The Smallest UAV you've ever seen! It's REAL!!

When I saw this I could barely believe this! A person could put it in their pocket! Check it out. Seems so small that severe weather conditions would effect it.
[h=2]Miniature surveillance helicopters help protect front line troops[/h]

LONDON — Britain has revealed pictures of a tiny surveillance helicopter — it weighs just 16 grams — that has been in service with troops in Afghanistan since last year.

The Ministry of Defence said it believes the Norwegian-developed Black Hornet unmanned aerial vehicle is the first nano-sized surveillance system to be put into service anywhere in the world.

Equipped with a tiny steerable camera capable of giving troops full motion video and still images, the Black Hornet measures around 4 inches (10 cm) by 1 inch (2.5 cm). Data is transmitted to a handheld terminal not much bigger than a phone.

Norwegian developer Prox Dynamics supplied the UAV as part of a 20-million-pound deal for 160 units secured by local British company Marlborough Communications.

The battery-powered vehicle has endurance of about 30 minutes and a range of around a half mile.

The Ministry of Defence said in a statement that despite it light weight and size, the nano UAV was capable of working in harsh environments and windy conditions.

Deliveries have been completed on a deal that includes equipment, training and spares.

British soldiers are using the nano to peer around corners and over walls and other obstacles to view potential targets.

“We used it to look for insurgent firing points and to check out exposed areas of ground before crossing, which is a real asset. It is very easy to operate and offers amazing capability,” said Sgt Chris Petherbridge of the Brigade Reconnaissance Force in Afghanistan.

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Hard to believe? No, it's not that far fetch, because there're iOS RC helicopter toys around for at least 2 years now, so how hard there is for defense-tech company to make something for battlefield ops?

Sure, the commercial toys are made-in-China, cost less than 70 USD - travel up the ladder you got the Parrot 4-rotor UAV helicopter that has camera, less than 400 USD each - rudimentary touch-screen control, noisy as hell to fly and only 15 minutes of flight time per charge...but you get what I mean: with better parts and all, something like the Black Hornet Nano Unmanned Air Vehicle isn't that out of reach, just a matter of money.

I believe this tech is not only confined to the British. I am sure the US & China have already developed small experimental helos for surveillance purposes. The Americans, Chinese & a few other countries (inc. Israel) have real smart Defence Scientists. Let me now take this opportunity to wish all my Sino-Defence "colleagues" - GONG XI FA CAI to all of you and your families, with Heavenly/Divine Blessings for peace & prosperity.

MwRYum said:

Hard to believe? No, it's not that far fetch, because there're iOS RC helicopter toys around for at least 2 years now, so how hard there is for defense-tech company to make something for battlefield ops?

Sure, the commercial toys are made-in-China, cost less than 70 USD - travel up the ladder you got the Parrot 4-rotor UAV helicopter that has camera, less than 400 USD each - rudimentary touch-screen control, noisy as hell to fly and only 15 minutes of flight time per charge...but you get what I mean: with better parts and all, something like the Black Hornet Nano Unmanned Air Vehicle isn't that out of reach, just a matter of money.

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The next one (within 10 years, perhaps) The US or China will develop a "robot bee", yes the size of a bumble bee and look like real bee, quiet and has a tiny camera integrated. It will have 2 modes, recorded video (flash disk) or broadcast it directly to the soldier.

The more extreme would be the size of a fly or a mosquito ... scary, isn't it ?

antiterror13 said:

The next one (within 10 years, perhaps) The US or China will develop a "robot bee", yes the size of a bumble bee and look like real bee, quiet and has a tiny camera integrated. It will have 2 modes, recorded video (flash disk) or broadcast it directly to the soldier.

The more extreme would be the size of a fly or a mosquito ... scary, isn't it ?

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How many times have you watched the Transformer 2 movie?

Today's bleeding edge tech can cramp the required circuitry and motors into something a bit bigger, but in terms of power cells that fits such size + weight + energy density we're far from it.

MwRYum said:

How many times have you watched the Transformer 2 movie? Today's bleeding edge tech can cramp the required circuitry and motors into something a bit bigger, but in terms of power cells that fits such size + weight + energy density we're far from it.

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that's why I say ... 10 years

MwRYum said:

How many times have you watched the Transformer 2 movie? Today's bleeding edge tech can cramp the required circuitry and motors into something a bit bigger, but in terms of power cells that fits such size + weight + energy density we're far from it.

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The power cells can be kinetically recharge or it can land on a rechargeable platform (think cordless recharging for smart phones that already exist out there) on a secret location in disguise as some natural looking elements.

Fact In the US they have been selling childrens Toys that are roughly the same size with small camera's for the last five years.
That said there are disadvantages and Advantages.
the key disadvantages are stability in weather particularly wind a good gust will sent that little thing all over the place. Second Size Battery power is going too keep flights short and the camera at the lower end of resolution. I am assuming this is true RC allowing longer range operation then most IR models.
Advantages Ruggedness, I owned a toy chopper like that and beat the crap out of it and it still kept flying. It finally gave up the Ghost when A stand of Long hair ( Longer then Mine about two feet in length) got in the rotors And I could never get enough of it out too get the bird Airborne again. I crashed it into walls From six stories height Rammed it into Trees . hit it in flight with a car... I was like a mean elder brother too his little sisters barbies. Second advantage Sound at height if this is anything like mine it sounds like a dragon fly or large insect.
There are other small UAV models around, So I am not all that surprised. I remember a year or so ago Reading about the American AAI SQ4 nano UAV which is a Quad rotor and about the size of a hard cover book. UAV's of this size advantage is that they have more room for more camera's Including TV, IR, SQ4 had a small sonar like system too help avoid collision and laser pointers for designating a target with a battery life of 8 hours.

Use of UAV's this small are best for infantry and SF as the small range and low resolution combined with size too small for long range coms would make it difficult for higher command too use.

As For Insect sized UAV's Two thoughts
One battery size and Camera size are major issues at that size image quality for Camera's is very poor and the power a battery like that can supply would be short. Although Conceptionalized I think in reality such units would likely end up being too pricey and not very good for much. A UAV perhaps the size of this might be more in line and would have more ability's in either case best use for such would be indoor Clearing and short range Urban fighting.
Additionally Insect sized UAV's may cause adversary forces too proliferate

The small UAVs should have something to latch onto clothes/backpacks etc of unwitting targets and mark them for larger drones or for taking out from air at a later time.