Black Hornet 4 is a next-generation airborne personal reconnaissance system (PRS) developed by Teledyne FLIR Defense, a subsidiary of Teledyne Technologies.
Teledyne FLIR Defense introduced the Black Hornet 4 at the Association of the US Army (AUSA) conference in Washington DC, in October 2023.
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Crafted for dismounted soldiers, Black Hornet 4 enables quick target identification beyond visual line-of-sight and real-time assessment of weapon effects.
In June 2025, Black Hornet 4 completed the required National Defense Authorization Act and cybersecurity verification process and received approval for the Blue UAS List, along with an Authority to Operate. The Defence Innovation Unit leads the Blue UAS programme, which assesses and verifies commercial drone technology for use across the Department of Defense and the wider US Government.
Black Hornet 4 is part of Teledyne FLIR Defense’s Black Hornet drone portfolio. The upgraded nano-drone provides enhanced covert situational awareness for small units compared to its predecessor, the Black Hornet 3.
Teledyne FLIR Defense has supplied more than 35,000 Black Hornet PRS systems to military and security forces in more than 40 countries. Black Hornet drones, acquired by the British and Norwegian governments, are being deployed in Ukraine.
Black Hornet 4 PRS design and features
The Black Hornet 4 PRS features a rotor diameter of 190mm (7.5in) and a total length of 255mm. It weighs around 70g (2.5oz), while its combined system weight is 1.3kg.
The drone operates within a temperature range of -20°C–43°C, wind speeds of up to 25 knots and gusts reaching 30 knots. It offers advanced visual detection, enhanced audio performance and superior electromagnetic signature capabilities.
Adhering to STANAG 4609 and Cursor on Target standards, the PRS features AES 256 encryption for video, snapshots and metadata and utilises a removable 256GB SD card to store mission data, which is also encrypted.
It supports Robotics and Autonomous Systems – Air (RAS-A) and Micro Air Vehicle Link protocols and is compatible with the Android Team Awareness Kit. It can be integrated with certain battle management systems.
In addition, the Black Hornet 4 drone serves as the cornerstone for integrating AI, which enhances autonomy and reduces cognitive strain, making it suitable to meet the evolving needs of soldiers in the field.
Payload details of Black Hornet 4
Black Hornet 4 is equipped with a 12-megapixel electro-optical (EO) main camera that performs well in low light, complemented by an EO navigation camera and three low-resolution cameras specifically for indoor navigation and collision avoidance.
It also features a night imager with a 650 × 512 pixels resolution, a high-sensitivity thermal imaging camera and an illuminating white LED.
Black Hornet 4 boasts EO video with a resolution of 1280 × 720 pixels, EO snapshots at 3,024 × 4,03 pixels, thermal imaging video at 512 × 640 pixels, and TI snapshots at 512 × 640 pixels.
Black Hornet 4 navigation capabilities
Black Hornet 4 features advanced navigation capabilities including global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and GNSS-denied capabilities.
It offers continuous collision avoidance in both day and night conditions, integrates embedded digital terrain elevation data, and provides options for vector and raster mapping.
The Black Hornet 4 PRS features a software-defined radio datalink that offers extended range and enhanced resilience. It has a radio range of more than 2km and is ideal for missions in global positioning system-denied environments.
Performance of Black Hornet 4
The drone can be launched in under 20 seconds and boasts a flight endurance of more than 30 minutes. It can reach a maximum ground speed of 10m/s, equivalent to approximately 33ft/s.
Black Hornet 4 also features obstacle avoidance features and an upgraded battery that improves flight performance.
In May 2025, Teledyne FLIR Defense unveiled several upgrades to the Black Hornet 4 PRS aimed at improving operational performance for war fighters. The updated capabilities were presented during the annual Special Operations Forces Week conference at the Tampa Convention Centre in Tampa.
The drone’s radio communication range has improved to more than 3km. Additionally, the drone has been upgraded to an IP-52 rating, enabling it to withstand 7.6mm of rain per hour while in flight, while the ground control station now carries an IP-54 rating.
Orders and deliveries
The Black Hornet drones are in service with the US Army after being acquired as part of the Soldier Borne Sensor (SBS) programme, with orders exceeding $125m, since 2018.
In October 2024, Teledyne FLIR Defense secured a five-year contract valued at up to $91m to supply Black Hornet 4 to the US Army as part of Phase II of the SBS programme. The company received initial orders worth $25m for the first tranche of Black Hornet 4 drones, along with controllers, spare parts and training.
Teledyne FLIR Defense secured an order valued at around $15m in February 2025 from the German Army to supply its Black Hornet 4 system to Germany’s armed forces.
In February 2026, the company secured a $17.5m contract from armasuisse, Switzerland’s Federal Office for Defence Procurement, for the supply of multiple Black Hornet 4 systems, which had been chosen as an airborne, dismountable ISR sensor for armasuisse’s Piranha 8×8 armoured engineering vehicle programme.
To support the deployment, the drone’s existing software was adapted to interface with the Piranha platform’s digital architecture. This integration is designed to route the live video feed to onboard vehicle displays, while also providing target data, coordinates and situational awareness to commanders and crew. Black Hornet 4 is being connected to the vehicles’ Integrated Combat Solution provided by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, using harmonised military standards.
