Recent headlines have pointed to the apparent use of espionage balloons by the Chinese over U.S. airspace. Other parts of the world, including Latin America and China itself, have reported sightings of high-flying balloons drifting over their airspace. All these balloons may or may not have been involved with espionage, but they did demonstrate the capability and utility of using balloons in a surveillance capacity. The balloon itself dates a long way back, but who was the first to use them for surveillance?
Early Use of Firearms in Warfare: The development of firearms dates back to the 15th Century or perhaps earlier, but their effective range and utility were not very far. Even in the 18th Century, the flintlock musket had a range of perhaps fifty to seventy-five yards. Combating armies would often stand at a distance that was just inside their weapons’ range and fire in plain view at their opponents, who were likely armed and deployed in a similar manner. There was no need to have devices in use to identify the targets—they were in plain sight. In the late 18th Century, warfare started a turn towards more powerful weaponry. Enabled by the industrial revolution, firearms could be mass produced and could shoot farther and faster. By the late 19th Century, artillery could likewise fire faster and over much longer distances. Opposing armies would need to position at greater distances apart to prevent the devastating effect of their opponent’s long ranch weaponry. The need for observation to provide intelligence on the enemy’s positions led to some unusual tactics.
Battlefield Balloons: In the 1790’s the French military was the first to utilize hydrogen filled balloons to spot enemy positions on a battlefield. The balloons themselves were attached to the ground by cables that restricted their movement. Two soldiers rode in the balloon—one to observe, and the other to send a flag signal back to ground observers. The advantage was obvious: the balloonists using a telescope could see up to fifty miles away, and were positioned well out of range of any enemy. During the American Civil War, the Union Army used tethered balloons that could carry up to five soldiers, and included a telegraph operator.
Cameras on Kites: But warfare advanced to the point that tethered balloons were obsolete as the effective range of the balloon was limited by newer weapons. In the late 19th Century, cameras became smaller and provided better pictures. A British meteorologist developed a kite that could carry a camera high enough to study wind velocity. Not long afterward, kites with cameras were used by American troops in the Spanish American War in 1898. In 1907, a German pharmacist mounted a small camera on a pigeon opening a new avenue of aerial espionage. The German Army became interested in using camera-carrying pigeons in the First World War, but the pigeons were difficult to control, and the pictures often came back blurry.
Airplanes: The first airplane flew successfully a little over ten years before the outbreak of World War I. The early planes were used in the war primarily for observation with a pilot who flew at safe distances and an observer who sketched out enemy positions. For the most part these observers were unarmed as the aircraft would be less effective with the unnecessarily added weight of machine guns. As the camera improved the observer was replaced with cameras mounted on the sides of planes or through holes in the cockpit floor. The art of developing surveillance pictures also improved and was integrated into a pilot’s training. During World War II surveillance planes would carry a darkroom on board to provide analysis of the target subject before the surveillance plane left the area. During the Cold War in the 1950’s and 1960’s, most of the intelligence on the Soviet Union that was gathered by Western countries was collected by high flying aircraft such as the U2.
The Rise of Drones: Drones first appeared during World War I as unmanned flying targets used for target practice by pursuit planes. During the Vietnam War the U.S. deployed jet propelled drones to track Viet Cong positions and spot targets. The “Firebee” as it was called, flew over 34,000 missions and was equipped with radar-absorbing blankets plus anti-radar paint to enhance its stealth capability. In the current Ukraine war with Russia, drones have many uses rolled into one package, as the drone can be flown by remote control to enemy lines and then, with target sighting capabilities, it can fire a rocket at the enemy position.
The Rise of Satellites: During the Cold war intercontinental ballistic missiles enabled one country to reach another one on the other side of the earth with devastating nuclear weapons. The need for intelligence about potential adversaries pushed both sides to use high flying satellites to acquire intelligence. Gradually the usage of high-flying satellites morphed into communications devices. Surveillance continued using certain satellites and increased in scope with Elon Musk’s Starlink network deployed successfully in the Ukraine/Russian War.
Conclusions: As an intelligence gathering system, the balloon may have come full circle. Its effectiveness when deployed for geopolitical purposes is nearly matched by its deployment for industrial espionage. Time will tell if the China based balloon was capable of any serious military surveillance, but the time has also come for the U.S. to clear all North American airspace of unauthorized flying objects.
Sources: History.com, How Nations Have Spied from the Sky, Dave Roos, February 10, 2023.
Wikipedia.