Bug drone for UK army that weights 196g, has 40 mins autonomy and 2km range
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Re: Bug drone for UK army that weights 196g, has 40 mins autonomy and 2km range
#2Re: Bug drone for UK army that weights 196g, has 40 mins autonomy and 2km range
#3Reminds me of the DJI Mavic Mini. How much does it cost?
Re: Bug drone for UK army that weights 196g, has 40 mins autonomy and 2km range
#4> "It was the only nano-UAV able to cope with the uncompromising weather during a recent Army Warfighting Experiment (AWE) event"
I hadn't thought too much about how UAVs of any class will need to cope with adverse weather conditions. Seems like that will become an even larger variable in military planning, as UAVs etc. become more prevalent.
E.g. it might be hard to totally replace a manned surveillance platform with an unmanned system, if the manned system is 'all-weather capable' and the unmanned is not.
Re: Bug drone for UK army that weights 196g, has 40 mins autonomy and 2km range
#5It feels like they're paying ludicrous money for these. Can someone in the know explain what differentiates these from shop-bought or scratch-built drones?
As per this article below, the Nano 1A UAV Quadcopter Bug drone sells for £4,500 (a tenth of the price of another model, the Black Hornet Nano):
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/drone-nano-b...
I appreciate that this is probably a variation on the old canard that goes "I could have written that government software in a weekend", but it does seem pricey.
Re: Bug drone for UK army that weights 196g, has 40 mins autonomy and 2km range
#6Reminds me of the DJI Mavic Mini. How much does it cost?
I have the Mavic Mini 1.
It weighs 249g (which is 27% more than this drone).
It also realistically only flies for about 15-20 minutes before needing a recharge, which is half as much as this drone.
So while similar to the Mavic Mini, I think it's clear they're not in the same league.
Re: Bug drone for UK army that weights 196g, has 40 mins autonomy and 2km range
#7See also: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hornet_Nano
"Although the Army is seeking a mini-drone for use by individual squads through the Soldier Borne Sensors (SBS) program, the individually handmade Black Hornet is seen as too expensive for large-scale deployment, with a unit costing as much as US$195,000"
Re: Bug drone for UK army that weights 196g, has 40 mins autonomy and 2km range
#8It feels like they're paying ludicrous money for these. Can someone in the know explain what differentiates these from shop-bought or scratch-built drones? As per this article below, the Nano 1A UAV Quadcopter Bug drone sells for £4,500 (a tenth of the price of another model, the Black Hornet Nano): https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/drone-nano-b... I appreciate that this is probably a variation on the o…
It's probably because of the low volume. They've only sold 30 so far, and the R&D costs need to be recovered.
Re: Bug drone for UK army that weights 196g, has 40 mins autonomy and 2km range
#9Reminds me of the DJI Mavic Mini. How much does it cost?
I have the Mavic Mini 1. It weighs 249g (which is 27% more than this drone). It also realistically only flies for about 15-20 minutes before needing a recharge, which is half as much as this drone. So while similar to the Mavic Mini, I think it's clear they're not in the same league.
Note that the cutoff for some regulations in the US is 250g.
Re: Bug drone for UK army that weights 196g, has 40 mins autonomy and 2km range
#10Reminds me of the DJI Mavic Mini. How much does it cost?
I have the Mavic Mini 1. It weighs 249g (which is 27% more than this drone). It also realistically only flies for about 15-20 minutes before needing a recharge, which is half as much as this drone. So while similar to the Mavic Mini, I think it's clear they're not in the same league.
They are probably also not in the same price range.