At the same time, in full French revolution, the first prototypes of captive balloons are developed. They are designed for strictly military use, and the army then orders the serial construction of captive balloons. It was not until the middle of the 19th century to see the emergence of real builders of captive balloons. The first is undoubtedly Henry Giffard, but those who will actively launch industrial manufacturing are the members of the Godard family. From 1880, the builders multiply and new prototypes are imagined. Neighboring countries in turn launch models of captive balloons, Riedinger in Germany, Zeppelin in England …
Encouraged by the success of captive balloons, the military begins to use them as real air observatories – able to observe the theater of operations from the air. The recurrent defects of the balloons are corrected, they become more resistant to the wind, less visible, more efficient. Countries snapped up the plans for these balloons, and in 1917, captive balloons were designed to protect strategic cities. But eventually, the army will eventually abandon them, and the know-how of captive balloons will disappear with the Second World War.