The Black Hornet Combat Recon Drone Is the U.S. Military Next Big Tech

The defense circle has been following the story of the Black Hornet quite closely. After all, it is one of the most advanced personal techs to be introduced to widespread infantry usage in years. The new tech could change the way American warfighters tackle conflicts.

The Black Hornet

The Black Hornet is a nano uncrewed aerial vehicle (Or drone, as it is colloquially known) designed and manufactured by FLIR Systems. The Pentagon has been thinking over arming the Army’s infantry divisions with the system for quite a while now. The Black Hornet is truly small, about the size of an adult’s open palm. The machine weighs some 33 grams (about 1.1 ounces), 6.6-inch across and it is capable of flying out to an extended range of over 2 km. In spite of its weight and size, the Black Hornet is capable of flying at a mind-numbing top speed of 21.48 km/h (13.3 mph). A full charge can provide as much as 25 minutes of constant operation.

It does not compromise on ruggedness, either. The drone passed all of the tests and qualifications necessary for military service and has been certified to be able to withstand extreme temperatures and harsh wind conditions. This includes a range of temperatures from -10 to 43 C° (14 F° to 109.4 F°). As for wind, it can stand up to 20 knots.

With the Black Hornet, American soldiers would be able to conduct surveillance and recon operations of the surrounding area without having to compromise their position or safety. It does this via a camera suite built into the underside of the drone, capable of capturing high-definition photos and broadcasting a live video feed to the commandeering unit. The drone itself is controlled through a Ground Control Station (GCS) that is also miniaturized to be small enough to fit in soldiers’ hands. The signal is encrypted to prevent hijacking.

These are all vital capabilities in warfare that somehow are all packed within a pocket-sized machine.

Deployment

This new system, dubbed as the: ‘Black Hornet Personal Reconnaissance System,' has been issued limitedly to a couple of divisions in the Army. Paratroopers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, part of the 82nd Airborne Division was deployed to Afghanistan last month with a few units of Black Hornet in their inventory. As part of this deployment, the Black Hornet was given a trial run by the 3rd BCT just last week in Kandahar.

The ultimate goal is to equip, at the very least, 7,000 infantry squads within the Army a unit of Black Hornet each and their ancillary equipment like control units.

Not only in the military, but drones have also proved themselves useful and beneficial in other aspects of life. For that reason, people are getting their own drones more, and here's a list of drone prices in India.