Editing Fu-Go balloon bomb (section)

== Abandonment and results ==
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| footer            = Map of Fu-Go incident locations in North America, marked with black dots
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By mid-April 1945, Japan lacked the resources to continue manufacturing balloons, with both paper and hydrogen in short supply. Furthermore, the Army had little evidence that the balloons were reaching North America, let alone causing damage. The campaign was halted, with no intention to revive it when the jet stream regained strength in fall 1945.{{sfn|Coen|2014|p=193}} The last balloon was launched on April 20.<ref name=":0" /> In total, about 9,300 were launched in the campaign (about 700 in November 1944, 1,200 in December, 2,000 in January 1945, 2,500 in February, 2,500 in March, and 400 in April), of which about 300 were found or observed in North America.{{sfn|Mikesh|1973|p=17}} The Fu-Go balloon bomb is considered to be the first weapon system in history with intercontinental range,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rizzo |first1=Johnna |date=27 May 2013 |title=Japan's Secret WWII Weapon: Balloon Bombs |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/130527-map-video-balloon-bomb-wwii-japanese-air-current-jet-stream |access-date=28 November 2022 |website=National Geographic |language=en |archive-date=November 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221116110407/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/130527-map-video-balloon-bomb-wwii-japanese-air-current-jet-stream |url-status=dead }}</ref> a significant development in warfare which was followed by the advent of the world's first [[intercontinental ballistic missile]] (ICBM), the [[Soviet Union]]'s [[R-7 Semyorka|R-7]], in 1957.{{sfn|Coen|2014|p=6}}{{sfn|Mikesh|1973|p=1}}

Only "one or two" small grass fires were attributed to the balloon bombs.<ref name=":0" /> As predicted by Imperial Army officials, the winter and spring launch dates had limited the chances of the incendiaries starting fires due to the high levels of precipitation in the Pacific Northwest; forests were generally snow-covered or too damp to catch fire easily.{{sfn|Mikesh|1973|pp=7,25}} Furthermore, much of the western U.S. received disproportionately more precipitation in 1945 than in any other year in the decade, with some areas receiving {{convert|4|to|10|inches|cm}} of precipitation more than other years.<ref name=Karns /> The most damaging attack occurred on March 10, 1945, when a balloon descended near [[Toppenish, Washington]], and collided with [[Electric power transmission|electric transmission lines]], causing a [[short circuit]] which cut off power to the [[Manhattan Project]]'s production facility at the state's [[Hanford Engineer Works]]. Backup devices restored power to the site, but it took three days for its [[plutonium]]-producing [[nuclear reactor]]s to be restored to full capacity; the plutonium was later used in [[Fat Man]], the atomic bomb [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|dropped on Nagasaki]].{{sfn|Coen|2014|pp=139–140}}