Russia Now Using Balloons to Trick Ukraine Air Defenses

We just can’t seem to escape balloon-related news.

2023 will go down as the year that this 240-year-old technology made a roaring comeback to the military scene. In all seriousness, this low-tech capability has always been here — we’re just seeing it publicized more.

Just when you had your fill of helium-related, lighter-than-air shenanigans, the Russians get in on the action with their own military balloons — except theirs aren’t for spying — mostly, they are specially-designed radar reflectors meant to trick Ukrainian surface-to-air radar systems into wasting precious ammo.

According to Kyiv, Moscow has begun launching aerial objects to trick Ukraine’s air defenses into firing surface-to-air missiles and exhausting valuable supplies.

Indeed, according to Western intelligence, Ukraine’s arsenal of Soviet air defense systems is running dangerously low on ammunition.

These systems have kept Moscow from achieving air superiority over Ukraine for nearly a year.

Yesterday, suspected balloons that flew over Ukraine were detected in Romanian and Moldovan airspace, prompting Bucharest to scramble jets.

So how do Russian balloons trick Ukrainian radar?