Teledyne FLIR Defense has signed a framework agreement with the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency to provide its advanced Black Hornet nano Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
Worth up to $48 million, the framework agreement is valid for four years and can be extended a year at a time for up to three additional years.
According to Teledyne, the first Black Hornet was delivered to Norway in 2015 and this latest agreement represents the country’s largest commitment to date.
Suited for operations in highly contested and GPS-denied environments, nearly silent, and with a flight time up to 25 minutes, the UAV weighs 33 grams (less than 0.1 pounds) and measures 168 millimeters (less than seven inches). Designed for covert situational awareness missions, the Black Hornet transmits live visible and thermal video to the operator.
“I would like to thank the Norwegian Government and Minister of Defence, Bjorn Arild Gram, for continued support of the Black Hornet, which is also designed and manufactured in Norway,” said Robert Mehrabian, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Teledyne Technologies. “With this new agreement, nations cooperating with Norway may also procure the Black Hornet. As the world’s leading nano UAV system, Black Hornet delivers covert situational awareness to military units in combat operations – a crucial advantage at a time when European and allied countries confront new threats on the Continent and beyond.”
“Our Black Hornet nano UAV operates day or night and even in the most challenging GPS-denied environments, including indoors,” said Edwin Roks, Executive Vice President and Segment President Teledyne Digital Imaging. “With a range of two kilometers, the Black Hornet can fly at speeds exceeding six meters per second and communicates with an encrypted digital datalink for secure and reliable communications from tight spaces to beyond-line-of-sight applications.”
Teledyne FLIR Defense has delivered more than 12,000 Black Hornets to defense and security forces worldwide.
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