FLIR to Continue Black Hornet 3 UAV Deliveries to Army

Flir Systems has won a $20.6M contract to provide the U.S. Army with nano-size unmanned aerial vehicles designed to assist in surveillance and reconnaissance missions.

The company said Thursday it will deliver the Black Hornet 3 personal reconnaissance systems that work to operate in silence for platoon- and small unit-level missions for a maximum flight time of 25 minutes. Deliveries will commence late this year.

The pocket-sized UAV units capture high-definition video footage that troops would use for situational awareness.

Black Hornet supports the service branch’s Soldier Borne Sensor program that aims to bolster the situational awareness capacity of Army troops.

The new contract follows a previous $39.7M award that the Army issued in January last year for Black Hornet 3 units.

“Enabling warfighters with a full-range of integrated unmanned solutions, both in the air and on the ground, is a strategic objective Flir shares with the military,” said Roger Wells, vice president and general manager of Flir’s unmanned systems and integrated solutions unit.

Flir produces Black Hornet units in Norway.