-  Photo courtesy of Australia DOD

Photo courtesy of Australia DOD

FLIR Systems, Inc. developed the Black Hornet 3 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for use by law enforcement and military. The Black Hornet Personal Reconnaissance System (PRS) is the world’s smallest combat-proven nano-Unmanned Aerial System (UAS). It has the ability to navigate in GPS-denied environments, enabling the user to maintain situational awareness, threat detection, and surveillance in any environment.

At 32 grams, the Black Hornet 3 offers the lowest size, weight, and performance of any available UAS. The Black Hornet 3 can fly 2 kilometers at speeds of over 21 kilometers an hour. The system incorporates sharper-image processing, and the FLIR Lepton thermal microcamera core and a visible sensor allow for greater image fidelity. It features an improved encrypted military-approved digital datalink, enabling seamless communications and imagery significantly beyond line-of-sight and in closed areas. It seamlessly integrates into the Android Tactical Assault Kit utilized by the military to provide battlefield networks and distribution of information to anyone on the network.

The Black Hornet 3, which includes two UAV sensors, a controller, and display, is sold directly through FLIR and is available to military, government agencies, and law enforcement customers.