Surveillance and monitoring balloon comes back from history with a military use.

Recently, armed forces from many countries around the world have resumed the use of balloons. Balloons are primarily used for reconnaissance functions, including collecting data on the enemy.
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Balloon tested by US pentagon in 2019 (Picture source: Us DoD)

The U.S. armed forces were intrigued by the possibility of using balloons to observe targets at an altitude of 18 kilometers. The U.S. Army will now order small radar systems and signal reception sensors to be placed on high-altitude flying balloons.

The U.S. Army recently tested the communication and intelligence capabilities of balloons. These tests took place as part of military exercises in the Pacific Ocean. The Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) has issued a request for signal sensors and radars.

This equipment must be suitable for installation on high-altitude balloons (HAB). According to the U.S. Army, this equipment should enable the identification and tracking of important targets. Then, the information about them will be transmitted to military units. This type of balloon was already tested in 2019 in a civilian environment for anti-narcotics purposes.

Traveling in the stratosphere at altitudes up to 65,000 feet, the balloons are intended to "provide a persistent surveillance system to locate and deter homeland security threats," according to a filing by Sierra Nevada Corporation, an aerospace and defense company.

The balloons carry high-tech radars designed to simultaneously track numerous vehicles, day and night, in all weather conditions. These tests, which have not yet been reported, received an FCC license to operate from mid-July to September, following similar authorized flights last year.

It is known that the balloons can fly at an altitude of 18 kilometers. The U.S. Army's program includes not only balloons but also high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles. The main requirement for them is the ability to stay in the air autonomously for long periods to track important targets on land and sea, and then transmit information about them to units capable of striking these targets.