Editing Fu-Go balloon bomb (section)

== Background ==
The balloon bomb concept was developed by the [[Imperial Japanese Army]]'s [[Noborito Research Institute|Ninth Technical Research Institute]] (also known as the Noborito Research Institute), tasked with creating special weapons.{{sfn|Coen|2014|p=16}} In 1933, Lieutenant General Reikichi Tada started a balloon bomb program at Noborito designated Fu-Go,{{efn|Every Noborito project was assigned a [[code name]] ending with {{nihongo|''-go''|号}}, a numbering suffix. The balloon bomb project's name was derived from {{nihongo|''fūsen''|風船}}, the Japanese word for "balloon".{{sfn|Coen|2014|pp=18–19}}}} which proposed a [[hydrogen]]-filled balloon {{convert|13|ft|m}} in diameter with a time fuse, capable of delivering bombs up to {{convert|70|mi|km}}. The project was not completed and stopped by 1935.{{sfn|Mikesh|1973|p=3}}

After the [[Doolittle Raid]] in April 1942, in which American planes bombed the Japanese mainland, the [[Imperial General Headquarters]] directed Noborito to develop a retaliatory bombing capability against the U.S.{{sfn|Coen|2014|pp=15–16}} In mid-1942, Noborito investigated several proposals, including long-range bombers that could make one-way sorties from Japan to cities on the U.S. West Coast, and small bomb-laden [[seaplane]]s which could be launched from submarines.{{sfn|Coen|2014|pp=16–17}} On September 9, 1942, the latter was tested in the [[Lookout Air Raid]], in which a [[Yokosuka E14Y]] seaplane was launched from a submarine off the Oregon coast. Warrant Officer [[Nobuo Fujita]] dropped two large [[Incendiary device|incendiary bomb]]s in [[Siskiyou National Forest]] in the hopes of starting a forest fire and safely returned to the submarine. Response crews spotted the plane and contained the small blazes. The program was cancelled by the [[Imperial Japanese Navy|Imperial Navy]].{{sfn|Coen|2014|p=17}}

Also in September 1942, Major General Sueki Kusaba, who had served under Tada in the original balloon bomb program in the 1930s, was assigned to the laboratory and revived the Fu-Go project with a focus on longer flights.{{sfn|Coen|2014|p=17}} The Oregon air raid, while not achieving its strategic objective, had demonstrated the potential of using unmanned balloons at a low cost to ignite large-scale forest fires.{{sfn|Coen|2014|p=25}} According to U.S. interviews with Japanese officials after the war, the balloon bomb campaign was undertaken "almost exclusively for home propaganda purposes", and the Army had little expectation of its effectiveness.{{sfn|Coen|2014|p=192}}