Incursions of uncooperative balloons into controlled or secure airspace present a growing challenge for airports, border control, and critical infrastructure operators. This report outlines the detailed design of BELLONA, an advanced autonomous system designed to counter this threat by non-destructively intercepting and capturing a free-floating balloon at an altitude and range of up to 6 km each within 25 minutes.
The project responds to a documented and growing problem: uncontrolled meteorological and hybrid-use smuggling balloons drifting into airport or otherwise restricted airspace, forcing costly closures (up to EUR 2M). Existing countermeasures are generally destructive, slow to deploy, hazardous, or unsuitable for the size and buoyancy of these targets. BELLONA addresses this capability gap using a 52 kg quadcopter tail-sitter electric vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial system. The UAS transitions from vertical take-off to efficient wing-borne flight, autonomously locates and tracks balloons using radar, LiDAR, and optical sensors, and establishes a stable hover beneath the suspended payload. An upward-fired flexible net captures the payload, after which an integrated tether-and-reel mechanism enables the balloon system to be redirected and recovered within a designated safe zone. ... Read more