Britain has awarded two contracts, total value 23 million pounds ($35.9 million) for the Black Hornet and Desert Hawk III small unmanned aircraft systemsUAVs.
Contracts were awarded to Marlborough Communications Limited to support the Black Hornet until its out-of-service date in 2017, while Lockheed Martin will support Desert Hawk III, according to the Ministry of Defence.
''Black Hornet and Desert Hawk proved their worth in Afghanistan, providing essential intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to our troops," said Defense Minister Phillip Dune. "The introduction of Black Hornet was a significant milestone in the development of our unmanned aerial systems as we were the first nation to use a rapidly deployable 'nano UAS' solution for our armed forces.''
