The HCSAF have accepted the RQ-3 Black Dragon UAV into service. This small surveillance drone is catapult launched off a special attachment on a Tapir IFV and provides high definition multi-mode imagery and ground radar data via a datalink to the base station (in the launcher Tapir), filtered data can then be sent to troops and displayed via special goggles or hand held devices. At the moment the imagery can only be seen as is but the HCS are working on augmented reality so what troops see is overlayed (via goggles) with extra information such as the location of hidden insurgents.
The RQ-3 has a 4 hour endurance and then lands via a parachute to be retrieved by HCS troops. A HCS spokesclone said systems like Black Dragon were an example of how the HCS was moving from the old days of mass movement and brute force to a technological and efficient surgical attack model.
