Trial balloon: China demonstrated why Russia needs military balloons

February 4 2023 21

The appearance of a Chinese balloon over the territory of the United States, which for some reason no one is in a hurry to shoot down, has greatly excited many. The question immediately arose, where is the vaunted American air defense system, and is Uncle Sam as scary as he is painted?

Inflated air defense / missile defense?

A giant Chinese balloon the size of three buses is currently hanging in the sky over Montana, which has already become an occasion for domestic political clashes in Washington. As it turned out, the US military has been following him since the end of January, and during this time the balloon flew from the Celestial Empire to the New World across the Pacific Ocean over the Aleutian Islands and Canada to the town of Billings, where it decided to stay. Beijing has already recognized the aircraft as its own and rather mockingly promised to contribute to the "settlement of the incident":

China regrets that the balloon, due to force majeure, erroneously ended up over US territory. China will continue to maintain contact with the United States to properly handle this force majeure incident.

Coincidentally, Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles with a range of 341 kilometers are on alert in silo launchers in positional areas near Malstrom Air Base in Montana as part of the 12st Missile Wing. Another curious "coincidence" is that a peaceful Chinese balloon, designed for meteorological research, was able to perform maneuvers. It should also be taken into account that the background for the ongoing events is Washington's diligent escalation of the situation around Taiwan and the decision to open four more new military bases in the Philippines in addition to the five already existing.

There is nothing surprising in the fact that in the United States itself, from the visit of an uninvited air guest from China, it was slightly “bombed”. Republican House of Representatives member Marjorie Taylor Green hinted that former President Donald Trump "would never stand for that":

Biden must immediately shoot down the Chinese spy balloon.

Former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley also called for a forced landing of the balloon:

Shoot down the balloon. Cancel Blinken's trip. Hold China accountable.

Connected to publicpolitical discussions and US presidential candidate Donald Trump himself, briefly writing in his social network account:

Shoot down the ball!

But the US military is in no hurry to shoot down the Chinese balloon, President Joe Biden evades direct answers to questions about him, and CNN, which is focused on the US Democratic Party, citing some knowledgeable sources, begins to push something in the spirit of the "curvature of the Earth":

So the first question is: does he pose a physical threat to US citizens? Our assessment is no. Does it pose a threat to civil aviation? Our assessment is no. Does this pose a significantly increased intelligence threat? Our best estimate right now is that no, it doesn't.

Perhaps everything is much simpler and more difficult at the same time. The balloon is at a great height, where planes no longer fly. Its surface reflects the radar signal poorly, so it can only be aimed at with a heat-seeking missile. At the same time, a high-altitude balloon most likely has a cellular structure, and even a direct hit will not lead to a fall, but only to a gradual decrease. And all of this raises important questions.

Test ball

They guessed to use balloons for military purposes immediately after their appearance, for reconnaissance and adjustment of artillery fire. From controlled balloons, airships, bombing was carried out in the First World War. During World War II, Japan, unable to reach the United States, sent bombs towards the United States and Canada - balloons called Fu-Go, which were supposed to drop high-explosive fragmentation and incendiary bombs on enemy territory. True, the real effectiveness of the Japanese "loitering ammunition" was not too high.

Since the mid-50s, the United States itself began to actively use automatic drifting balloons (ADA) for strategic reconnaissance of the territory of the USSR. In addition to reconnaissance equipment, they could potentially carry weapons of mass destruction. Being in the stratosphere, American balloons were inaccessible to air defense systems and fighters of those years. To intercept them, Soviet engineers even had to develop a high-altitude subsonic jet aircraft M-17 Stratosphere. To shoot down the ADA, the fighter was supposed to have a special double-barreled remote-controlled gun mount with a 23 mm caliber gun for firing within sight of the sight. A total of three such aircraft were built.

As you can see, even today balloons have not completely lost their military potential. US House of Representatives Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer spoke about his concerns that a Chinese balloon could hypothetically carry a bioweapon:

What worries me is that the federal government obviously doesn't know what's in that balloon. Is it a biological weapon, a weapon in this balloon? Did this probe take off from Wuhan? We don't know anything about him.

Indeed, spraying some deadly virus from a high altitude can be much more dangerous than dropping high-explosive fragmentation or incendiary bombs. However, the potential of balloons as aerial reconnaissance is still much higher and more valuable. The United States itself is actively developing its program of high-altitude airships, which should become part of the system of long-range radar reconnaissance and monitoring and warning of a missile attack, which we will discuss in detail told previously:

The new plan should allow to surpass competitors: Russia and China. High-altitude inflatable aircraft capable of moving at an altitude of 18 to 27 km can become part of a wide surveillance network and, in the future, can be used to track hypersonic weapons.

For our part, we also voiced a proposal to block the border with Ukraine with radar-equipped balloons, which will make it possible to constantly monitor the space deep into enemy territory and control the approach of enemy drones and cruise missiles to large Russian cities in order to intercept them in a timely manner.

Information

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Sergey Latyshev

-2

4 February 2023 10: 50

IMHO, all this is panic, sucked from the finger.
While the imperialist governments are dogging, the really working services are working, communicating and contacting their colleagues, exchanging the necessary information.
Recall our cosmonaut, without Rogozin's help, normally delivered to the ISS on the Amerovo REUSABLE spacecraft ....
Supplies of gas, oil, grain, metal and the devil knows what else to the west, incl. through Ukraine

So here, perhaps, the meteorological services have contacted each other for a long time, they said the number of the device in the register, sent the description and keep a direct link
(and the size of 3 buses in a rarefied stratosphere is nothing, in fact).
And they give the opportunity to earn extra money for the authors of various media writing articles. As the topic subsides, so it will fly away ...)))

Well, in Russia ... no one minds that they are needed, but you can’t optimize much on them (and you need to prepare specialists and equipment for money ...), how much you overcame about them and airships in the media, but .... ..
For some reason, Medvedev's son (and others) had to live in the USA.
Constantine N

0

4 February 2023 11: 11

rather, the United States saw everything, understood that the check and pretended not to notice. Let the whole world think that they cannot protect themselves from balloons and spend money on production / personnel, etc.
Old Skeptic

+2

4 February 2023 13: 38

Marzhetsky if you write to someone in a personal, I took the trouble to put a tick so that your aponent could answer
And then, somehow, it turns out ugly.
Liberal.
Kapany3

-1

4 February 2023 13: 39

Quote: Sergey Latyshev
IMHO, all this is panic, sucked from the finger.
While the imperialist governments are dogging, the really working services are working, communicating and contacting their colleagues, exchanging the necessary information.
Recall our cosmonaut, without Rogozin's help, normally delivered to the ISS on the Amerovo REUSABLE spacecraft ....
Supplies of gas, oil, grain, metal and the devil knows what else to the west, incl. through Ukraine

So here, perhaps, the meteorological services have contacted each other for a long time, they said the number of the device in the register, sent the description and keep a direct link
(and the size of 3 buses in a rarefied stratosphere is nothing, in fact).
And they give the opportunity to earn extra money for the authors of various media writing articles. As the topic subsides, so it will fly away ...)))

Well, in Russia ... no one minds that they are needed, but you can’t optimize much on them (and you need to prepare specialists and equipment for money ...), how much you overcame about them and airships in the media, but .... ..
For some reason, Medvedev's son (and others) had to live in the USA.

The skill of "talking the tongue" apparently cannot be drunk away. Proofs please in the studio - otherwise just a MASTER!
skeptic

+2

4 February 2023 15: 20

In the country of "unafraid bosses", the topic of AWACS balloons will not work. You won’t be able to steal a lot, and the safety of your property is ensured. Even the perimeter of the roofs, their workplaces, were stuffed with MANPADS.
Balloons, the cheapest option for fixing the approach of UAVs and missiles, while completely leveling the topic of "earth curvature".
The comment was deleted.
shiva

+1

4 February 2023 19: 54

Quote: Sergey Latyshev
IMHO, all this is panic, sucked from the finger.
(and the size of 3 buses in a rarefied stratosphere is nothing, in fact).

Bravo, colleague! We know this physics, and stupid amers even had nothing to skip. What can be attached there? A couple of thermometers.? And if he maneuvers, then there should be an engine with a supply of fuel. So there will be no room left for a vigorous bomb. But by the way, on Powell's test tube as a greeting from Wuhan - yes, you can just sneeze on the device). But it is cold there, culture must be maintained, there must be appropriate equipment. And the Chinese are not fools, they taught physics - it is quite possible not to shoot down this ball, but to get it warm and safe when it starts to decline. Probably the Americans, those who are not fools, want to do this ...
1. Avarron
  
  0
  
  4 February 2023 22: 41
  
  Why does he, flying above the clouds, need a supply of fuel? Battery, wind generator and solar panels, that's what he needs.
  1. .htaccess
    
    0
    
    6 February 2023 10: 23
    
    Why does he need a wind turbine? He flies at the speed of air flow.
  2. Ksv
    
    0
    
    6 February 2023 18: 06
    
    It would be nice to have a propeller to control and move in the right direction
Bulanov

+1

4 February 2023 21: 44

I remember that there were many opponents when we proposed to develop this topic in Russia with balloons and airships. But many then laughed. And he laughs well who laughs without consequences!
Not all countries have the ability to shoot down airships in the stratosphere, and the price for it is an order of magnitude, one and a half less than for a satellite. And besides reconnaissance, it is possible to carry out radio transmissions from it for the purpose of propaganda.
And if NATO shoots down such an airship in the stratosphere above the front line, then in return you can safely shoot down Starlink!
1. Avarron
  
  -2
  
  4 February 2023 22: 43
  
  If you are looking for reasons for answers, then you have already had a lot of them for a long time. This includes the sunken cruiser Moskva and active NATO officers in the ranks of the enemy. If there was a desire, it would have been possible to erase all this rubbish into flour for a long time.
  And it was necessary to hit immediately on the mattresses.
Vladimir80

+1

4 February 2023 22: 39

Yes, when 50 years ago the United States did not have the required number of satellites, they regularly launched balloons over the territory of the USSR, to destroy them, even special modifications of interceptor fighters were built with guns (as this is not an easy target for a rocket).
Today, this is an extremely outdated method of reconnaissance - after all, the balloon flies at the behest of the winds.
I don’t know about the need for their construction today, if the United States does not use them in service, then it’s not very promising and all this is outdated ... Yes, and now we don’t need to consider the United States, but the nearest western neighbor, and the wind mainly blows from them to us ...
1. .htaccess
  
  0
  
  6 February 2023 10: 31
  
  About "flying at the behest of the winds" is not entirely true. Yes, it flies with the air current. But at different heights, the winds differ both in strength and in vector, so that the direction of movement can be adjusted by changing the height at the right time. Why on board you need an appropriate supply of gas.
Flight

0

5 February 2023 06: 12

The Japs, during their greatness, also tried to launch inflatable products. And where is the greatness of Japan now.
usm5

0

5 February 2023 12: 43

In fact, if flexible solar panels are built into the shell of an unmanned stratospheric airship, which can lift (1-2) tons of payload to a height of (40-50) km, they will provide electrical power from 150 to 200 kW / h. This is more than enough for both radars and propulsion (ion or plasma) installations - there is a lot of sun there, and the atmosphere is extremely rarefied. Fuel cells and even a compact nuclear engine can be used as a backup power source. Such airships can hang at a given point indefinitely and the speed of their movement can reach up to 120-150 km/h.
As a result, we obtain a location tool for long-range detection and targeting with a viewing radius of (750-800) km. From 27 to 30 pieces of such devices are required along the Russian border, and then the whole of it is covered with a continuous radar field - not a single Swift will fly by so easily. It will be seen immediately after takeoff and shot down by targeting a high-altitude radar at a distance of maximum destruction of air defense missiles. Who prevents such devices from being placed over strategic points of international territories to control enemy aircraft and naval formations? About 30 airships are also enough for this purpose. Another 30 pieces can be used for asymmetrical answers to all kinds of "adversaries". Such a reconnaissance-strike stratospheric airship is hung over the territory of an insolent enemy with reconnaissance equipment and a thermonuclear charge on board, which works after its defeat - if you want to shoot down, you will get a thermonuclear air explosion. In other words, we need a grouping of stratospheric airships of 90-100 pieces. The cost of such a project is hundreds of times less than the cost of the satellite constellation existing in the Russian Federation. What prevented Russia from doing all this in a timely manner? Only the meagerness of the thought of the bourgeois elite, whose horizon of thinking is at the level of the height of the wall of the feeding trough. However, it is not too late to grow wiser.
vlad127490

-1

5 February 2023 17: 06

For a very long time, I proposed, in parallel with the development of the AWACS installation (carriers for early warning and control) on aircraft, to install the AWACS on a stationary tropospheric-stratospheric unmanned airship, this is several times cheaper than an aircraft and a satellite. Short. Airship with a payload of up to 10 tons. Useful weight is antennas, transmitters, receivers and other equipment. A set of antennas is installed covering the range from meters to millimeters. Scanning, both mechanical and phase passive, active antenna array, plus optical and thermal radars. Working height up to 15 km is set by the parameters of the cable-rope. Time of continuous operation at height, 6 months (lowered and serviced). The airship is displayed at a given point and the electric motors maintain the given coordinates. The airship is connected to the ground by a cable. A cable-cable (two cores: an optical fiber and a 10 kV copper wire) supplies power to the airship, controls it, retrieves information, etc. On the ground there is a diesel generator, a winch, a service for controlling, receiving and processing information. The cable-rope is not load-bearing, it only holds itself (estimated, the weight of the cable-rope is 3-4 tons). From a height of 12 km, the optical visibility range is 420 km, direct radio visibility is 1000 km. Such an airship - AWACS plus optical and thermal detection, allows you to detect any flying object and track, even an ultra-small drone, an inflated balloon, a bird, and also ground objects. AWACS on the airship will close the holes that the air defense of the Russian Federation has today. There are developments on airships in the Russian Federation, all the information is on the Internet.
In passing

-1

5 February 2023 21: 09

Chinese, bravissimo! And without a single shot! Well, there on Frunze, does anyone scratch their turnips? Or is it still the approach based on the amount of rollback? The drones overslept, the airships overslept, because it's cheap, you can't cut much.
Raymond

+1

6 February 2023 07: 33

Quote: vlad127490
For a very long time, I proposed, in parallel with the development of the AWACS installation (carriers for early warning and control) on aircraft, to install the AWACS on a stationary tropospheric-stratospheric unmanned airship, this is several times cheaper than an aircraft and a satellite. Short. Airship with a payload of up to 10 tons. Useful weight is antennas, transmitters, receivers and other equipment. A set of antennas is installed covering the range from meters to millimeters. Scanning, both mechanical and phase passive, active antenna array, plus optical and thermal radars. Working height up to 15 km is set by the parameters of the cable-rope. Time of continuous operation at height, 6 months (lowered and serviced). The airship is displayed at a given point and the electric motors maintain the given coordinates. The airship is connected to the ground by a cable. A cable-cable (two cores: an optical fiber and a 10 kV copper wire) supplies power to the airship, controls it, retrieves information, etc. On the ground there is a diesel generator, a winch, a service for controlling, receiving and processing information. The cable-rope is not load-bearing, it only holds itself (estimated, the weight of the cable-rope is 3-4 tons). From a height of 12 km, the optical visibility range is 420 km, direct radio visibility is 1000 km. Such an airship - AWACS plus optical and thermal detection, allows you to detect any flying object and track, even an ultra-small drone, an inflated balloon, a bird, and also ground objects. AWACS on the airship will close the holes that the air defense of the Russian Federation has today. There are developments on airships in the Russian Federation, all the information is on the Internet.

An airship is not a balloon... it can fly itself.
One ball is free... And that's the problem... if you don't catch it... in this case it's a "captive" balloon.

America showed China the difference between captive flight and free flight.
"Free" can collide with a controlled aircraft, called a "rocket" because it is not controlled, this is the rule of air navigation, an unfortunate accident.
trampoline instructor

0

6 February 2023 09: 51

Nothing hangs over the state of Montana anymore. Shot down yesterday or the day before yesterday.
They will figure it out without us.
Raymond

0

6 February 2023 20: 40

Quote from htaccess
About "flying at the behest of the winds" is not entirely true. Yes, it flies with the air current. But at different heights, the winds differ both in strength and in vector, so that the direction of movement can be adjusted by changing the height at the right time. Why on board you need an appropriate supply of gas.

This remark is true of the hot air balloon, which was named "hot hot air balloon" in honor of the French inventor of the "hot hot air balloon". In fact, we can rise or fall by heating the air in the casing.
But for a balloon whose gas volume and density are frozen, its evolutionary height depends on atmospheric pressure, this is uncontrollable.
Flight

-1

9 February 2023 00: 44

You are asking the wrong questions, Uncle Seryozha. Why why. And to be. Are we a state or what? Well, we won’t sew some kind of ball and we won’t launch it. You just need to decide first. You can spend a lot of money on this, and then pick it up with the driver's hands. And then they will launch in the wrong direction. And we should have everything according to the rules.