FLIR Systems to supply French Army with Black Hornet.

FLIR Systems, Inc. announced it has been awarded a contract from the French Defense Procurement Agency in support of the French Operational Pocket Drone program. The contract has a ceiling value of $89 million to provide the FLIR Black Hornet 3, a nano-unmanned aerial vehicle and Personal Reconnaissance System to support French Armed Forces operations.

FLIR Black Hornet 3 (Picture source : Army Recognition)

The Black Hornet PRS is the world’s smallest combat-proven nano-Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) and is currently deployed in more than 30 countries. The Black Hornet enables the warfighter to maintain situational awareness, threat detection, and surveillance no matter where the mission takes them. Equipped with electro-optical/infrared sensors and the ability to fly up to 25 minutes, the Black Hornet bridges the gap between aerial and ground-based sensors, provides the same situational awareness and threat detection capabilities as larger unmanned air and ground vehicles.

“We are honored to support the French Armed Forces’ mission with the delivery of the Black Hornet PRS and related services,” said Jim Cannon, President and CEO at FLIR Systems. “This award strengthens our partnership with the French Armed Forces and our focus on unmanned technology, an emerging area that is strategically critical to FLIR’s business.” This program provides the expanded capability of the Black Hornet 3 for the French Armed Forces. The contract will be managed and executed by FLIR in Hvalstad, Norway.

The French Army thus becomes the third operator of Black Hornet 3 a few months after the USA's desicion to use it for its "Sodier Borne Sensor" program and the Australian 20th Surveillance and Target Acquisition Regiment.

Founded in 1978, FLIR Systems is a world-leading industrial technology company focused on intelligent sensing solutions for defense, industrial and commercial applications. FLIR Systems’ vision is to be “The World’s Sixth Sense,” creating technologies to help professionals make more informed decisions that save lives and livelihoods.