COLUMN: That balloon flying overhead, and the soldiers who depend on it for their survival

Russ Van Der Werff, the Human Voice Behind the Technology

Behind every technical feat, there are people. Russ Van Der Werff, vice president of stratospheric solutions at Aerostar, describes his architecture with palpable pride in his conversations with the trade press: “Our largest platform, Thunderhead, can serve as a mothership.”

I understand and respect this engineer’s pride. It serves as a reminder that behind every complex military system, there are teams working, testing, failing, and trying again—before a single successful test becomes a line in an international news article.

I respect the patient work of these engineers, even when their creation ultimately serves purposes as grave as modern warfare.

A drone that glides to conserve every percentage point of battery life

In Ukraine, the Hornet drone, manufactured by the American company Perennial Autonomy, is deployed from a balloon at an altitude of about 8,000 meters, conserving nearly 95% of its battery life for its actual mission rather than wasting it during takeoff.

Behind this technical figure lies a very human reality: every percentage point of battery life saved potentially means a more precise strike against a Russian supply line—and thus, indirectly, a slowed Russian advance and Ukrainian lives that may be spared.

Behind this cold statistic of 95% battery preserved, I see above all Ukrainian soldiers fighting with a resourcefulness that deeply moves me.

Aerobavovna: A Success Story Born Out of the Hardships of War

The Ukrainian company Aerobavovna, founded by Yuriy Vysoven, has become Ukraine’s leading mass producer of military aerostats. It has supplied the majority of Ukraine’s tactical balloons, designed to be deployed in the field in just five to twenty-five minutes.

This company likely did not exist before the full-scale Russian invasion. It embodies Ukraine’s ability to transform, under the existential pressure of war, a tactical necessity into an entire national industrial sector.

I find this Ukrainian ability to create, from scratch, an entire industry born of the need to survive Russian aggression deeply admirable.

Six thousand dollars versus several million

A complete Hornet balloon and drone system costs between approximately $8,000 and $15,000, according to available estimates. A single Russian air defense missile, on the other hand, costs between $100,000 and several million dollars, depending on the model used.

This economic disparity is more than just a statistic: it means that every balloon launched potentially forces the Russian military to expend colossal financial resources to shoot down an object that costs, literally, a thousand times less.

Seeing Russia forced to waste millions on a balloon worth a few thousand dollars gives me a sense of satisfaction that I make no secret of.

Technology Can Never Replace Human Anxiety

No technology, no matter how sophisticated, can erase the anguish of a Ukrainian mother waiting for news of her son who has been sent to the front lines. These balloons, drones, and relay systems are, at their core, merely tools serving a single purpose: to reduce, as much as possible, the amount of bad news these families receive.

I refuse to present this technology as some kind of fascinating video game. It exists because people are dying on very real battlefields, and because others are desperately trying to stem this bloodshed.

I think of those Ukrainian families who wait every evening for a call or a message. This technology exists first and foremost for them.

A technology that could be deployed across theaters of operation

This same drone-carrying balloon architecture, initially designed for Eastern Europe and the Indo-Pacific theater, could one day monitor the disputed waters where Filipino sailors are already clashing with hostile Chinese coast guard vessels around Second Thomas Shoal.

The thought that a silent balloon, flying at an altitude of 20 kilometers, might one day alert a Philippine ship in time to a suspicious Chinese approach—before another young sailor is injured by a baton—gives me a glimmer of real hope.

I dare to hope that this technology will soon protect Filipino sailors as well, not just European or American soldiers.

When Military Technology Worries Civilians Themselves

Aerostar balloons spotted over Arizona have alarmed civil liberties advocates, who fear persistent surveillance of entire communities. I do not dismiss this concern out of hand: it deserves to be taken seriously.

Technology developed to protect soldiers in war zones raises legitimate questions when it flies over civilians in peacetime, on the very soil of the democracies that developed it.

I refuse to dismiss these public concerns. A democracy must always be able to question its own surveillance tools, even military ones.

Finding the Balance Between Security and Civil Liberties

Aerostar declined to publicly disclose the exact nature of the tests conducted over U.S. territory, referring questions to the Department of Defense. This silence, while understandable for security reasons, also fuels legitimate mistrust.

I firmly believe that it is possible to develop these technologies—which are vital to Western defense—while maintaining sufficient transparency toward citizens whose privacy could, even unintentionally, be affected.

I want a strong defense, but never at the cost of total silence toward the citizens that this defense is meant to protect.

A U.S. Ship Off the Coast of Morocco

During Exercise African Lion 26, drone-carrying balloons were launched from a U.S. logistics support ship off the coast of Morocco. This geographical detail, almost anecdotal, serves as a reminder that this technology now extends far beyond active theaters of war.

Every trial, every exercise, every test in a seemingly calm corner of the world is quietly preparing capabilities that may prove decisive in the next major conflict—one that no one wants to see break out.

I find it almost strange, almost unsettling, to know that the next war is being prepared so quietly off the coast of Morocco.

A Job That Requires Patience More Than Adrenaline

Contrary to the spectacular image often portrayed, operating these balloon and drone systems requires, above all, extreme patience: monitoring screens for hours on end, waiting for the right moment, and managing a mission that can last for weeks on end.

This work behind the scenes, far removed from traditional heroic narratives, nevertheless deserves recognition: these operators contribute, in their own quiet way, to saving lives in theaters of operation they never see directly with their own eyes.

I think of these anonymous operators, whose quiet patience may help save lives they will never encounter.

From the Downed Spy Balloon to the Emerging Alliance

In 2023, a Chinese spy balloon flying over North America sparked fear and outrage before being shot down over the Atlantic. Three years later, it is Western balloons that could become the silent guardians of our most vulnerable allies.

This symbolic shift—from a feared balloon to a protective one—perhaps sums up the entire technological race of our time: the same invention can threaten or protect, depending on the hands that wield it and the intentions that guide it.

Despite the gravity of the subject,
I find this transformation of a single object—yesterday’s fear becoming tomorrow’s protection—almost poetic.

An innovation that, when used properly, reduces human suffering

It would be easy to give in to cynicism and reduce this whole story to yet another arms race. I reject this lazy interpretation, because every additional sensor deployed can actually help anticipate an attack, save a convoy, or protect a position.

War remains an absolute tragedy, and nothing should ever make it seem appealing. But when choosing between two military technologies, the one that provides better intelligence and offers greater protection deserves, in my view, to be supported without hesitation by Western democracies.

I reject facile cynicism. A technology that saves human lives deserves to be defended, even in a context as grim as war.

Turning Adversity into Ingenuity

Whether it’s Ukraine under the existential pressure of the Russian invasion or the U.S. military facing China’s rising power, this story of stratospheric balloons first and foremost illustrates humanity’s ability to transform the harshest constraints into the most unexpected ingenuity.

I find this resilience deeply inspiring—far more so than any technical specification regarding payload or maximum altitude. It reminds us that behind every military innovation, there are first and foremost people who refuse to passively accept their circumstances.

This human resilience—turning fear into ingenuity—will remain, for me, the true lesson of this story of stratospheric balloons.

Humbly admitting that I don’t know everything

I must admit this with humility: I am not an engineer, and I cannot judge with absolute certainty all the long-term technical implications of this technology. My role, more modestly, is to describe what it means for the people it affects.

I prefer to embrace this vulnerability rather than pretend to have technical expertise that I do not possess. What I do know, however, is that every advance that protects even one more soldier or civilian deserves to be told with seriousness and sincerity.

I embrace this intellectual vulnerability with sincerity: I tell human stories, not engineering reports that I would not know how to write.

What rises into the sky to watch over us

This balloon, somewhere above Ukraine, Poland, or perhaps soon over the Pacific, continues to rise silently, carrying within it the fragile promise that a soldier, a sailor, or a civilian might be warned in time of a danger they would not have seen coming on their own.

I close this post convinced that this technology, as cold as it may seem on paper, carries within it a deeply human intention: to protect lives in a world where too many hostile powers still seek, every day, to take them.

My final thought, for those who look up at the sky

As I conclude this text, my thoughts turn to all those who, tonight, are looking up at a sky they hope is being watched over by allies rather than threatened by enemies. It is this subtle yet essential difference that this technology humbly seeks to tip in the right direction.

And it is for this very reason that I will continue to follow this story of balloons—not as a cold exercise in geopolitics, but as a deeply human tale of ingenuity in the face of fear.

I’ll end this post by thinking of those who are looking up at the sky tonight, hoping to see a silent ally rather than a threat from elsewhere.

Signed, Maxime Marquette, columnist