UAVs are a game-changer for the Australian Army, providing enhanced situational awareness for better mission execution for soldiers. Soon the Black Hornet Nano-UAVs will be rolled out to Australian Army soldiers in Brisbane following the completion of the Black Hornet Nano UAV Program, an A$18 million project.
The Australian military sees this as a key capability milestone and a significant achievement and an example of adopting tactical robotic technology.
For well over a decade, the Australian Army has been the largest and most experienced operator of UAV in the country, according to uavvision.com. “The Australian Army is now the biggest user of Nano-UAV in the world. It is also the first in the world to proliferate this technology to the conventional forces down to combat platoon level,” said Commander 6th Brigade and the Army’s only UAS unit, the 20th Surveillance Target Acquisition Regiment, Brigadier Susan Coyle. “Experience of UAV operations overseas and in Australia have provided Army with unique expertise that is in high demand.”
The PD-100 Black Hornet developed by Prox Dynamics from Norway allows armed troops to spy potential threats. The small, remotely-controlled rotorcraft helps to save the lives of front-line soldiers. It offers intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support to armed forces in mission-critical operations. The UAV gives access to remote locations and provides situational awareness in the battlefield, according to army-technology.com.
The Australian Army operate several UAVs, ranging from the Nano-sized reconnaissance Black Hornet to large, nine-hour endurance surveillance systems such as the Shadow 200.
i-hls.com