The US Army has awarded Teledyne FLIR Defense another $14 million contract for the delivery of Black Hornet 3 “personal reconnaissance systems” (PRS).
The nano-unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are being used to augment squad and small unit-level surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities as part of the army’s soldier borne sensor (SBS) program.
In late 2018 the US Army began acquiring Black Hornet 3’s to support the SBS effort. Since then, it has placed orders totaling nearly $115 million for the nano-drone.
Light and well suited for operations in contested environments, nearly silent, and with a flight time up to 25 minutes, the pocket-sized Black Hornet PRS transmits live video and HD still images back to the operator. Its information feed provides soldiers with immediate covert situational awareness to help them perform missions more effectively.
Designed and built by Teledyne FLIR in Norway, the system is capable of transmitting imagery through encrypted data link with ranges up to 2 km to engage targets beyond visual line-of-sight.
Teledyne FLIR Defense says it has delivered more than 20,000 Black Hornet nano-UAVs to defense and security forces worldwide.
“The Black Hornet is one tough small package with tremendous capabilities that gives warfighters much needed situational understanding and standoff before undertaking dangerous operations,” said Dr. JihFen Lei, executive vice president and general manager of Teledyne FLIR Defense.
