From the hearing:
https://usacac.army.mil/sites/defau...bs/AnArmyAtWar_ChangeInTheMidstOfConflict.pdf
There it's not clear if the mylar balloon decoy is acting as a visual or radar target. But the point here is that the military is familiar with mylar balloons as decoys.
Does this mean that mylar party balloons would act as decoys, as false targets? Is that a large part of the clutter, and odd radar returns, in Navy training ranges?
"Mylar balloons" is oddly specific. I think it's in part a reference to their internal characterization of the FlyBy object (Which Bray described as "reflective" and "not fast". But I also found a mil reference to it in a discussion of ICBM.Scott Bray: We attribute this increase in reporting to a number of factors including our work to destigmatize reporting an increase in the number of new systems such as quad copters and unmanned aerial systems that are in our airspace. Identification of what we can classify as clutter, mylar balloons and other types of of air trash and improvements in the capabilities of our various sensors to detect things in our airspace.
https://usacac.army.mil/sites/defau...bs/AnArmyAtWar_ChangeInTheMidstOfConflict.pdf
This is discussion mylar balloons in space (where the lack of atmosphere means they can go, ballistically, at the same speed as the missile that deplys them) - but it's interesting that mylar balloons are used as radar target.
The midcourse of a ICBM's
trajectory is the longest and most predictable phase of flight meaning intercep-
tors have the best chance of accurately predicting when a warhead will be in a
particular location and arriving in the same location at the same time to destroy
it. The length and predictability of the flight also offers the longest amount of
time in the flight path for the deployment of various countermeasures designed to
counter the predictably of the flight path and confuse or overwhelm interceptors
with devices such as Mylar balloons, decoy warheads and the release of multiple
reentry vehicles. Boost-phase missile defense circumvents these challenges by
shooting the missile down before it has the opportunity to employ countermea-
sures.
[...]
Even if the technology cannot accurately distinguish decoys today, it is still
reasonable to argue that future developments in radar and in the EKV's infra-red
acquisition capabilities will ameliorate the problem and produce a system that
can discern a Mylar balloon from a nuclear warhead.
Article: The system can easily be fooled by decoys nearly as simple as the traffic cones we encounter on the street or the Mylar balloons that are so popular at the zoo. [...] In the near-vacuum of space where the missile defense would operate, there is no air drag to cause light decoys to move differently from heavy warheads, so it is relatively easy to create cheap impostors. [...] Since all the objects the kill vehicle will see are far away, they will appear as points of light -- like stars in the night sky -- all moving in about the same way.
There it's not clear if the mylar balloon decoy is acting as a visual or radar target. But the point here is that the military is familiar with mylar balloons as decoys.
Does this mean that mylar party balloons would act as decoys, as false targets? Is that a large part of the clutter, and odd radar returns, in Navy training ranges?
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