Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

On November 6th, the 7th Army Division announced that during a field training exercise held in the Hwacheon-gun area of Gangwon-do on November 3rd, they had been able to resolve difficulties in wireless network reception through the use of ad balloons.  

The Division devoted a considerable amount of time and effort to overcome the frequent reception difficulties they had been experiencing in the rough mountainous areas. In particular, since the installation of a relay station on top of the highlands, the Division has been vulnerable in terms of securing survivability. To overcome this challenge, the Division came up with the idea of installing a relay antenna on an ad balloon during a field exercise. As the Division explained, this approach enabled them to effectively overcome the limitations presented by the mountainous area because the ad balloon antenna was about three times higher than the existing relay antenna and the audible range was wider as well. Soldiers involved in the operation were enthusiastic about the outcome, particularly because it took just ten minutes from the injection of helium gas to the levitation of the ad balloon. In addition, the Division said that the relay for training using an ad balloon is beneficial for operating the radio networks of corps below battalions during local provocation counter operations such as search and destroy operations, and it is relatively easy to install it even in an area where vehicle entry is difficult.

Information and Communication Battalion Commander Gwon Hyeok-gwon (Lieutenant Colonel) stated, "Using an ad balloon is an efficient way to overcome the signal challenges posed by the rough terrain in our division. We will keep doing our best by applying various measures to secure the operation speed of our task forces.“

By Seung-Hoi, Ahn < seung@dema.mil.kr >

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