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Switzerland Orders Black Hornet 4 Nano-Drones to Deliver Live Intel to Piranha 8x8 Vehicles.
Teledyne FLIR Defense confirmed a $17.5 million contract to supply Black Hornet 4 nano-drones to Switzerland under a procurement managed by armasuisse. The deal matters because it digitally links a hand-launched ISR sensor directly into the Piranha 8x8 mission system, pushing live reconnaissance to crews inside the vehicle and to soldiers operating dismounted.
On 2 February 2026, Teledyne FLIR Defense reported a $17.5 million contract to deliver Black Hornet 4 nano-drones to Switzerland. The customer, armasuisse, is Switzerland’s federal defence procurement agency, responsible for contracting and managing acquisitions for the Swiss Armed Forces. The announcement is significant because it connects a hand-launched ISR sensor to the digital mission system of the Piranha 8x8, enabling reconnaissance to be shared immediately inside the vehicle and during dismounted operations.
Switzerland has ordered Black Hornet 4 nano-drones in a $17.5 million deal that links hand-launched reconnaissance directly into Piranha 8x8 vehicles, giving crews and dismounted troops instant access to live battlefield intelligence (Picture Source: Teledyne FLIR Defense)
Teledyne FLIR Defense stated that the contract covers a large number of Black Hornet 4 Personal Reconnaissance Systems selected as an airborne, dismountable ISR sensor for the Piranha 8x8 Armored engineering vehicle program. The company indicated that vehicle-integrated systems were delivered in 2025, with remaining deliveries scheduled through 2026, placing the effort in a fielding phase rather than a purely developmental trial.
The core of the program is software and interface adaptation designed to connect the drone to the Piranha’s digital infrastructure. According to the company, the Black Hornet live video feed is displayed on vehicle workstations, while target information, coordinates, and situational-awareness outputs are distributed to commanders and crew. The integration is implemented through harmonized military standards and linked to the vehicle’s Integrated Combat Solution provided by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, allowing drone data to be treated as part of the vehicle’s mission-system picture.
Operationally, the configuration is intended to support both mobile and dismounted employment using the same kit. Teledyne FLIR Defense said operators can connect the control tablet to the vehicle mission system, hand-launch the drone from the vehicle, and conduct reconnaissance while the full data stream is shared with the crew. The company added that the drone can receive waypoints generated by the mission system and can also generate target points that may be passed to the vehicle’s remote weapon station workflow, while the integration remains detachable so the operator can dismount and continue the mission without interrupting the flight.
From a capability perspective, the manufacturer describes Black Hornet 4 as a 70-gram nano-UAS designed for close-range, low-signature reconnaissance. Teledyne FLIR Defense states the system combines a 12-megapixel daytime camera with a high-resolution thermal imager for day-night observation, and that it can operate in contested or GPS-denied conditions. The company lists more than 30 minutes of endurance, a range beyond three kilometers, and operation in 25-knot winds and rain, with obstacle-avoidance functions intended to support low-altitude flight in complex terrain.
Integrating a nano-drone into an armored vehicle’s mission system supports faster, safer decision-making at the point of contact by reducing reliance on exposed observation. For an engineering vehicle, that can translate into rapid checks of route segments, approaches, and potential threats around obstacles before committing the vehicle or dismounts, while the shared feed reduces the risk of an information gap between the drone operator and the vehicle commander. Strategically, the Swiss implementation illustrates a broader shift toward treating small UAS as managed sensors within digital combat architectures, where standardized interfaces can speed integration across fleets and enable reconnaissance data to be shared across crew stations and mission functions in near real time.
By coupling Black Hornet 4 deliveries with a tailored integration package for the Piranha 8x8, Switzerland is institutionalizing nano-UAS reconnaissance as a normal part of armored operations rather than an ad hoc capability carried only by dismounted teams. The contract reflects how modern land forces are prioritizing immediate, shared ISR at the tactical edge to improve survivability, reduce uncertainty, and compress the time between detection and action under increasingly contested conditions.