1. Historical use
    Early proposals   Austrian use at Venice in 1849   World War II    Operation Outward    Fu-Go    Cold War    United States  

2. Current use
     Gaza Strip use  

3. References

An incendiary balloon (or balloon bomb) is a balloon inflated with a lighter than air gas such as hot air, hydrogen, or helium, that has a bomb, incendiary device, or Molotov cocktail attached. The balloon is carried by the prevailing winds to the target area, where it falls or releases its payload.

Historical use

Early proposals

In 1792, Joseph-Michel Montgolfier proposed using balloons to drop bombs on British forces and ships in Toulon.^[1]

In 1807, Denmark attempted to construct a hand-propelled dirigible that would bomb British ships blockading Copenhagen from the air.^[2]

In 1846 a British board rejected as impractical a bombing design by Samuel Alfred Warner.^[3] Attempts by Henry Tracey Coxwell to interest the British government a few years later were rejected as well.^[3]

In 1847, John Wise proposed the use of balloon bombs in the Mexican–American War.^[1]

Austrian use at Venice in 1849

The first aggressive use of balloons in warfare took place in 1849.^[4][5] Austrian imperial forces besieging Venice attempted to float some 200 paper hot air balloons, each carrying a {{convert|24|to|30|lb|adj=on}} bomb that was to be dropped from the balloon with a time fuse over the besieged city. The balloons were launched mainly from land; however, some were also launched from the side-wheel steamer SMS Vulcano that acted as a balloon carrier. The Austrians used smaller pilot balloons to determine the correct fuse settings. At least one bomb fell in the city; however, due to the wind changing after launch, most of the balloons missed their target, and some drifted back over Austrian lines and the launching ship Vulcano.^[2][3][6]

World War II

Operation Outward

During World War II, the British Operation Outward launched some 99,142 balloons at Germany, 53,543 of which were carrying incendiaries the other 45,599 carrying trailing wires to damage high voltage lines.^[7]

Fu-Go

In 1944–1945, during World War II, Japan launched some 9,300 Fu-Go balloon bombs at the American mainland from Japan. The {{convert|10|m|adj=on}} diameter balloons were inflated with hydrogen and typically carried one {{convert|15|kg}} bomb, or one {{convert|12|kg}} bomb along with four {{convert|5|kg}} bombs.^[8] The Fu-Go utilized the {{convert|220|mph}} winter jet stream to cross {{convert|5,000|mi}} of the Pacific Ocean in approximately three days. To control altitude, the balloon used a barometric sensor that would release ballast sand-bags when the balloon went below {{convert|30,000|ft}}. When the sensor registered an altitude of above {{convert|38,000|ft}}, hydrogen was vented from the balloon. The whole mechanism was activated 52 minutes after launch to allow the balloon to reach initial altitude. The final sandbag stations were fitted with incendiary bombs which were released by the same mechanism, and after the last release the balloon activated a self-destruct mechanism and released an additional bomb.^[9]

The balloons were launched in the winter to take advantage of the more favourable winter jet stream. However this limited their damage potential as wildfires were less likely to catch in winter.^[10][11] The Fu-Go balloons inflicted relatively little damage, save for one fatal incident in which a woman and five children were killed after they approached a balloon that had landed at the subsequently named Mitchell Recreation Area.^[6][12]

Cold War

United States

Following WWII, the United States developed the E77 balloon bomb based on the Fu-Go balloon. This balloon was intended to disperse an anti-crop agent; however, it was not used operationally.^[13][14] The 1954–1955 WS-124A Flying Cloud program tested high-altitude balloons for delivery of weapons of mass destruction, but was found unfeasible in terms of accuracy.^[15]

Current use

Gaza Strip use

Since the beginning of the 2018 Gaza border protests, Palestinians have been launching incendiary kites at Israel. Since the beginning of May 2018,^[16] helium-filled incendiary balloons have been used alongside the kites.^[17][18][19] Gazan balloons are devised from helium-filled party balloons or condoms that are strung together, with flaming rags, other incendiary devices, or explosives strung below.^[20][21] The prevailing wind blowing in from the Mediterranean Sea, propels the balloons inland from Gaza into Israel.^[22][23]

As of 10 July 2018, incendiary kites and balloons started 678 fires in Israel, burning {{convert|2,260|acre|disp=flip}} of woodland, {{convert|1500|acre|disp=flip}} of agricultural crops, as well as open fields.^[24] Some balloons landed in school yards in the Eshkol Regional Council^[25] and the Sdot Negev Regional Council, and no one was injured.^[26] One balloon cluster reached Beersheba, some {{convert|40|km}} from the Gaza strip.^[27][28]

References

• Right Wing Watch
• Right Won't Touch a Hand
• Right Worshipful
• Righty
• Righty (disambiguation)
• Right you are (if you think so)
• Right You Are, Mr Moto
• Right – and left - hand traffic
• Rigi-Bahnen
• Rigiblick Funicular
• Rigid analysis
• Rigid analytic function
• Rigid-analytic space
• Rigid-Band Model
• Rigid body displacement
• Rigid body kinematics
• Rigid body mechanics
• Rigid boxfish
• Rigid bronchoscopy
• Rigid bus
• Rigid Constitution
• Rigid Designator
• Rigid disk drive
• Rigid double splayed loop in the bight
• Rigid double splayed loop on a bight