GnuRadio RF: Captures US Comms Shootdown Of Luft Balloon Enemies

grarpamp grarpamp at gmail.com
Thu Feb 16 20:57:13 PST 2023


Anyone with a few $10k RF rigs could probably do better
at discriminating silly retroreflectors on luftballoons than
all these $10B++ militaries steal from you and waste on it.
Volunteer arrays linked via internet at 1/500 cost or less.


Ukraine Shoots Down 'Decoy' Russian Balloons As Moldova, Romania
Report High-Altitude Objects

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64661145

Following last week's balloon shootdown incidents over the United
States, there have been a slew of fresh reports involving
high-altitude balloon activity over eastern Europe, including
incidents involving objects over Moldova, Romania, as well as
potential 'weaponized' balloons over Ukraine.

"Ukraine's army has said Russia fired 36 cruise missiles on Thursday,
a day after six apparently radar-reflecting balloons were spotted over
Kyiv," BBC reports. Ukraine authorities have said the balloon activity
is related to a change in Russian tactics, which have of late included
sending wind-propelled reflective balloons over the capital and other
cities in order to provoke an anti-air response.

Illustrative: A Russian military high-altitude balloon being launched.
Source: The Drive/TV ZVEZDA

"These objects could carry radar reflectors and certain reconnaissance
equipment," Ukrainian air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said. "The
balloons were launched to detect and exhaust our air defense forces."

The military further described that most balloons had been shot down,
and they are intentionally designed to be picked up on radar as
decoys.

"Balloons with reflectors have also been spotted over the eastern
region of Dnipropetrovsk in recent days," BBC continues, also
referencing photographs which surfaced on social media in recent days.

Tiny Moldova was among those earlier this week to close its airspace
due to an unidentified object, now believed to be a balloon, and
Romania even scrambled fighter jets in response to "an object
resembling a weather balloon was spotted at a height of around 11,000
ft (3,350m)," according to official statements.

In a briefing, Romania's defense ministry said the object wasn't a
threat upon closer review, and the it had "characteristics similar to
a weather balloon" - but had been picked up on radar and warranted
investigation.

Via Telegram: deflated balloon tied to a reflector, believed used by
the Russian military to trigger Ukrainian air defense.

The dispatched jets had surveyed the area for about 30 minutes, but
"did not confirm the presence of the aerial target, neither visually
nor on the onboard radars," and afterward returned to base without
incident, defense officials said.


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