Chinese Balloons Harken back to World War II Terror Weapons​

By Dr. Steven Wills

It might seem curious that in an age of smart phones and satellites that any advanced nation would employ high altitude balloons as espionage tools. Chinese reasoning and motivation behind balloon spying remain unclear at this writing but these mid-20^th century aviation tools have in the past been used a potential weapons of mass destruction. In late 1944, the Imperial Japanese Army launched a large number of similar balloons as a terror weapon to be used against the vital U.S. timber forests of the Pacific Northwest. When first discovered in November 1944, there were many suppositions about the mission of the Japanese balloons to include the delivery of biological warfare agents. Just so today, members of the U.S. Congress are right to demand more answers from the Defense Department and the Chinese government on the purpose and mission of these inflated invaders of U.S. airspace.

History of Balloons as Unmanned Systems

Balloons as both manned and unmanned intelligence and attack vehicles have been around for over 170 years. In the American Civil War, the Union hired balloonist Professor Thaddeus Lowe as its “Chief Aeronaut” to conduct intelligence gathering and reconnaissance against Confederate positions during the 1862 Peninsula campaign. The Confederates also developed balloon reconnaissance and both sides used “balloon carrier” ships USS George Washington Parke Custis, and CSS Teaser to move their balloons on the James River. In the First World War, the balloon was used again for intelligence gathering, but also as a weapon with both Germany and Britain producing airships and the Germans using theirs to conduct the first strategic bombing campaign against London. Balloons again took on their reconnaissance role in the Second World War and in the early phase of Cold War balloons conducted early, high altitude surveillance of the Soviet Union and China.

Unmanned Balloons as Weapons

The Japanese, however, weaponized the unmanned balloon for strategic purpose in 1944 when the Imperial Japanese Army produced large numbers of balloons as unmanned bomb carriers with a mission of setting fire to the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a crucial wartime strategic source of timber. Named “Operation Fu-Go,” and beginning on 03 November 1944, the Japanese Army launched over 9300 balloons with small, incendiary bombs targeting the Pacific Northwest. An estimated 1000 made it to North America, and there were 285 reported incidents of Japanese balloon weapons. Six people on a picnic were killed by one of the balloon weapons in May 1945 when they tried to drag it from the woods. In some cases, Army and Navy aircraft located the balloons and shot down several of the craft. Some military officials were concerned that the balloons were a chemical or biological warfare attack on the United States, specifically targeting livestock perhaps with anthrax. This anxiety was not unfounded, given that Imperial Japan’s infamous biological weapons groups specifically looked into this type of operation.

Chinese Balloons in the Present

Other reports now suggest that China has targeted other nations with balloon surveillance. The Japanese Defense Minister recently reported that his nation has been the subject of, “unidentified flying objects and surveillance balloons” over the last several years. The U.S. State Department reported last week that perhaps as many as 40 nations have been subject to overflight by Chinese surveillance balloons. U.S. Central Command Air Force Component General Alexus Grynkewich has also reported the presence of what is believed to be Chinese surveillance balloons in his area of responsibility in the Middle East. It may be that the Chinese use significant numbers of balloons in a distributed network to increase their overall intelligence knowledge beyond what known, and known to the observed as well, satellite orbits can inform.

Conclusion

Balloons have a long and continuing history as both manned and unmanned surveillance and weapon delivery vehicles. The People’s Republic of China continues to use them into the 21^st century as what appears to be a disposable intelligence collection asset, or network of such. While perhaps just an intelligence platform, the Chinese ought to have bothered to read on the history of the Imperial Japanese Army balloon attack on the United States in the Second World War before launching this campaign. They may equally not have cared. In any case, the 2023 Chinese Balloon incursion into U.S. airspace is another “black eye” for Chinese attempts to show their Indo-Pacific policies are peaceful toward their neighbors and a warning to the United States and especially to North American Air Defense Command to, as an old Japanese samurai statement says, “after a victory, tighten your helmet strap,” and prepare for more such Chinese intelligence collection attempts.

Dr. Steven Wills is the Navalist at the Center for Maritime Strategy. His research and analysis centers on U.S. Navy strategy and policy, surface warfare programs and platforms, and military history.

The views expressed in this piece are the sole opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Center for Maritime Strategy or other institutions listed.