Unveiled: Robotic spy hummingbird

Unveiled: Robotic spy hummingbird

A pocket-sized spy drone disguised as a hummingbird has been unveiled by a major Pentagon contractor measuring just 16 centimetres and weighing less than an AA battery.

The mini spy plane can fly up to 17.7kmph and took five years to develop at a cost of US$4million (RM12.16million).

Army chiefs hope to use the drones tiny camera to spy on enemy positions in war zones without arousing detection and eventually deploy it into both rural and urban environments.

Experts hope the drone, which can fly just by flapping its wings, compared with current models which rely on propellers, will eventually be able to swoop through open windows and perch on power lines.

Test flight...The mini spy plane can fly up to 17.7kmph and took five years to develop at a cost of US$4millionThe company, based in California with 732 full-time employees, expects to sell even more drones to the Government once rules are relaxed to allow spying within America.

The unveiling of the Hummingbird comes just weeks after the same company launched its US$30million (RM 91.25million) Global Observer with a wingspan similar to a Boeing 747 which can survey an area as large as Afghanistan.

Chris Fisher, project manager at AeroVironment explained: "It gives the guy on the ground the opportunity to see whats on the other side of the hill."

"Theres only so much you can see with binoculars. A small drone can get up and go over the hill. That gives the ground soldier a capability that is huge."

"One of the things we benefit from is the average young person in the military has hours and hours of video games experience."

"They are attuned to holding these things in their hands; moving the joysticks around with their thumbs and thats how our planes are flown. To an 18-year-old its extremely simple."

Watch the video he! re.
< em>Source: dailymail.co.uk
Image/video sources: dailyail.co.uk/AeroVironment Inc.

Published Feb 18 2011