America gripped by balloon terror
Another unidentified balloon appears
Now, beyond balloons, even airships?
Three months after the Chinese high-altitude spy balloon that escalated U.S.-China tensions was shot down, another unidentified balloon appeared in U.S. airspace. The U.S. military detected a balloon flying 36,000 feet (10,973m) near Hawaii.
U.S. officials explained that the balloon did not directly pass over major military facilities or other sensitive locations, and the Pentagon also stated that it did not feel the need for any particular action. Fortunately, the balloon was in a state of lost propulsion, and according to the tracking results of the U.S. Department of Defense and the Federal Aviation Administration, it left Hawaiian airspace without any issues.
Airship at a remote military base in the desert
A submarine in the sky with propulsion
While the origin of the balloon remains unknown after it left U.S. airspace, a 98-foot-long giant airship was spotted at a Chinese military base and according to an exclusive report by CNN, which obtained data from the satellite information company BlackSky, an airship believed to be affiliated with the People’s Liberation Army appeared at a remote military facility in the northwestern desert of China last October.
In the photo taken by BlackSky, a small airship can be seen in the middle of the runway, and next to it was a massive hangar. Jamie Jacobs, the director of the Oklahoma Aerospace Research Institute, described the airship as a ‘submarine in the sky,’ stating that it “appears to be able to fly over a specific area for a long time with propulsion and navigation capabilities.”
With the establishment of related patents
Long-term preparation?
Given the revelation that Chinese spy balloons had information collection capabilities, the dominant interpretation is that the airship appearing in the satellite photos will serve a similar function. In a 2018 report on modern Chinese military strategy, the U.S. RAND Corporation explained that “airships are attractive to the Chinese as they are inexpensive and less vulnerable to destruction.”
According to Ellie Hayes, who has studied the Chinese airship program for several years, the technological advancement of Chinese airships has been carried out in research institutions and universities, some of which are known to have maintained close relationships with the People’s Liberation Army. She added that numerous patents related to airship technology have recently been reassigned to the newly established People’s Liberation Army Unit 63660.
Story by travelview