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== Postwar ==
[[File:Blimp over Nangarhar -a.jpg|thumb|right|Observation balloon over Afghanistan, 2011]]{{See also|Project Genetrix}}
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 [[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]], [[United States Navy|Navy]], and the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] during the 1950s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Huntington |first=Tom |date=2023-02-03 |title=Spying with Balloons? It's Been Done Before |url=https://www.historynet.com/balloon-spies/ |website=HistoryNet}}</ref> Disguised as meteorological research, it launched hundreds of [[Surveillance balloon|surveillance balloons]] that flew over [[China]], [[Eastern Europe]], and the [[Soviet Union]] to take photographs and collect [[intelligence]]. The balloons were manufactured by the aeronautical division of [[General Mills#Aeronautical Research Division and Electronics Division|General Mills]].<ref>Goodsell, Suzy. [http://www.blog.generalmills.com/2011/08/the-daddy-of-the-balloon-industry/ The “daddy” of the balloon industry], General Mills blog website, August 4, 2011.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130709015146/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=AD0019116 Final Report: Project 85012, Report No. 1227], General Mills, Inc, Mechanical Division, Engineering Research & Development Department, September 4, 1953.</ref> They 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.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Abel |first=Elie |date=1956-02-08 |title=Dulles hints U.S. will try to curb balloon flights |pages=1,11 |work=The New York Times |quote=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.}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Burnett |first=Maurice G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Z_ixgEACAAJ&newbks=0 |title=Hexagon (KH-9) Mapping Camera Program and Evolution |date=2012 |publisher=Center for the Study of National Reconnaissance |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-937219-08-6 |location=United States of America |quote=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.}}</ref> The overflights drew protests from target countries, while the United States defended its action.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Schwarz |first=Jon |date=2023-02-07 |title=U.S. Sent “Weather” Balloons to Spy on China and the Soviet Union in the 1950s |url=https://theintercept.com/2023/02/07/china-balloon-soviet-union/ |website=The Intercept |quote=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.}}</ref>
▲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]].
[[Aerostats]] have been used by US and coalition military forces in [[Iraq War|Iraq]] and in [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|Afghanistan]].<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/19/AR2009081903712.html |title=High-Tech Balloon to Help Forces Keep Watch |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=20 August 2009}}</ref>
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In 2022, [[World View Enterprises]] was in talks with the [[U.S. Army Pacific Command]] about using balloons to "operationalize the stratosphere" and develop persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities. Their modern balloons are large, having a volume the size of a college football stadium. Made of a polyethylene plastic, they do not create a heat signature and are hard to detect with radar, electro-optical, or infrared sensors. The balloons can loiter within a 40 kilometer area for four days to provide streaming video at 5 cm resolution for persistent monitoring of the movement of people, goods and vehicles.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hambling |first=David |date=November 11, 2021 |title=Why Spy Balloons Are the Pentagon’s New Secret Weapon |work=[[Popular Mechanics]] |url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a38005873/pentagon-balloons-strattolite/ |access-date=February 15, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://breakingdefense.sites.breakingmedia.com/2022/07/way-up-in-the-air-world-view-looks-to-expand-customer-base-for-its-stratollite-balloon/|title=Way up in the air: World View looks to expand customer base for its 'Stratollite' balloon|first=Theresa|last=Hitchens|date=July 28, 2022}}</ref> During the same year, the [[Chinese Academy of Sciences]] publicly disclosed balloons of similar design, but instead claimed they were for scientific purposes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://interestingengineering.com/science/china-heavy-payload-balloon-test|title=China demonstrates its heavy payload scientific balloon with latest test flight|first=Chris|last=Young|date=November 2, 2022|website=interestingengineering.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://english.cas.cn/newsroom/research_news/earth/202210/t20221027_322332.shtml|title=AIR Lofts Heavy Payload Balloon into Near-space Height----Chinese Academy of Sciences|website=english.cas.cn}}</ref>
In 2023,
In 2023, during [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine|Russo-Ukrainian War]] [https://eurasiantimes.com/russia-is-launching-balloons-with-corner-reflectors-into-ukraine/ Russia launched ‘Military Balloons’] with corner reflectors into [[Ukraine]] to exhaust its air defenses. The balloons are believed to have radar reflectors, which are intended to be used as a means of increasing visibility. The corner reflector is a passive device that directly reflects radio waves back toward the emission source, making it a valuable tool for calibrating radar systems.▼
▲
== See also ==
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