2852 meters....
Think about what they were expecting to use it on - HORDES of Soviet ground troops and armor pouring through the Fulda Gap.
Our folks would have been quickly overwhelmed, so this seemed like a good idea to stop the Reds.
Any Cold War warriors out here from that time period, stationed in Germany, waiting for the “balloon to go up”, I would love to hear your stories.
I worked for a Colonel some years ago, Russian language genius. Great guy, super intelligent, he spoke and wrote fluent Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, multiple dialects and all. He spent a lot of time listening in on Soviet radio chatter to see if they were coming across.
Late 50s, early 60s he was there. Must have been a tense time.