After FLIR got awarded by the French Armed Forces a contract worth US$89 Million of the Black Hornet nano-unmanned aerial vehicle last January 19, the U.S. Army also did the same by awarding the company the contract to supply the Black Hornet worth US$39.6 last January 24 as part of its Sensor Borne Program (SBS).
The Black Hornet is not exactly new in terms of use by militaries. The British Ministry of Defense was one of the first to procure the pocket-sized drones in the form of the Black Hornet PD-100 and the U.S. Special Forces began evaluating the same model in 2015. Thus, the capabilities of this drone has been thoroughly tested to it is considered for use by army regular units. The Black Hornet 3 is an upgraded version of the Black Hornet PD-100.
“We are proud to be selected by the U.S. Army for the SBS Program of Record. This contract represents a significant milestone with the operational large-scale deployment of nano-UAVs into the world’s most powerful Army,” said Jim Cannon, President and CEO of FLIR Systems in a press release. “This contract is a major win for the newly established Unmanned Systems & Integrated Solutions business division at FLIR and demonstrates the strong and urgent demand for nano-UAV technology offered by FLIR. Protecting U.S. warfighters with our unmanned solutions is a key objective for FLIR.”
According to FLIR, the Black Hornet PRS equips the non-specialist dismounted soldier with immediate covert situational awareness (SA). Its EO and IR technology bridges the gap between aerial and ground-based sensors, with the same SA as a larger UAV and threat location capabilities of UGVs. It has a flight time of 25 minutes, a maximum range of 1.25 miles and can provide live video feed and HD quality videos back to its controller.
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The Black Hornet 3 is about 7-inches long and weighs less than a tenth of a pound. It comes with a docking station that can hold two drones and a handheld device with a touch screen. With its thermal imaging system it can help identify objects and persons in the dark.
The U.S. Army is expecting the initial batch of the FLIR Black Hornet 3 in June.
