Military observation balloon (L'Entreprenant, Fleurus)
Aerostato militar de observación (L'Entreprenant, Fleurus)
- Date
- 1794 · confidence high
- Place
- Fleurus, Hainaut, Belgium
- Credited to
- French Aerostiers company (Jean-Marie Coutelle)
- Field
- Conflict
What it is
The first use of a tethered hydrogen balloon to observe the enemy from the air during a battle: at Fleurus on 26 June 1794, the aeronaut Coutelle reported Austrian movements. It was the first military air unit.
The Aerostiers Company was created in April 1794, and its real usefulness at Fleurus is debated (it is said the balloons contributed little to the result).
What it led to
- military aerial reconnaissance and observed artillery fire
- military ballooning in the American Civil War
- aerial bombing