Balloons in Warfare

A snapshot of the use of balloons in combat

© Christopher Eger

Feb 10, 2007

Balloons have been used in many wars throughout history.


In the American Civil War a certain Professor Lowe became Balloonist #1 in the Army of the Potomac and used his hot air balloon to spy on confederate lines. In the Franco Prussian War (1870-1871), the citizens of Paris kept in touch during the German siege of their city via balloons. In World War One most of the combatants used both tethered and free balloons of every imaginable type for use in reconnaissance and even for attacks. Modern combat forces still use balloons, such as the Fulton Skyhook for various special uses.

There was however, only one nation that used balloons as unmanned bombers to attack their enemy's homeland thousands of miles away. That nation was the Empire of Japan who launched some 9300 of these devices during World War Two.


Post this Blog to facebook Add this Blog to del.icio.us! Digg this Blog furl this Blog Add this Blog to Reddit Add this Blog to Technorati Add this Blog to Newsvine Add this Blog to Windows Live Add this Blog to Yahoo Add this Blog to StumbleUpon Add this Blog to BlinkLists Add this Blog to Spurl Add this Blog to Google Add this Blog to Ask Add this Blog to Squidoo