Barrage Balloons

Barrage balloon vessel

Throughout history, military forces have come up with countless innovations in weaponry and defense. One of these inventions, which came into use during the first and second world wars, was the barrage balloon.

Barrage balloons were essentially large floating mines. They were tethered with heavy cables at low altitudes with the intent of bringing down the dive bombers that plagued enemy cities during World Wars I and II. The idea was that the bombers would collide with the cables or the balloons and be rendered useless. Some balloons were even equipped with small explosives that would pull up against the planes on impact. To avoid the balloons, dive bombers would be forced to fly higher, into the range of very effective anti-aircraft fire... Read More