 that they would lend Ukrainian troops a crucial edge in the vicious urban fighting that was expected as they sought to liberate their towns and cities. These machines are a far cry from the large unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) associated with the war on terror, the ubiquitous Predator and Reaper drones that delivered death from the upper skies with almost god-like insouciance. Black Hornets are actually more like a child's toy. Measuring just over six inches and weighing a little less than a plum, they will literally peer round corners and sneak through windows. Due to their minimal rota noise, they can creep right up on the enemy, entering Russian compounds and defensive positions (any that are left) and beam back high-definition footage and stills via three cameras mounted in the nose. The Hornet is piloted by a frontline soldier via a small iPad-style screen and a hand controller that would not look out of place on a 1990's games console. At £10,000 a pop, but bound to get cheaper, it offers what soldiers since before Thermopylae have craved: situational awareness and the ability to 'see over the hill' – without having to send some poor blighter to the top of it. Dominic Nicholls, The Telegraph's Associate Editor, knows only too well the value of a remote pair of eyes. He used drones, big and small, on numerous operations, including in Iraq and Afghanistan. 'The drones I worked with allowed us to make decisions based on the best available real-time information,' he says. 'That might have been selecting the best helicopter drop-off points for soldiers assaulting a position, or talking other assets on to potential threats.' Just as in civilian life we will shortly be using small drones to deliver our packages, mi){kind=link}
We are entering the much prophesied age of the killer robot – but do we really know what we’re unleashing?
Drones are in the news again, but not as we have come to know them. Last month Britain announced it was sending 850 Black Hornet “microdrones” to Kyiv for use in close-quarters combat.
The idea was (before the spectacular Russian collapse in recent weeks) that they would lend Ukrainian troops a crucial edge in the vicious urban fighting that was expected as they sought to liberate their towns and cities.
These machines are a far cry from the large unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) associated with the war on terror, the ubiquitous Predator and Reaper drones that delivered death from the upper skies with almost god-like insouciance.
Black Hornets are actually more like a child’s toy. Measuring just over six inches and weighing a little less than a plum, they will literally peer round corners and sneak through windows.