Operation Outward was the name given to the British World War II program to attack Germany by means of free-flying balloons. It made use of cheap, simple gas balloons filled with hydrogen. They carried one of two types of payload: a trailing steel wire intended to damage high voltage power lines by producing a short circuit, or three incendiary devices - 6-pound (2.7 kg) flexible socks filled with flammable material - that were intended to start fires in forests and heathland.
A total of 99,142 Outward balloons were launched: 53,343 carried incendiaries and 45,599 carried steel wires. Compared to Japan's better known fire balloons, Outward balloons were crude. They had to travel a much shorter distance so they flew at a lower altitude - 16,000 feet (4,900 m), compared with 38,000 feet (12,000 m) - and had only a simple mechanism to regulate altitude by means of dropping ballast or venting lifting gas. This meant the balloons were simple to mass produce and only cost 35 shillings each (£71 when adjusted for inflation).
Read more about Operation Outward: History and Development, Design, Deployment
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