The U.S. Air Force is on the lookout for low-cost approaches to counter high-altitude balloons.
“Adversarial, long-range, high-altitude balloons (HABs) represent low-cost threats able to employment that compromises the confidentiality and security of our nation,” Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio wrote in a May 28 business notice. “We’re on the lookout for information on capabilities that address high-altitude balloons using cost-appropriate systems and methodologies that effectively mitigate, neutralize or eliminate associated risks.”
“Information could be provided in any form (e.g. white paper, PowerPoint presentation) and may concentrate on demonstrating creative solutions able to operating at high altitudes and addressing multiple targets,” the command said. “The federal government is inquisitive about learning about solutions that may operate above 50,000 feet, visually detect targets and have interaction multiple threats with its payload.”
In February last 12 months, Raytheon Technologies [RTX]-built AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles fired from fighter jets took down a Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina and three other unidentified objects off the coast of Alaska, within the Yukon territory of Canada and over Lake Huron (, Feb. 16, 2023).
After those incidents, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) hinted that it had adjusted the filters of its North Warning System (NWS) radars to have the opportunity to detect and follow slow, stratospheric balloons, that are also less vulnerable to infrared detection as temperatures are greater than five dozen degrees below zero at 35,000 feet and above.
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