ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 12 -- United States Patent no. 12,384,565, issued on Aug. 12.
"Lighter-than-air vehicle interceptor" was invented by Daniel Howard Muhleman (El Cajon, Calif.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The present invention provides a lighter-than-air (LTA) vehicle interceptor for neutralizing and/or capturing a non-cooperative LTA vehicle, such as a spy balloon. Embodiments of the interceptor may be equipped with various subsystems useful in missions to intercept, neutralize and ideally capture a threat payload attached to the non-cooperative LTA vehicle, even at stratospheric altitudes. Such subsystems may include an imaging device, severing effector, grasping effector, puncturing ...