– Guided by artificial intelligence?

Although the appearance of the Chinese balloon resembles a regular weather balloon, some elements are different, Kim notes.

Its impressive payload, which is visible, consists of electronic guidance and tracking instruments, as well as solar panels to power everything.

According to him, this balloon may have guidance technologies that the US military does not yet have.

As he explains, thanks to advances in artificial intelligence (AI), the balloon can now move by simply changing altitude to reach the right point to find the wind that will push it in the right direction. Previously, it had to either be guided from the ground through a cable, “or you left it and it went where the wind pushed it,” explains William Kim.

“What happened very recently with the development of artificial intelligence is that now we can have a balloon (…) that does not even need to have its own means of propulsion. Just by controlling the altitude, he can control his direction,” he sums up. However, such technology may also include communication with its base.

– What are the advantages over satellites?

Satellites are becoming increasingly vulnerable to attacks from Earth and space, Kim said.

Balloons, on the other hand, have some advantages, starting with their ability to evade radar.

“They are made of materials that do not reflect light, they are not metallic. Therefore, although they may be massive (…), their detection is difficult.”

If they are small enough, the spy mechanisms and payloads of these airships may even go unnoticed.

Balloons also have the advantage that they can stay in a fixed position above the tracked target, unlike spy satellites, which must remain in orbit. “They can fly over the same position for months,” the expert says.

– Could the balloon have ended up in the USA by accident?

For William Kim, this is a “real opportunity.” The Chinese balloon may indeed have originally been sent to collect data beyond the US border or much higher and suffered some damage.

“They don’t always work perfectly,” he says, pointing out that the Chinese device flew about 46,000 feet above the ground, not the 65,000 or 100,000 feet they usually fly at.

“It’s definitely a bit low (…) If the goal was to make it harder to spot and shoot down, it would make sense to send it higher.”

Why didn’t the US remove it?

Kim explains that it’s not as easy to deflate a balloon as it seems.

“These balloons run on helium (…) you can’t just shoot them and make them catch fire,” like a remote control, the expert explains. “It’s not something that explodes or bursts,” he continues. “If you poke a hole in it, it will deflate very slowly.”

At the same time, the US Pentagon prevented it from being shot down, fearing that this could lead to injuries.

William Kim recalls that in 1998 The Canadian Air Force sent an F-18 fighter jet to try to shoot down an out-of-control weather balloon. “They poisoned him with 20mm ammunition. And finally, it took six days to come down.” In fact, he says, it’s unclear whether surface-to-air missiles work against this type of balloon, as their targeting systems are actually designed to hit fast targets.

with information from AFP