When Normandy landed, many things like led zeppelin floated in the air. What is that? What's the use?

The airship of Normandy beach landing site has two purposes: one is air defense balloon, and the other is artillery calibration airship.

1. Tethered air defense balloons are mainly used for air defense in key areas and field operations, and for air defense of landing fleet in Normandy landing operations. Multi-layer air defense blocking balloons were deployed on both sides of the landing site to prevent German air force fighters from breaking through the airspace of the landing site, causing a large number of landing personnel and equipment casualties.

Air defense arresting balloon is a kind of military tethered balloon, which is generally made of rubber and nylon film, plus a thin metal protective plate. Balloon is composed of many saccular balloons, even if it is hit by artillery fire, it is only partially damaged, and the total lift can basically remain unchanged. There are two kinds of air arrangement: skirt type and series type. The skirt is made up of several balloons connected by steel cables. The blocking cables are arranged between the connecting cables to form a cable curtain similar to a skirt. The series type is divided into upper and lower layers, three balloons are a group, and steel cables are connected to form a spider web.

2. The airship in front of the landing site is a gun calibration airship, equipped with telescopes, aerial cameras, electronic reconnaissance instruments and radio communication equipment. It is used to detect targets that are difficult to observe by ground observation stations and correct the shooting of support fleets on the sea.