Ukrainian Innovation: How 18th-Century Technology Got a New Life in Modern Warfare
In 2012, Felix Baumgartner, an Austrian skydiver, broke a world record by jumping from a helium balloon into the stratosphere (39 km or 24 miles) as part of the Red Bull Stratos project.
However, the technology that helped Felix reach that height is still used worldwide, and not only by skydivers or casual holidaymakers riding hot balloons.
The military application of helium-filled balloons (or aerostats) takes its roots back to the 18th century. For years, aerostats were in the arsenal of governments across the world. One of the well-known examples was the 2023 incident, where a Chinese spy balloon flew across the US and was eventually shot down by the US Air Force. Allegedly, the Chinese spy balloon was using an American internet service provider to send and receive communications from China.
However, the war in Ukraine showed that even exotic or ‘steampunk’ technology could be efficiently used and serve its purpose.
Ukraine is innovating
Some time ago, the Ukrainian Armed Forces started to apply the aerostat technology on the battlefield, using it for reconnaissance and signal relay purposes.
Aerobavovna, the Ukrainian company that produces modern tactical aerostats, gave this technology a new life in Ukraine.
The company started producing aerostats around six months ago, after more than a year of development and rigorous testing. The aerostat from Aerobavovna is a massive balloon filled with helium and fixed to the ground station with a rope. The special form allows the aerostat to change angles and positions to hold against strong wind and not fall on the ground.
The payload depends on the mission — a camera with night vision or a radio repeater for FPV (first-person view) combat drones. An aerostat can rise to 700 meters and carry up to 5kg of payload (depending on the specification). Each unit costs $6,500.
“An aerostat can fly for two days. No drone can hold that long, but the aerostats do. And their price is more attractive. Everything that can fly a few hours is expensive,” — Yuriy Vysoven, co-founder of Aerobavovna, source: AIN Capital
Using aerostats in Ukraine turned out to be very pragmatic and cost-effective solution for certain military tasks. It is easy and fast to deploy — in just 15 minutes it will rise on 500 meters height and can stay there for several days. Usually, the radio repeaters for FPV drones are fixed to other UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicle), but no UAV can stay in the air for so long, not to mention the price.
During the last year, there was quite a clear spike in interest in this technology from different countries. Several countries are developing similar technologies of different scales and applications, including because of lessons learned from the war in Ukraine.
Poland secures its borders
In February 2024, the US entered into a preliminary agreement to sell reconnaissance aerostats to Poland for USD 1.2 billion. Four ASRR (Airspace and Surface Radar Reconnaissance) systems will help improve surveillance of Polish airspace.
According to Łukasz Pacholski from Aviation International, the deployment of aerostats in Poland will be a game changer regarding radar surveillance capabilities. Poland already has a number of ground-based radar stations, but the horizon limits them. The aerostat can raise a radar higher to operate at much greater distances.
The Polish military has already determined where the aerostats will be located — it is not surprising that the deployment is planned in four cities in Eastern Poland, close to the border with Kaliningrad region or Russia, Belarus, and one near Ukraine.
The UK is building Airlander
Last year British Aerospace (BAE) has announced its plans to work Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) to explore the potential defense and security applications of the latter’s aircraft, the Airlander 10.
The Airlander may be a solution for airborne defense logistics and long-endurance airborne communication and surveillance applications, considering its capability to carry sizeable payloads (up to 10 tons). HAV plans to begin manufacturing the Airlander by 2026.
Airborne Industries, the UK company, already produces different aerostat models for military applications — from smaller tactical (up to 15m) to much larger strategic models depending on your mission needs. Tactical aerostats are mostly used for large events and perimeter observation, with lightweight day/night cameras on board.
Russian-Iranian partnership
On February 4, 2024, a group of hackers leaked files describing the details of the exchange of military technologies between Iran and Russia. Among other things, the files contained evidence that the Iranian military is buying “spy” balloons from Russia (like the Chinese one shot down over the US territory in 2023). The Iranian side called the project related to balloons Demavend, and its goals remain unknown.
It was also reported that in February 2023, presumably, Russian balloons were spotted over Ukraine — then they appeared before the drone attack to “deceive” Ukrainian air defense.
The US plans to overhaul its fleet
The US Army already has some practice with deploying aerostats. For instance, since 2003, some 66 aerostats manufactured by Lockheed-Martin have been put into action in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In October 2023, it was reported that the US Army is examining how it can revitalize its aging fleet of aerostats as surveillance and communication platforms. Shortly after, the US defense contractor QinetiQ US received a $170M contract from the US government to support aerostat deployment of the southern border security mission. And it looks like we will hear more such announcements in the future.
Recent developments show that this old technology is again on the radars of many countries worldwide. The military application of aerostats has resurged differently, proving to be a valuable tool due to their costs, versatility, and strategic importance. Governments will spend billions of dollars developing new aerostat solutions or adjusting or reinventing the existing ones.
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