Ukraine conflict: Ukraine to receive large batch of Black Hornet nUASs

Ukraine is one of more than 30 countries known to be operating Black Hornet systems. Pictured is a Black Hornet 3 with a monitor, attached to a soldier's combat flack vest. (Teledyne FLIR Defense)

Norway will donate 1,000 ‘drone' kits to Ukraine, the Norwegian Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 12 July.

A total of 1,000 Teledyne FLIR Defense Black Hornet nano unmanned aircraft system (nUAS) kits will be delivered to Ukraine following a request from the authorities.

A spokesperson from the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency (Forsvarsmateriell) told Janes the version being delivered is the Black Hornet 3.

They were unable to comment on delivery timeframes.

The Black Hornet is an nUAS suited for reconnaissance and target identification roles and is easy to use and particularly suitable for urban environments. The Black Hornet 3 is the company's latest nUAS, which weighs just 32 g, has a flight endurance of 25 minutes, and can fly at speeds of 21 km/h. It features the FLIR Lepton thermal microcamera core and a visible sensor and is able to transmit live video and high-definition (HD) still images to the operator. The UAS can integrate into the Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK) and transmit over an encrypted military-approved digital datalink.

In August 2022 Norway and the UK donated an undisclosed number of Black Hornet nUASs to Ukraine, with NOK90 million (USD8.6 million) allocated for the acquisition.