Le Prieur.

This is coolbert:

As it was in 1916 during the period of the Great War so as it is in 2023?

Le Prieur where are we when we need you?

Modern military balloons almost impossible to shoot down using conventional fighter warplane machinegun and cannon fire.

Having reviewed the move "The Red Baron | FULL MOVIE | 2008 | Action, Fighter Pilots | Joseph Fiennes" one scene [1:26:16 / 1:46:01 into the movie] especially I find to have such a modern context.

German  pilot firing a round from a flare gun into a World War One observation balloon. Setting alight the flammable hydrogen 

Gas-bag military balloons of the observation balloon type as during the Great War relatively impervious to conventional weapons fire. Holing a balloon hardly enough to bring it down. Incendiary rounds not becoming widespread in use until 1917 or so?

"An observation balloon is a type of balloon that is employed as an aerial platform for gathering intelligence and spotting artillery. The use of observation balloons began during the French Revolutionary Wars, reaching their zenith during World War I, and they continue in limited use today. Synonyms include espionage balloon, reconnaissance balloon, spy balloon, and surveillance balloon."

The Frenchman combat aviator Le Prieur and his innovation of firing rockets into the balloons a partial solution to the combat observational balloon problem.

"Historically, observation balloons were filled with hydrogen. The balloons were fabric envelopes filled with hydrogen gas, the flammable nature of which led to the destruction of hundreds of balloons."

In the modern context those Chinese ESPIONAGE/RECONNAISSANCE/SPY/SURVEILLANCE balloons even more difficult to shoot down. Gas-bags filled with helium instead of flammable hydrogen making the modern war-making balloon an ever more difficult target.

Read here courtesy the BBC from 1998 a "rogue" weather balloon the attempted shoot-down by cannon fire from Canadian and NATO air forces, even one-thousand rounds not adequate to bring down the errant balloon.

coolbert.