{"id":30955,"date":"2020-11-09T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-09T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/11\/09\/us-army-floats-the-option-of-fielding-high-altitude-balloons\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:35:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:35:52","slug":"us-army-floats-the-option-of-fielding-high-altitude-balloons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/land\/2020\/11\/09\/us-army-floats-the-option-of-fielding-high-altitude-balloons\/","title":{"rendered":"US Army floats the option of fielding high-altitude balloons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. Army is now carving out a path to field high-altitude balloons to provide an additional but less expensive layer of communications, connectivity, range extension and surveillance capabilities, adding resiliency to the service\u2019s existing architecture of space assets and aircraft <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/c2-comms\/2019\/04\/02\/the-army-targets-systems-to-see-1000-miles\/\" target=_blank>supporting multidomain operations<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Recent tests and experiments with high-altitude balloons at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, left an impression on the head of the Army\u2019s Space and Missile Defense Command. \u201cIt\u2019s just phenomenal what we\u2019re able to do with high-altitude balloons,\u201d Lt. Gen. Daniel Karbler told Defense News in an interview ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army\u2019s annual conference, which took place virtually Oct. 13-16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI don\u2019t have the cost analysis but, in my mind, pennies on the dollar with respect to doing it. If I had to do it via a [low-Earth orbit] or some satellite constellation, what we are able to provide with high-altitude balloons, it\u2019s tactically responsive support to the war fighter,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Karbler said he sees the balloons supporting the Army\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/land\/2018\/08\/28\/multidomain-operations-task-force-cuts-teeth-in-pacific\/\" target=_blank>Multidomain Task Force<\/a> in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cConceptually, with the types of missions that the Multidomain Task Force is working, the high-altitude balloons would be a key capability enabler,\u201d Brent Fraser, concept development division chief at SMDC\u2019s Space and Missile Defense Center of Excellence, told Defense News in an Oct. 29 interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c[The balloons would] be able to provide some beyond-line-of-sight capability, whether it\u2019s communications, extended distances, to be able to provide the ability to enable sensing of targets deep in the adversary\u2019s areas, to be able to reinforce and complement existing sensing systems other than the aerial layer as well as the space layer,\u201d Fraser added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In terms of war games and experiments conducted with high-altitude balloons, \u201cas we look at a number of emerging concepts and capabilities and formations,\u201d he explained, \u201cI think we still have a ways to go, but I think we\u2019re on a positive path to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SMDC has been working on high-altitude balloons \u2014 basically dirigibles that can camp out roughly 60,000-90,000 feet in the air \u2014 for a long time, but recently the technology has improved, particularly through the commercial market. Google, for instance, used high-altitude balloons to help Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria to help establish internet connectivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Duration is one of the areas that has greatly improved. High-altitude balloons can now stay aloft for weeks, if not months, rather than just hours or days. Users can also command and navigate the balloons better than before, and the platforms can more easily be recovered after missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe technology readiness levels have really come a long way,\u201d Fraser said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SMDC has partnered with Army Futures Command to advance the technology, particularly involving the latter\u2019s Assured-Positioning, Navigation and Timing cross-functional Team as well as Training and Doctrine Command, the Army Intelligence Center, and cyber and special operations personnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Several years ago, the Army developed a high-altitude concept that established a foundation on which to build, Col. Tim Dalton, Army capability manager for space and high altitude within the SMDC\u2019s center of excellence, said in the same interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After integrating the concept into a variety of war games with Futures Command and other entities, the Army is starting to develop requirements. \u201cWe\u2019re in the initial stages of defining what those requirements would be,\u201d Dalton said. \u201cThere\u2019s kind of two aspects to the high-altitude piece: the high-altitude platform, so it\u2019s the balloon, and then whatever it\u2019s carrying on there for a payload.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Army has created initial documents for staffing through Futures Command, and over the next couple of years the service will run those requirements through the Joint Capabilities and Integration and Development System process, which will lead to review by the Army Requirements Oversight Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The service is in the early stages of figuring out what a program of record would look like, but it has some options, Dalton said. \u201cWhat we\u2019re kind of hoping to do over the next couple of years as part of our campaign of learning is to help define what that looks like and the best way to resource those requirements for the Army.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Army is carving out a path to get high-altitude balloons into the force to support capabilities like communications, range extension and 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By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>US Army floats the option of fielding high-altitude balloons - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Army is carving out a path to get high-altitude balloons into the force to support capabilities like communications, range extension and surveillance.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US Army floats the option of fielding high-altitude balloons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Army is carving out a path to get high-altitude balloons into the force to support capabilities like communications, range extension and surveillance.\" 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