Parrot also intends to make a place for itself in the military field more than ever, turning towards the professional market.
Already selected in the United States, the French manufacturer of drones was also chosen to equip France’s armies.
Shaken up by fierce competition from other players such as DJI on the consumer drone market in recent years, Parrot has made a shift towards the professional world, a little less crowded and marginally more generous.
He also turned to the military field by participating in the US Ministry of Defense’s SRR (Short-Range Reconnaissance) program, which could potentially result in orders across the Atlantic.
A new version of the Anafi drone, the Anafi USA – about its production carried out in that territory – was born from this work .
A drone developed in France and recently selected by the Directorate-General for Armament (DGA) as part of a call for applications
An improved and more secure Anafi
In its press release, the aim is to “accompany the soldiers in their observation and reconnaissance missions,” explains Parrot.
The “day and night observation capabilities” of the Anafi USA drone, which includes a trio of cameras for this purpose, will indeed be able to take advantage of them.
In particular, the two 4K cameras with a 21 Mpx sensor are used to offer a 32x zoom to “detect human-sized targets […] up to 2 km away with an accuracy of 13 cm in detail.”
Also present is a Flir Boson thermal camera to more easily identify hot spots. This 500g drone also provides a flight time of up to 32 minutes and can be deployed in less than a minute.
Discretion remains the strong point of the Anafi, with Parrot announcing a sound signature of 79 dB at a distance of 1 m and an inaudible drone above 130 m .
Anafi USA has also been made more robust and secure, both in terms of its radio connection and internal data, to meet the reliability requirements of the armed forces.
Parrot insists on the development carried out in France and the production carried out in the United States, wanting to be reassuring concerning the components used: “The manufacturer indicates that “no essential components are produced in China .
Parrot Recovers Color
Parrot’s founder and CEO, Henri Seydoux, is very enthusiastic:
“We are very proud to have won this DGA call for tenders and to continue working with the United States on new opportunities.”
It is the result of more than two years of meticulous work carried out by our teams in France, and of 10 years of expertise.
We have taken an important step for the group by betting on the development of the Anafi platform, designed for the general public, robust for the needs of professionals, and safe for the requirements of the armed forces .
In today’s world, Parrot is convinced that relying on powerful, highly secure, high-tech equipment for the general public is key for security forces and armies. ”
The winning of such a contract is an assurance that Parrot will continue to operate in the coming years, a framework contract that covers in particular ‘several hundred drone systems’ and is set up for five years, even though its future for the past two years has remained uncertain.
If Parrot continues to market its Anafi in the classic version, there is nothing to say, however, that it will continue to occupy the general public market with its future devices, particularly as the European drone-use legislation has recently tightened, effectively reducing its appeal to amateurs.
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