Defense News

The U.S. Army has for years experimented with high-altitude balloons and long-endurance, fixed-wing, solar-powered platforms capable of operating in the stratosphere. Now the service is pursuing prototyping efforts that could lead to programs of record, including one able to deploy launched effects.

The Army has come a long way from experimenting in the desert of White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, in 2020, according to Space and Missile Defense Command chief Lt. Gen. Daniel Karbler, who observed that testing firsthand. Balloons have found their way into operational exercises with units, and the Army is in the process of developing requirements for eventual approval in order to progress programs for a series of high-altitude capabilities.

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