Teledyne FLIR's Black Recon UAV system for vehicle ISR under contract

Teledyne FLIR's Black Recon vehicle-based ISR system using UAVs. (Janes/Andrew White)

Teledyne FLIR Defense's ‘Black Recon' Vehicle Reconnaissance System (VRS) is already under contract with a pair of European defence customers, a company official has confirmed to Janes.

The VRS, which was first exhibited by the company at DSEI in London in 2023, was designed to launch and recover a larger variant of Teledyne FLIR's Black Hornet 4 nano-UAV, which had yet to be designed at the time.

But speaking to Janes at the Eurosatory 2026 exhibition in June, the official confirmed the new UAV is now available with a pair of defence customers in two European countries already under contract for the holistic Black Recon VRS. Deliveries are expected to be completed by June 2027, he added.

Teledyne FLIR initially designed Black Recon to be integrated on board infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) to support crew situational awareness. But as development has progressed, additional use cases have emerged, the company official explained.

He was unable to comment on which countries had purchased Black Recon but did say the first planned to use the system for static, 24/7 “border surveillance” while the second would use it as a “covert, light vehicle”-mounted system in support of “national intelligence”.

The Black Recon VRS- capable of accommodating and recharging three Black Recon UAVs as well as autonomously deploying and recapturing them- was displayed for the first time as a complete solution at Eurosatory 2026.