The world's most expensive drone, its immense value, stands in stark contrast to its tiny size. When it comes to drones, people often think of huge multi-rotor drones or giant airframes with long endurance at high altitudes, but the world's most expensive drones are not enough to touch the size of a palm, weighing no more than twenty grams, as if they were the weight of an egg. This familiar name, "Black Bee", with its tiny body, bursts out unparalleled power on the battlefield, redefining the shape of modern street warfare.
Street fighting, since the First World War, has been one of the most complex and dangerous modes of warfare. The city's buildings and dwellings provided excellent shelter for the defenders, where the enemy could hide and wait for an attack and inflict huge losses on the attacker.
However, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian army has paid a heavy price in many street battles. In these wars, the enemy hid in the corners of the city and relied on buildings for defense, making reconnaissance tasks extremely difficult. In Chechnya, Syria and now Ukraine, Russian troops have suffered from street fighting. This cruel reality has triggered the exploration and innovation of military science and technology, and the emergence of the micro-drone "Black Bee" has also aroused the strong interest of the global military.
Imagine holding the "Black Bee" in the palm of your hand and you'll be surprised to learn that it's even smaller than a remote-controlled airplane a kid plays with. However, this micro-drone, which is less than 15 centimeters long, is known as the most expensive drone in the world. It costs up to $200,000, and with such a tiny volume and weight, its price per gram even exceeds gold. Despite its petite appearance, it can maintain extremely low noise during flight and is almost imperceptible. Its tiny size allows it to easily scout through narrow gaps, making it an excellent weapon in urban street battles.
In a battle in 2013, the British army sent the Black Bee drone into the battlefield for the first time in the face of cunning Taliban elements. At that time, Taliban elements hid in city buildings, occupied advantageous positions, and attacked British troops from all corners. Although the British army had heavy weapons such as tanks and artillery, it was unfamiliar with the terrain and the detection effect was poor, and the scouts were also vulnerable to attack. Just as the stalemate was at a stalemate, the British army introduced the "Black Bee" drone.
Powered by high-density lithium batteries and low-noise radar, the Black Bee has a flight time of less than 25 minutes, but it flies almost silently and conducts reconnaissance at a speed of 26 kilometers per hour. Its small size led to a control range of only 3 km and a maximum flight altitude of only about 100 meters, but this did not hinder its excellent reconnaissance capabilities.
In the head of the "Black Bee", three lenses are integrated, which can transmit high-definition images in real time, and an infrared sensor camera is equipped to detect enemies behind cover. The latest version of the Black Bee also has night vision, making it easy to detect lurking enemies in the dark. Thus, a "Black Bee" UAV is equivalent to an efficient reconnaissance squad, capable of quickly detecting all enemies within a range of 3 km. Once the enemy is locked by the "black bee", it will be followed by indiscriminate bombardment from heavy weapons. Since the "Black Bee" joined the battlefield, the British army regained the initiative, and finally annihilated the Taliban hiding in the shadows, turning the tide of the war.
Excellence on the battlefield has built a reputation for the Black Bee and boosted its sales. According to statistics, more than 3,000 "Black Bee" drones have been sold worldwide, almost all of which are found in the armies of various countries. However, the high price of $200,000 limits it to not every unit being able to equip. Most of the time, only special forces can enjoy this alley warfare weapon.
A "Black Bee" unmanned aerial system consists of two UAVs and a control terminal. The two drones take turns performing reconnaissance missions to ensure real-time intelligence acquisition, while the control terminal is integrated into a tablet for easy individual carrying
Bring. During the mission, the two drones can fly along a pre-planned route, can also be operated by the operator, and have the ability to return autonomously even if they lose contact.
Although the "Black Bee" has been praised for its outstanding performance, its small size limits its application scenarios. In large-scale ground warfare, its reconnaissance range is relatively limited and cannot provide sufficient battlefield intelligence for large-scale corps. Therefore, in such cases, it is still necessary to rely on large drones such as the Global Hawk for extensive reconnaissance. Therefore, the main application areas of the "Black Bee" UAV are complex combat missions such as special operations, urban street warfare and reconnaissance of enemy snipers.
However, although the "Black Bee" is small in size, it integrates a large number of advanced components, and its inability to attack may make it a target for enemy electronic jamming equipment on the battlefield, and once jammed, the "Black Bee" will easily be "captured alive", which will be a huge loss for the party using it.
At the same time, in the field of drones, Continental, as a world-class military power, has been constantly promoting technological innovation. DJI drones have always led the development of global drone technology, and Continental's Wing Loong and Rainbow series drones have also achieved great success in the international market. In addition, in the field of urban street warfare, Continental has also independently developed some sophisticated products.
It is worth mentioning that at the 2021 Zhuhai Air Show, an ultra-small drone called "Hummingbird" made its debut. Although this civilian drone is only 13 centimeters long, its endurance, remote control distance and photographic performance far exceed similar international products. This further shows that in the future cruel street battles, drones may become an important equipment to determine the direction of war.
In this rapidly changing battlefield, the micro-drone "Black Bee" with its superb detection ability and tiny body, for
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