Teledyne FLIR Defense to deliver more Black Hornet 3 pocket-size UAVs to US Army.

According to information published on May 27, 2022, Teledyne FLIR Defense, part of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated, has won another $14 million contract to deliver its Black Hornet 3 Personal Reconnaissance Systems (PRS) to the United States Army. The advanced 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.
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U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Cesar Salinas, an infantry Marine with Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion 5th Marine Regiment, displays the PD-100 Black Hornet. (Picture source U.S. DoD)

In late 2018 the U.S. Army began acquiring Black Hornet 3's to support the SBS effort. Since then, it has placed orders totaling nearly $115 million for the multi-faceted nano drone.

Extremely light and well suited for operations in contested environments, nearly silent, and with a flight time up to 25 minutes, the combat-proven, 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.

Teledyne FLIR Defense 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. "We are proud to support the Army's Soldier Borne Sensor program for more than three years and will continue to invest in nano-UAS technologies that are changing today's battlefield."

The Black Hornet is a tactical pocket-sized reconnaissance UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) manufactured by the American company FLIR Systems. It is designed to assist dismounted soldiers deployed on the battlefield. It enhances the situational awareness of the soldiers by acting as a dismounted covert soldier delivering all the key data on surroundings and will spy on enemy movements to ensure the safety of frontline soldiers.

The Black Hornet features a rotor diameter of 123 mm and a length of 168 mm. It weighs no more than 33 gr. and offers the best in class audio and visual detection signature.