The U.S. Pacific Army’s 2022 high-altitude balloon launch in the Philippines was part of an exercise aimed at strengthening cooperation between the two countries.
The U.S. military is planning to launch a balloon capable of high-altitude surveillance after it scrambled fighter jets to shoot down a Chinese balloon that was drifting in North American airspace last year.
Modern balloons, both commercial and military, can fly at altitudes of up to 18 kilometers (11 miles) in the Earth’s stratosphere or even higher, using artificial intelligence to predict and ride wind currents. The high altitudes make it difficult to fly balloons…
