Teledyne FLIR Defense Secures $94M Army Contract for Nano-UAS Delivery

The U.S. Army has awarded Teledyne FLIR Defense a potential five-year, $93.9 million contract for its Black Hornet 3 Personal Reconnaissance Systems nano-unmanned aerial systems.

Under the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, Teledyne FLIR Defense will provide the nano-UAS, equipment, spare parts and training services. The Black Hornet 3 PRS is a pocket-sized drone that can transmit live video and high-definition images to an operator.

The Army first acquired Black Hornet 3 PRS drones in 2018 as part of its Soldier Borne Sensor program. It has since placed orders worth over $125 million for the nano-drones, Teledyne FLIR said Monday.

JihFen Lei, executive vice president and general manager of FLIR Defense, said the Black Hornet 3 PRS gives soldiers near-real-time information about the battlefield, allowing them to understand the situation before and while they conduct operations.

Teledyne FLIR has been securing multiple U.S. defense contracts in recent months.

In February, the Department of Defense awarded the company a potential 33-month, $13.3 million contract to integrate enhanced flight controls from the R80D SkyRaider UAS. The flight controls would allow the drone to autonomously perform chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear reconnaissance missions.

In July 2022, the company won multiple task orders worth $62.1 million in total to deliver 500 Centaur unmanned ground systems for the U.S. military. The task orders were issued under the Man Transportable Robot Systems Increment II contract.