In support of the French Operational Pocket Drone (DrOP) program, the French Defense Procurement Agency (DGA) has awarded FLIR Systems Inc. a contract for its FLIR Black Hornet 3 nano-UAS and Personal Reconnaissance System (PRS) to support French Armed Forces operations.

The contract has a ceiling value of $89 million.

“We are honored to support the French Armed Forces’ mission with the delivery of the Black Hornet PRS and related services,” says Jim Cannon, president and CEO at FLIR Systems.

“This award strengthens our partnership with the French Armed Forces and our focus on unmanned technology, an emerging area that is strategically critical to FLIR’s business.”

Described as the world’s smallest combat-proven nano-UAS, the Black Hornet PRS allows the warfighter to maintain situational awareness, threat detection, and surveillance, no matter where the mission takes place.

Currently deployed in more than 30 countries, the Black Hornet is equipped with electro-optical/infrared sensors, and has a flight time of up to 25 minutes.

FLIR says that the Black Hornet bridges the gap between aerial and ground-based sensors, thanks to providing the same situational awareness and threat detection capabilities as larger unmanned air and ground vehicles.