Palm-Size Drones Buzz Over Battlefield

Ron Czapala

http://news.yahoo.com/palm-size-drones-buzz-over-battlefield-173334014.html

Weighing only 0.56 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.

PoundSign2

When I was in Afghanistan I saw quite a few Predator Drones. Remarkable piece of engineering. This little guy though, I don't have much faith in. For one it's super small and makes it prone to wind gusts a heck of a lot more. If you've never been in a desert, let me tell you the wind can get bad. E.G sandstorms (which suck by the way). It's a cool piece of technology nonetheless. But I just don't see a lot of benefit from it in sooooo many situations. For one, that tiny little thing inside a backpack inside a very compact MRAP, JERV, or MATV stands a pretty good chance of getting broken, smashed, etc. Full battle-rattle puts a grown man at well over 300+ pounds total weight. You're big, bulky and when you move stuff jiggles, sloshes and makes impact with other things like ammo, tools, food etc. The EOD guys might have fun with it, and the sniper teams. But putting this thing in every fireteam, no way in heck. Just not practical.

Gadgetman

Actually, that thing IS practical...
And it can even fly in windy conditions.

It's made in Norway after all... ;-)

http://www.proxdynamics.com/products/pd_100_prs/

It comes in its own carrying case(actually, there's two in the case), it can fly and provide live video for 25 minutes.
The case is actually so small that you can put it in a pocket. The only thing that's too big is the screen.

http://www.proxdynamics.com/products/pdd_display_unit/
(Actually, it may fit in a large pocket... )

Incidentally, that drone has been mentioned here a few times before:

http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php/147008-Norwegian-armed-forces-flying-a-Quad-at-a-LAN-Party....?highlight=prox

http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php/145808-UK-sends-hand-held-helicopter-drones-to-war-zone?highlight=prox

And check out their 'R&D' stuff...

http://www.proxdynamics.com/r_d/micro_helicopters_and_ornithopters/

If it can be built small, they've probably already built it smaller.

jmg

Gadgetman wrote: »

If it can be built small, they've probably already built it smaller.

Yes, if that is what they are showing us, you can be sure much smaller ones exist.
( and likely smarter again, over in Israel)

How high does that need to fly to be invisible ?

Gadgetman

With a body diameter of what? 2cm or less...

Not very high...
It's more a question of how far off the observer is, and what kind of features exist nearby.
Place it in a hover in front of a tree, and it'll be all but impossible to spot.
And even if you manage to spot it, what are you going to do? Shoot it?