Technology
CROSS-SPECTRUM
Army space commander embraces high-altitude surveillance balloons after field test
Lt. Gen. John Rafferty, head of the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command, now strongly supports high-altitude ISR balloons after a training mission in Morocco.
Initially skeptical, Rafferty described the concept of surveillance balloons as "crazy" before traveling to Morocco for a practical exercise. The experience, which he shared with SDMC Command Sgt. Maj. Rickey Jackson, convinced him of the technology’s value. He told reporters at the Annual Association of the U.S. Army conference in Washington, D.C., that the Army should continue developing the capability.
