Teledyne FLIR Defense has won a five-year contract worth up to $91m to provide its Black Hornet® 4 Personal Reconnaissance Systems to the United States Army.

The advanced nano-unmanned aerial systems (UAS) are being acquired under the Soldier Borne Sensor (SBS) program, Phase II.

Teledyne FLIR has received $25m in initial orders that will cover delivery of the first tranche of Black Hornet 4 drones, as well as controllers, spare parts, and training.

The U.S. Army began acquiring Black Hornet 3 systems for the original SBS program in 2018. Since then, they have placed orders totalling more than $215m for the multi-faceted drone. Soldiers are using the UAVs to augment squad and small unit surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.

The Black Hornet 4 system is designed to be easy for the soldier to carry, launch quickly, and then provide video and images back to the operator. This capability provides soldiers with situational awareness more safely from a protected position.

“The Black Hornet 4 stands out as the world’s most capable nano-UAS for the world’s most high-risk missions,” said Dr. JihFen Lei, president of Teledyne FLIR Defense. “We are honoured the Army continues to place its trust in us as drone-of-choice provider for Soldier Borne Sensor, and we’re proud to see our technology making a real difference for warfighters on the battlefield.”

Black Hornet systems are currently being used by more than 40 countries to provide a quick response when soldiers need to collect vital information about the areas they are operating in and moving into.

The Black Hornet 4 is designed and built by Teledyne FLIR Defense in Norway. Deliveries of the latest SBS Phase II orders began in September.

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