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ΔιαχειριστήςAdmin- Αριθμός μηνυμάτων : 26412
Ημερομηνία εγγραφής : 29/10/2010 
A history of spy balloons: From the French revolutionary wars to the China incident over the U.S.
6/2/2023, 13:07
Using surveillance balloons to gather intelligence is not rare or new.
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Khaya Himmelman
Reporter
February 4, 2023
News broke that a Chinese surveillance balloon was floating over the United States, something the Pentagon first confirmed on Thursday. A U.S. fighter aircraft shot down the balloon on Saturday off the coast of South Carolina. President Biden told reporters he ordered the ballon shot down on Wednesday but was advised to wait to do so until it was over water.
The balloon has gotten quite a bit of media attention, but spy balloons used as a means to gather intelligence is not new and definitely not rare. Surveillance balloons have been a part of military strategy all the way back to the 18th century for both domestic and international spying. And they have created a niche for themselves as a permanent part of military must-haves when it comes to surveillance.
Their staying power makes sense the more you know about them. While they aren’t fast or able to go incognito, they cost less than satellites, can travel above commercial air traffic and don’t require refueling.
Going back all the way to the French Revolutionary Wars through to today, balloons have been used by countries to drop in places they aren’t wanted — so officials can get the information they aren’t officially supposed to have. Here’s a look at the backstory of surveillance balloons.
The first recorded use of balloons for military purposes dates back to 1794, according to the National Park Service, during the French Revolutionary Wars. The French Committee on Public Safety used the balloons as part of the Corps d’ Aerostiers (translation: company of aeronauts) for military observation. The first aerial surveillance experiment took place during the Battle of Fleurus against the British, German and Dutch. France won.
The Corps d’ Aerostiers continued to be an integral part of the French military until it disbanded four years later.
The U.S. eventually caught on to balloons as a useful spy tool and put them to use during the American Civil War almost 60 years later.
Military balloons deployed during this Civil War could reach elevations of 1000 feet. Their U.S. debut can be traced back to Thaddeus Lowe, a scientist and inventor who by the 1850s was known for building balloons. He sold President Abraham Lincoln on their use in 1861. (The Confederate army used military balloons too, albeit less successfully than the Union army.)
Although Confederate soldiers attempted to shoot down his balloons, they were unsuccessful. In fact, none of Lowe’s seven military balloons were destroyed during combat, according to the Galactic Gazette at the time. Lowe also invented a portable hydrogen gas generator to make sure that his balloons weren’t reliant on city gas.
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UNITED STATES — CIRCA 1865: Professor Lowe's military balloon near Gaines Mill, Virginia (Photo by Buyenlarge/Getty Images) (Buyenlarge/Getty Images)
Lowe’s U.S. Balloon Corp. disbanded in 1863 due to bureaucratic issues following a change in military leadership, but the use of military surveillance balloonists persisted in almost every war until the end of the 19th century.
Most combatants during the First World War used balloons to spy on enemy troops. Enemy spy balloons were so effective that they became a major target for air forces.
As part of the war effort, scientists and engineers focused some of their energy on advancing military balloon technology — making them larger and more powerful.
Dirigible balloons, developed before World War I but introduced at this time, rose at average altitudes of 1200 to 1800 meters and were powered by engines and steered with propellers, according to reporting from the National WWI Museum and Memorial.
Unlike other balloons that were moved by the wind, dirigible balloons were motorized and enormous at almost 600-700 feet long. One of the advantages of this type of balloon was that because of its significant size, it moved slowly, which meant that it could stay in one place (over land or sea) for a long time. It also could carry a crew of balloonists (people who fly in a balloon), machine guns and two tons of bombs, noted the National WWI Museum and Memorial.
The Second World War saw the rise of barrage balloons — large but typically smaller than dirigible balloons, tethered to the ground with a cable used as an [url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/museum-acquires-item-related-first-african-american-unit-normandy#:~:text=Barrage balloons were an effective,low%2Dlevel strafing or bombing.]anti-aircraft measure[/url]. They were generally considered defensive in nature and used to counter barrages of incoming enemy aircrafts.
These balloons forced enemy aircrafts to fly higher, which made their low-level bombing attacks less effective, according to [url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/museum-acquires-item-related-first-african-american-unit-normandy#:~:text=Barrage balloons were an effective,low%2Dlevel strafing or bombing.]The National WWII Musuem[/url].
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Photograph of a German soldier parachuting from an observation balloon that was damaged by enemy fire. Dated 20th century. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) (Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty)
It’s worth noting, too, that barrage balloons could reach a height of 14,764 feet and sometimes had explosive charges attached to the cables, which could destroy the enemy aircraft.
But, toward the end of the war, these balloons became targets of German high-altitude bombers and therefore less effective.
Khaya Himmelman
Reporter
February 4, 2023
News broke that a Chinese surveillance balloon was floating over the United States, something the Pentagon first confirmed on Thursday. A U.S. fighter aircraft shot down the balloon on Saturday off the coast of South Carolina. President Biden told reporters he ordered the ballon shot down on Wednesday but was advised to wait to do so until it was over water.
The balloon has gotten quite a bit of media attention, but spy balloons used as a means to gather intelligence is not new and definitely not rare. Surveillance balloons have been a part of military strategy all the way back to the 18th century for both domestic and international spying. And they have created a niche for themselves as a permanent part of military must-haves when it comes to surveillance.
Their staying power makes sense the more you know about them. While they aren’t fast or able to go incognito, they cost less than satellites, can travel above commercial air traffic and don’t require refueling.
Going back all the way to the French Revolutionary Wars through to today, balloons have been used by countries to drop in places they aren’t wanted — so officials can get the information they aren’t officially supposed to have. Here’s a look at the backstory of surveillance balloons.
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A French start to what is now an international phenomenon
The first recorded use of balloons for military purposes dates back to 1794, according to the National Park Service, during the French Revolutionary Wars. The French Committee on Public Safety used the balloons as part of the Corps d’ Aerostiers (translation: company of aeronauts) for military observation. The first aerial surveillance experiment took place during the Battle of Fleurus against the British, German and Dutch. France won.
The Corps d’ Aerostiers continued to be an integral part of the French military until it disbanded four years later.
The U.S. eventually caught on to balloons as a useful spy tool and put them to use during the American Civil War almost 60 years later.
In the U.S. Civil War, a balloon corps is born
Military balloons deployed during this Civil War could reach elevations of 1000 feet. Their U.S. debut can be traced back to Thaddeus Lowe, a scientist and inventor who by the 1850s was known for building balloons. He sold President Abraham Lincoln on their use in 1861. (The Confederate army used military balloons too, albeit less successfully than the Union army.)
Although Confederate soldiers attempted to shoot down his balloons, they were unsuccessful. In fact, none of Lowe’s seven military balloons were destroyed during combat, according to the Galactic Gazette at the time. Lowe also invented a portable hydrogen gas generator to make sure that his balloons weren’t reliant on city gas.
Civil War balloonists communicated with military officials via telegraph or signal flags, but it didn’t always work. Various logistics often hampered communications.
UNITED STATES — CIRCA 1865: Professor Lowe's military balloon near Gaines Mill, Virginia (Photo by Buyenlarge/Getty Images) (Buyenlarge/Getty Images)
Lowe’s U.S. Balloon Corp. disbanded in 1863 due to bureaucratic issues following a change in military leadership, but the use of military surveillance balloonists persisted in almost every war until the end of the 19th century.
The Great War saw surveillance balloon use … balloon
Most combatants during the First World War used balloons to spy on enemy troops. Enemy spy balloons were so effective that they became a major target for air forces.
As part of the war effort, scientists and engineers focused some of their energy on advancing military balloon technology — making them larger and more powerful.
Dirigible balloons, developed before World War I but introduced at this time, rose at average altitudes of 1200 to 1800 meters and were powered by engines and steered with propellers, according to reporting from the National WWI Museum and Memorial.
Unlike other balloons that were moved by the wind, dirigible balloons were motorized and enormous at almost 600-700 feet long. One of the advantages of this type of balloon was that because of its significant size, it moved slowly, which meant that it could stay in one place (over land or sea) for a long time. It also could carry a crew of balloonists (people who fly in a balloon), machine guns and two tons of bombs, noted the National WWI Museum and Memorial.
World War II created a space for a new way to use balloons: from the ground
The Second World War saw the rise of barrage balloons — large but typically smaller than dirigible balloons, tethered to the ground with a cable used as an [url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/museum-acquires-item-related-first-african-american-unit-normandy#:~:text=Barrage balloons were an effective,low%2Dlevel strafing or bombing.]anti-aircraft measure[/url]. They were generally considered defensive in nature and used to counter barrages of incoming enemy aircrafts.
These balloons forced enemy aircrafts to fly higher, which made their low-level bombing attacks less effective, according to [url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/museum-acquires-item-related-first-african-american-unit-normandy#:~:text=Barrage balloons were an effective,low%2Dlevel strafing or bombing.]The National WWII Musuem[/url].
Photograph of a German soldier parachuting from an observation balloon that was damaged by enemy fire. Dated 20th century. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) (Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty)
It’s worth noting, too, that barrage balloons could reach a height of 14,764 feet and sometimes had explosive charges attached to the cables, which could destroy the enemy aircraft.
But, toward the end of the war, these balloons became targets of German high-altitude bombers and therefore less effective.
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