BAE Systems, in collaboration with UAVTEK, has developed a nano “Bug” drone and delivered the first 30 units to the British Army for testing them.
This pocket-size drone is built with real-world situations in mind, so UAVTEK made sure that the weather will never prevent you from deploying your nano Bug UAV, and flight-time is suitable for the potential range capability.
This nano-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) weighs 196-gram – roughly the weight of a smartphone. The Bug Nano provides an eye in the sky that can fly in strong winds, withstanding gusts of over 50 mph (80 km/h), and send full-motion 1080p video back from 2km away. An impressive flight time of up to 40 minutes means extended range and the ability to fly more than three times longer than a Black Hornet.
“In even the toughest weather, the Bug can deliver vital tactical intelligence on what’s around the corner or over the next hill, working autonomously to give troops a visual update,” says James Gerard, Principal Technologist, BAE Systems’ Applied Intelligence. “Combined with our other information advantage products, this video feed could be shared multi-domain, enabling commanders on land, sea, and air to increase their situational awareness and inform their decisions.”
The device can handle the winds of 35 knots, gusting to 45 knots, which made it the only nano-UAV able to cope with the uncompromising weather during a recent Army Warfighting Experiment (AWE) event hosted by the Ministry of Defence’s Future Capability Group.
The teams are now working on the next developments on the nano-UAV, exploring sensing equipment and capabilities, which could be added, as well as how the Bug could be integrated with other military equipment.
