US Army photo by Maj. Thomas Cieslak
- US Army soldiers with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division deployed to Afghanistan last month with Black Hornet personal reconnaissance drones, game-changing technology that offers greatly-improved battlefield situational awareness at the squad level.
- Soldiers have already begun patrolling parts of Afghanistan with these lightweight unmanned aerial vehicles — tiny helicopters measuring only about 6 inches in length and weighing just 1.16 ounces.
- Members of the 3rd BCT have previously described this technology as a "life-saver" for US troops operating in combat zones.
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US soldiers are patrolling Afghanistan with a new tool that lets them see the battlefield like never before — personal, pocket-sized drones.
The 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division has deployed to Afghanistan with Black Hornet personal reconnaissance drones — a small, lightweight unmanned aerial vehicle produced by FLIR Systems that can be quickly and easily deployed to provide improved situational awareness on the battlefield.
Soldiers are taking these nano drones on patrol in combat zones.
US Army photo by Maj. Thomas Cieslak
The 3rd Brigade Combat Team deployed to Kandahar province in Afghanistan in July from Fort Bragg in North Carolina to replace the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Stars and Stripes reports.
Army paratroopers have been "routinely" using the Black Hornets, recon drones that look like tiny helicopters, for foot patrols, the Army said in a statement.
"The Black Hornet provided overhead surveillance for the patrol as it gauged security in the region and spoke to local Afghans about their concern," a caption accompanying a handful of photos from a recent patrol in Kandahar explained.
These UAVs offer "immediate situational awareness of the battlefield," the Army said previously.
US Army photo by Maj. Thomas Cieslak
The Army awarded FLIR a multimillion-dollar contract earlier this year to provide Black Hornet drones to US troops.
A little over 6 inches in length and weighing only 1.16 ounces, these drones are "small enough for a dismounted soldier to carry on a utility belt," according to FLIR Systems.
These UAVs offer beyond-visual-line-of-sight capability during day or night out to distances of up to 1.24 miles and have a maximum speed of about 20 feet a second.
These drones, which are able to transmit high-quality images and video, can also be launched in a matter of seconds and can quietly provide covert coverage of the battlefield for around half an hour, Business Insider saw firsthand at an exclusive FLIR technology demonstration.
The Black Hornets "will give our soldiers operating at the squad level immediate situational awareness of the battlefield through its ability to gather intelligence, provide surveillance, and conduct reconnaissance," Lt. Col. Isaac Taylor, an Army public affairs officer, previously told Business Insider.
These drones have the potential to be a real "life-saver" for US troops.
US Army photo by Maj. Thomas Cieslak
Soldiers in the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division were the first troops to get their hands on the new Black Hornet drones, part of the Soldier Borne Sensor (SBS) program.
Back in the spring, soldiers trained for a week at Fort Bragg with the new drones, getting a feel for the possibilities provided by this technology.
Read more: US soldiers are getting their hands on this super cool spy drone that fits in your pocket
"This kind of technology will be a life-saver for us because it takes us out of harm’s way while enhancing our ability to execute whatever combat mission we’re on," Sgt. Ryan Subers, one of the operators, said in a statement.
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Source: Business Insider – rpickrell@businessinsider.com (Ryan Pickrell)