Palm-Size Drones Buzz Over Battlefield

[xchrom]

http://www.livescience.com/40908-palm-size-drones-buzz-over-battlefield.html

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The Black Hornet nano drone, which can be carried in a soldier's pocket, has an onboard camera that gives troops video and still images of hard-to-access places


Weighing only 2.1 ounces (16 grams), the Black Hornet looks like a tiny toy helicopter. But it's really a nano-size piece of military hardware unlike anything on the battlefield today — experimental robot flies and hummingbirds not withstanding.

The PD-100 Black Hornet Personal Reconnaissance System, unveiled to the American public for the first time last week at the Association of the United States Army Expo in Washington, D.C., is a drone (actually, a pair of them) that a soldier can carry and operate as easily as he or she would a radio.

Since last year, the British infantrymen in Afghanistan have been using the new Black Hornets on a variety of missions — from scouting routes for possible enemy ambushes to peeking over the walls of a nearby compound. [9 Totally Cool Uses for Drones]

The unmanned air vehicle was designed for small units that required a quick, tactical "stealth" camera in the sky, said Ole Aguirre, vice president of sales and marketing for Prox Dynamics AS, the Norwegian company that produces the Black Hornet.

[MineralMan]

1. Cool, but 2.1 ounces is 59.534 grams, not 16.

Too bad the writer didn't check his calculations. Still, I can see how these little drones could keep small units out of danger in many situations. That's a good thing.

[MineralMan]

5. I think the writer screwed up.

It's easy to do the conversion. The writer used the wrong multiplier. Bonehead error.

[GreenStormCloud]

2. Video . British soldier in Afghanistan demonstrating use.

Can't hear it from 20 meters away Twenty minutes flight time. It has three cameras mounted. Front wide angle, front narrow angle, and rear wide angle. Awesome.

Video demontration with inventor:

Another Brit soldier demonstrating and talking about it.

[Blue_Tires]

4. Why even have soldiers?

How close are we to just sitting back and fighting drone vs. drone battles??

[snooper2]

7. I got my daughter something similar for her birthday coming up-

[Bigmack]

8. I can't help but think...

... what would the MOS description be?

"0399 Tiny Aircraft Operator"... or "Forward Nano-Observer"

This is gonna make it tough for sitting around after the war and telling sea stories about tricky cross-winds and remote difficulties...."My thumbs ached... it was a living hell.

(Sorry... ex-grunts find humor in odd things military-related.)

[pinboy3niner]

10. "My Purple Heart? Eyestrain. Squinting at that little screen for ambushes."

"It was hell, man!"

[NightWatcher]

9. where were all these wonderful toys when I was a PI?

Damn it would've been great to sit in my car a mile away and have my little army of drones do all of my spying for me.