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Parrot to develop compact drones for US Army ?

FranoKaaf

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French news saying that those drones could be based on Anafi :
News in french

A Google translation in english :
In a climate of suspicion of the United States towards Chinese products, the French drone manufacturer Parrot has just been retained to develop compact reconnaissance drones for the army of Uncle Sam. In 2017, the US defence already decided to no longer use any product from the DJI manufacturer.
Known mainly for its drones, the Chinese company is accused of transmitting information to the Government of its country through its devices — although to our knowledge, no evidence of such conduct has been provided. Again recently, a new document has sown the problem. Signed by the cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security, it warns against Chinese drones, and therefore indirectly against DJI devices. A favourable situation for foreign companies like Parrot which was selected with five other firms following a call for tenders from the US Army launched in November 2018.
The French manufacturer will be able to prove itself by developing and prototyping "the new generation of compact, short range drones dedicated to surveillance (short range reconnaissance drone or SRR)". The devices created will have to be light (1.3 kg maximum), compact enough to fit into a backpack and quick to deploy (less than 2 min). They must nevertheless be able to fly within a range of 3 km and for at least 30 min. What to offer soldiers on the ground "an immediate and expanded vision and understanding of the environment in which they evolve". To carry out this mission, the six companies selected share an envelope of $11 millions.
Already oriented towards the professionals with its Anafi, Parrot could find here an even more reliable growth relay if it came in fine to win a contract with the United States Army. However, he will have to distinguish himself from his other five competitors. The founder and CEO of parrot, Henri Seydoux, has a certain confidence and could well reuse his Anafi to adapt it to the constraints of military operations: "we fully understand how an ultra-compact drone, like the platform Anafi drone, possesses the strengths to become a central element of the defence. We look forward to leveraging the excellence of our R&D to meet the highest demands of the US Army to integrate the effectiveness of drones in their operations and to accompany the world's largest military and defence force. "
The French drone in any case checks a number of boxes of the specifications since it proves to be quite compact, weighs only 320 g and could easily gain a better reach with another transmission material that would not have the constraints of products in the civil domain. On the other hand, it will be better for Parrot to emphasize the reliability and robustness of a possible military version of this aircraft, since the Anafi has not really shined on these aspects so far.
 
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