Black Hornet 4 micro drone packs heavy recon duty into a tiny package

By Matthew Griffin Security and Privacy 26th March 2025

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

In the future these drones will be tinier, better, and much more capable.

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Teledyne’s Black Hornet 4 Nano-Drone has won the US Department of Defense Blue UAS Refresh award, the has company announced. That may not mean much to the average person, but it does give me an excuse to talk about the palm-size infantry recon helicopter which, one day, might be reduced down to the size of a fly – or a small Dragonfly at least.

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It may have a passing resemblance to a toy helicopter, however, the Black Hornet 4 is anything but. It’s the latest generation of the Norway-based Teledyne Black Hornet family of nano-drones designed to be used by infantry soldiers to sort out the lay of the land without sticking their heads out into danger.

See it in action.

Weighing in at only about 70 grams (2.5 oz) and with a rotor diameter of 190 mm (7.5 in), the Black Hornet 4 can be assembled and launched from its carrying case in under 20 seconds. According to the maker, it can fly at 10 m/sec (33 ft/sec) for over 30 minutes on a single battery charge and can handle wind gusts of up to 30 knots (34 mph, 55 km/h) – which is reassuring to anyone who’s seen their lightweight drone going sailing off in a gentle breeze.

Controlled from a small handheld unit, the Black Hornet 4 has a radio range of 2 km (1.24 miles) and secure communications links thanks to encryption, dynamic power, and frequency jumping functions. It also has a certain degree of autonomy for Beyond-Line-of-Sight (BLoS) operation and in GPS-denied areas. It has in-built maps, collision avoidance, and can even follow a virtual string line to keep it on course around tight corners, including in urban areas, trenches, and buildings.

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It also has a high degree of stealthiness with low visibility and low motor and rotor noise. Exactly how quiet is, to excuse the pun, a bit hush hush.

At the business end, the Black Hornet 4 has what is claimed to be the world’s smallest thermal camera. A 12-MP electro-optical camera, a navigation camera, and a white LED lamp. Video feeds are at 1,280 x 720 pixels, snapshots at 3,024 x 4,032 pixels, and thermal imaging video and snapshots at 512 x 640 pixels.

Evaluated with 35 other UAS systems, the Black Hornet 4 was one of those chosen for the Blue UAS Refresh award, which means it can go on for NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) and cyber security verification before getting an Authority to Operate (ATO) certification to work with US armed forces.

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“Black Hornet 4 has been extremely well received by the war fighter since it was first introduced in late 2023,” said Doctor JihFen Lei, president of Teledyne. “We are very proud to see Black Hornet 4 selected as a winner of Blue UAS Refresh and are confident this unique drone will continue to have a huge impact for all operators across all missions.

“Along with having already been selected for the US Army’s Soldier Borne Sensor Tranche 2 program, this latest achievement will make Black Hornet 4 available to an even larger cohort of users.”

Source: Teledyne

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Described by NASA as a "Walking Encyclopaedia of the Future" and one of the world’s most in demand keynote speakers Matthew Griffin, Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm, is a multi-award winning Futurist and strategic foresight expert, author, lecturer, mentor, podcast and YouTube host.

With a distinguished career running global business units at Atos, EMC, and IBM today Matthew helps leaders and titans of industry from all over the world explore the impact of the inter sections of technology, culture, and leadership, then helps them create high performance organisations that can continuously disrupt, outpace, and outthink their competition.

15 times author of the hit series the Codex of the Future series Matthew's ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends on global business, culture, and society has earned him a powerful reputation and a roster of clients that include royal households, world leaders across the G7, G20, and G77, and many of the world's most recognised and exceptional organisations including ABB, Accenture, ABN Amro, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi Group, Coca Cola, Deloitte, Dentons, Disney, Dow, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Microsoft, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Nokia, Paramount, PepsiCo, PWC, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, T-Mobile, UBS, Visa, WIRED, WPP and hundreds of others.

Matthew is regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, and his mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.