The 18-gram PD-100 Black Hornet from Norway’s Prox Dynamics can bear regular and thermal cameras about a kilometer and stay aloft more than 25 minutes.
It’s launched from a small box that straps to a utility belt, which is also where the data is stored, as opposed to on the drone itself, in case it’s captured. The video feeds directly to a small, chest-mounted screen. The operator steers it forward, backward, up and down with a videogame-like one-handed controller, or sets waypoints to allow the drone to fly itself.
The PD-100 has been in operational use for three years, including wide use by British Brigade Reconnaissance Force in Afghanistan.
“This is what they use when they check out enemy compounds,” said Arne Skjaerpe, CEO and president of Proxdynamics USA.
Skjaerpe said U.S. Army Special Forces has a handful of the devices.
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