US Army tests high-altitude balloons to counter China — Defense News
The US Army is considering high-altitude balloons as a platform for surveillance, communications relay and the deployment of unmanned systems in a confrontation with China’s anti-access/area-denial network in the Pacific. This was stated by Maj. Gen. Bernard Harrington, commander of the 7th Infantry Division and the Multi-Domain Command in the Pacific, at the Association of the United States Army conference in Washington, Defense News reports.
According to him, balloons can carry so-called launched effects — airborne systems launched from manned or unmanned platforms for reconnaissance, communications, strikes and other missions. The command expects such capabilities to enable the use of cheaper and more numerous strike drones and munitions, complementing more expensive missile systems.
A platform for sensors and communications
Interest in high-altitude balloons has grown because of technological improvements that could potentially allow them to remain airborne for weeks or months and provide better control over their route. At altitudes above 60,000 feet, balloons can carry radars and other sensors, monitoring large areas of an adversary’s territory from international airspace.
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Harrington described balloons as part of a system of data-collection assets in space, the air, on land and at sea. In his view, they can complement satellites, which are more expensive and cannot remain continuously over the same area, as well as support data collection and targeting if space-based assets are disabled.
Drone experiments
During the Bayonet Quest 26 exercises in Michigan and on Lake Huron, US military personnel tested interaction between aerial and maritime drones. In particular, an official video of the exercises showed a quadcopter launched from an unmanned surface vessel and a fixed-wing drone attached to a balloon.
The command also tested the use of artificial intelligence and large language models to process sensor data and generate missions. Similar tests involving balloons and launched effects were conducted during the Valiant Shield exercises in Guam and Orient Shield in Japan. Over the past year, the US Army’s European multi-domain command has carried out dozens of balloon launches to test logistics, sensors and communications equipment.
