stansbury Haydon, page 18–20
8. Mikesh, Robert C. "Japan's World War II balloon bomb attacks on North America." (1973). (http
s://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/18679/SAoF-0009-Lo_res.pdf)
9. "Encyclopedia of War Machines" edited by Daniel Bowen.
10. Michael R. Bradley, It Happened in the Civil War (2002; rev. 2010) pp. 22.
11. Appletons' annual cyclopaedia and register of important events of the year: 1862 (https://archiv
e.org/stream/1862appletonsan02newyuoft#page/n191/mode/1up). New York: D. Appleton &
Company. 1863. p. 184.
12. Joubert de la Ferté, Sir Philip (1955). The Third Service. London: Thames and Hudson. p. 2.
13. Fitzgerald, W. G. (July 1905). "War Balloons of To-Day" (https://books.google.com/books?id=2
W4AAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA749). The World To-Day. Chicago, IL: The World To-Day Company. IX
(7): 740–756. Retrieved Jun 2, 2012.
14. Porter, Whitworth (1889). History of the Corps of Royal Engineers (https://books.google.com/bo
oks?id=8mMFAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA189). Vol. II. London: Longmans, Green and Company.
pp. 189–195. Retrieved 2012-06-02.
15. Hearne, R. P. (1909). Aerial Warfare (https://books.google.com/books?id=2plBAAAAYAAJ&pg=
PA60). London: John Lane. p. 60. Retrieved 2012-06-02.
16. Williams, Oakley (January 1908). "The Airship as a Destroyer" (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=kPnNAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA111). The Pall Mall Magazine. London. XLI (177): 111–119.
Retrieved Jun 2, 2012.
17. "How the British Hope to Prevent Majuba Hill Disasters in the Transvaal: Will Attack the Lurking
Boers with Dynamite Shells Dropped by Their Balloon Corps" (https://news.google.com/newsp
apers?nid=1913&dat=18991014&id=6sggAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gGoFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4149,213027
3), Lewiston Evening Journal, p. 2, October 14, 1899, retrieved 2012-06-02
18. "Colonel Baden-Powell and His Military Kites" (https://books.google.com/books?id=IGEwAQAA
MAAJ&pg=PA41). Collier's Weekly. New York, NY. 24 (9): 15. December 2, 1899. Retrieved
Jun 2, 2012.
19. Walsh, George Ethelbert (March 1900). "War Mechanism in South Africa" (https://books.googl
e.com/books?id=F5EEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA355). Cassier's Magazine. New York, NY: The
Cassier Magazine Company. XVII (5): 315–364. Retrieved Jun 2, 2012.
20. Raleigh, Walter (1922). The War in the Air (https://books.google.com/books?id=ud9mAAAAMA
AJ&pg=PA157). Vol. I. Oxford: The Clarendon Press. pp. 157–158. Retrieved 2012-06-02.
21. "Observation Balloons On The Western Front" (https://web.archive.org/web/20101202223810/h
ttp://www.westernfrontassociation.com/great-war-on-land/73-weapons-equipment-uniforms/313
-ob-bal-west.html). The Western Front Association. 29 June 2008. Archived from the original (h
ttp://www.westernfrontassociation.com/great-war-on-land/73-weapons-equipment-uniforms/313
-ob-bal-west.html) on 2 December 2010. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
22. "Kite Balloons in Escorts" (https://web.archive.org/web/20131209174043/http://www.history.nav
y.mil/library/online/onipubno46.htm). Naval History and Heritage Command. Archived from the
original (http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/onipubno46.htm) on 2013-12-09. Retrieved
2014-11-06.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_military_ballooning 9/11
04/12/23, 13:35 History of military ballooning - Wikipedia

23. "What Is the Origin of the Saying "Once the Balloon Has Gone Up"?" (http://www.grammar-mo
nster.com/sayings_proverbs/balloon_has_gone_up.htm). Grammar Monster.
24. "K-Ships Across the Atlantic" (https://web.archive.org/web/20150217071129/http://naval-airship
s.org/resources/documents/NAN_vol93_no2_KShips_feature.pdf) (PDF). Naval Aviation News.
93: 20–23. Spring 2011. Archived from the original (http://www.naval-airships.org/resources/do
cuments/NAN_vol93_no2_KShips_feature.pdf) (PDF) on 2015-02-17. Retrieved 2014-11-06.
25. Huntington, Tom (2023-02-03). "Spying with Balloons? It's Been Done Before" (https://www.hist
orynet.com/balloon-spies/). HistoryNet.
26. Goodsell, Suzy. The “daddy” of the balloon industry (http://www.blog.generalmills.com/2011/08/
the-daddy-of-the-balloon-industry/), General Mills blog website, August 4, 2011.
27. Final Report: Project 85012, Report No. 1227 (https://web.archive.org/web/20130709015146/ht
tp://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=AD0019116), General Mills, Inc, Mechanical Division,
Engineering Research & Development Department, September 4, 1953.
28. Abel, Elie (1956-02-08). "Dulles hints U.S. will try to curb balloon flights". The New York Times.
pp. 1, 11. "The balloons operate between altitudes of 30,000 and 50,000 feet. International law
is obscure on the question of who owns the upper air. I don't know how high a balloon has to
go before you get out of bounds of sovereignty. Communist China ... charged tonight that the
United States was sending military reconnaissance balloons over its territory."
29. Burnett, Maurice G. (2012). Hexagon (KH-9) Mapping Camera Program and Evolution (https://
books.google.com/books?id=7Z_ixgEACAAJ). United States of America: Center for the Study
of National Reconnaissance. ISBN 978-1-937219-08-6. "The program, code name GENETRIX,
called for light-weight plastic balloons carrying optical cameras and electronic equipment to be
floated across the U.S.S.R. ... capable of remaining above 60,000 feet ... The cover story ...
stated that the project was part of a worldwide meteorological survey. 512 vehicles were
launched."
30. Schwarz, Jon (2023-02-07). "U.S. Sent "Weather" Balloons to Spy on China and the Soviet
Union in the 1950s" (https://theintercept.com/2023/02/07/china-balloon-soviet-union/). The
Intercept. "Asked if the United States feels that they have the right to send these balloons at a
certain height anywhere around the globe, Dulles answered, Yes, I think that we feel that way."
31. "Robert Fultons Skyhook and Operation Coldfeet" (https://www.cia.gov/resources/csi/studies-in
-intelligence/archives/vol-38-no-5/robert-fultons-skyhook-and-operation-coldfeet/). Center for
the Study of Intelligence. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
32. Wright, Austin (2015-10-28). "How the Army's $3 billion spy blimp went from boondoggle to
laughingstock" (https://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/defense-blimp-flying-loose-215272).
POLITICO.
33. Grazier, Dan (2015-11-19). "The JLENS: A Soaring Beacon for Military Reform" (https://www.po
go.org/analysis/2015/11/jlens-soaring-beacon-for-military-reform). Project On Government
Oversight.
34. "High-Tech Balloon to Help Forces Keep Watch" (https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/cont
ent/article/2009/08/19/AR2009081903712.html). The Washington Post. 20 August 2009.
35. Hudson, Lee (2022-07-05). "U.S. military's newest weapon against China and Russia: Hot air"
(https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/05/u-s-militarys-newest-weapon-against-china-and-rus
sia-hot-air-00043860). POLITICO.
36. Hambling, David (2023-02-06). "America Is Developing Its Own Spy Balloons. Here's Why
They're So Useful" (https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a38005873/pentagon-
balloons-strattolite/). Popular Mechanics.
37. Harris, Mark (2019-08-02). "Pentagon testing mass surveillance balloons across the US" (http
s://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/02/pentagon-balloons-surveillance-midwest). The
Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0261-3077).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_military_ballooning 10/11
04/12/23, 13:35 History of military ballooning - Wikipedia

38. Barnes, Julian E.; Wong, Edward; Cooper, Helene; Buckley, Chris (2023-02-08). "China Sends
Spy Balloons Over Military Sites Worldwide, U.S. Officials Say" (https://www.nytimes.com/202
3/02/08/us/politics/china-spy-balloons.html). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 (https://ww
w.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved 2023-02-23.
39. Hitchens, Theresa (July 28, 2022). "Way up in the air: World View looks to expand customer
base for its 'Stratollite' balloon" (https://breakingdefense.sites.breakingmedia.com/2022/07/way
-up-in-the-air-world-view-looks-to-expand-customer-base-for-its-stratollite-balloon/).
40. "Covid in China: Officials say current wave is 'coming to an end' " (https://www.bbc.com/news/w
orld-asia-china-64449226). BBC News. 2023-01-30. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
41. Tiwari, Sakshi (2023-02-13). "Russia Is Launching 'Military Balloons' With Corner Reflectors
Into Ukraine To Exhaust Its Air Defenses – Kyiv" (https://eurasiantimes.com/russia-is-launching
-balloons-with-corner-reflectors-into-ukraine/). The Eurasian Times.

External links
Royal Engineers Museum (https://web.archive.org/web/20070222132627/http://www.remuseu
m.org.uk/specialism/rem_spec_aero.htm) Royal Engineers and Aeronautics
Royal Engineers Museum (http://www.remuseum.org.uk/corpshistory/rem_corps_part8.htm#eq
uip) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20070118124520/http://www.remuseum.org.uk/corp
shistory/rem_corps_part8.htm#equip) 2007-01-18 at the Wayback Machine Early British
Military Ballooning (1863)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_military_ballooning&oldid=1186274890"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_military_ballooning 11/11