What can a Black Hornet drone do?

hello everyone you're watching another episode of military tv today we're going to discuss the tiny black hornet drone and why the military loves it so sit back relax and enjoy this video unmanned aerial vehicles have been changing the way wars are fought for nearly 30 years now since their breakthrough use in the first gulf war they've cemented their place on the battlefield and global powers ranging from the u.s to india and china have been looking for new technology to gain an edge in the skies when it comes to drones though bigger isn't always better soldiers on the ground are always looking to save weight and war zones aren't always accommodating to large uavs that need links of runway to launch on top of that maneuverability and concealability are two important qualities of a surveillance drone that don't improve with largeness a company in norway might have solved all of these problems though with the miniature black hornet nano helicopter drone it has a weight of 16 grams with a size just less than four inches long the black hornet uav allows armed troops to spy potential threats this small remotely controlled rotor craft helps to save the lives of front-line soldiers this tiny uav also offers intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance support to armed forces in mission-critical operations the uav gives access to remote locations and provides situational awareness on the battlefield black hornet's development was initiated by prox dynamics a s of norway in april 2008 and is in use by the armed forces of the united states france the united kingdom germany australia turkey norway the netherlands and india the drone went through several test flights and all kinds of tests before entering into serial production phase in early 2012. now let's see why the military loves this tiny black hornet drone the most obvious difference between the black hornet nano and traditional uavs like the global hawk mq-9 reaper and new loyal wingmen is the size prox dynamics as the norwegian company responsible for creating the black hornet made it its mission to develop produce and sell the world's smallest and most advanced uav at just over the size of a soldier's finger the miniature unmanned helicopter seems to have delivered on that promise of course that small size means low weight something for which soldiers on the ground are thankful between the load of ammunition body armor water and other gear a us army soldier is often carrying upwards of 60 pounds of equipment sometimes according to npr that figure is closer to 100 the fact that all this gear is being lugged through a war zone doesn't do much to lighten the load with the black hornet though soldiers have a valuable tool in hand without adding pounds the black hornet size is more than just convenient it also gives the uav the ability to accomplish missions that just can't be done by its more traditional counterparts while unable to carry a payload of an mq-9a reaper for instance the black hornet nano is unparalleled in the role of personal aerial surveillance able to simply lift out of a soldier's hand there's no need for a large staging area to launch the black hornet it can also work its way through tight spaces like hallways this gives an individual soldier the ability to almost instantaneously deploy a uav in the exact location where it is needed in terms of design the black hornet is constructed of a rugged plastic molded shell the aerodynamic shape of the nano uav withstands stormy winds the tiny drone is fitted with three surveillance cameras concealed within its nose the complete black hornet system includes two uavs and a base station the uav has a length of about 100 millimeters and a rotor span of 120 millimeters it has a weight of 16 grams including that of the surveillance camera the total system including display weighs less than one kilogram in addition black hornet is installed with a steerable electro-optic camera capable of producing still images as well as live videos that are displayed on a handheld device the camera can be zoomed in for a clearer picture using the base station controls while the autopilot system installed on board the black hornet enables the operator to handle the drone in two modes the drone can either be operated directly or can be programmed to go through a predefined path using the gps system installed inside the digital data link allows the operator to control the uav within the line of sight range of 1000 meters about the power unit of black hornet it is powered by a very small rechargeable battery the battery is designed to rotate both horizontal and vertical rotors installed on the drone it can make the black hornet fly at a speed of 10 meters per second with a maximum endurance of 25 minutes moreover the black hornet nano is controlled by an operator from the ground using a joystick like device the technology on board the uav enables the operator to control the drone from a maximum range of 1000 meters while the base station of the black hornet offers planning execution and analysis services to the operator of the system it includes display connections and system control connections and once we know its characteristics of course we are curious about the price of this tiny uav gizmo crazed reports that the cost of a single unit is just 195 thousand dollars with a usaf report detailing the cost of a single reaper at over 16 million dollars the black hornet represents substantial cost savings when used as a replacement for missions like personal reconnaissance at the end of the video we will see the operational history of the black hornet nano the aircraft was being used by soldiers from the uk's brigade reconnaissance force at camp bastion in afghanistan operation herrick personnel in afghanistan deploy the black hornet from the front line to fly into enemy territory to take video and still images before returning to the operator it was withdrawn from service in 2006 2017 as of october 25th 2013 the british army had hornet nanos in service moreover in july 2014 the united states army natick soldiers center development and engineering center selected the pd-100 black hornet after looking at commercially available small-scale uavs as part of the cargo pocket intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance program it concluded that further refinements were needed for a u.s army role including reconfiguring the data link giving it night vision and improving navigational capability the black hornet was tested with u.s troops at an event in early march 2015 and prox dynamics delivered a pd-100 with upgraded features for special forces testing in june 2015 by 2015 the black hornet had deployed with u.s marine corps special operations teams although the army is seeking a mini drone for use by individual squads through the soldier-borne sensors sbs program the individually handmade black hornet is seen as too expensive for large-scale deployment with a unit costing as much as 195 thousand dollars in short the drone's small size doesn't hamper its ability to perform in battlefield conditions either capable cost-effective and convenient the army is looking to continue expanding the black hornet's use in the field while bug-sized drones have been long a goal of surveillance technology the black hornet nano has finally achieved what so many have been aiming at for so long thanks for watching and as always if you enjoyed this video don't forget to like share and subscribe for other awesome videos

Channel: Military TV

Views: 7,165,113

Keywords: pd-100 black hornet, black hornet nano, black hornet drone, military drone, world's smallest military drone, pd-100 drone, new black hornet drone, black hornet 3, unmanned aerial vehicles, black hornet uav, black hornet nano helicopter drone, nano uav, black hornet super small drone, black hornet, pd-100 prs, prox dynamics, micro uav, prox dynamics pd-100, drone, black hornet vrs, black hornet prs, black hornet drone cost, pd-100 black hornet prs

Id: 9IkaP6XMNZw

Length: 8min 13sec (493 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 05 2022