United States Army was spending $39 million on Black Hornet Personal Reconnaissance Systems, tiny reconnaissance drones small enough to fit in a soldier’s palm.
A spokesperson for the 82nd Airborne Division told Stars and Stripesthat troops with the Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat team will be the first in the military to use the Black Hornets.
Specifically, the Brigade’s 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, will employ the drones while deployed in Afghanistan this July. If all goes well, the rest of the Brigade could start leveraging the drones soon after.
Each of the tiny drones is equipped with several cameras it uses to survey an environment while deployed. It can then provide a soldier with live video and still images that could literally save their lives while in a combat situation.
“This kind of technology will be a life-saver for us because it takes us out of harm’s way while enhancing our ability to execute whatever combat mission we’re on,” Ryan Subers, an Army sergeant trained to use the Black Hornet, said in an Army statement.
