August 4, 2023: NATO countries, particularly the United States, have supplied Ukraine with over $50 billion in weapons, munitions and equipment since early 2022. Ukraine often requests specific items. One of the smallest items sent is the Black Hornet Nano micro UAV. Weighing 18g (.7 ounces) and measuring 16x2.5 cm (6x1 inches). Nano can stay in the air up to 25 minutes before requiring a battery recharge. Nano is controlled by a soldier using a cellphone-sized display attached to two small joysticks for maneuvering the Nano. Maximum line-of-sight distance from the operator is about 1,000 meters. Nano has GPS and can be programmed to fly a specified course and return to the operator.

First introduced in 2012, the digital video camera had night vision added when the Nano 2 (second generation) was introduced in 2014. Nano 2 appeared in 2018 with several upgrades like longer range (2,000 meters by flying faster) and the ability to briefly operate where there is no GPS signal. This was needed so Nano could briefly fly indoors and then out when that meant no or degraded GPS signals while inside. The Nano 3 video camera has higher resolution and a thermal sensor. This allows images to remain useful when enlarged. Nano three can have a spent battery detached and replaced with a fresh one. The spent battery can be recharged outside the Nano. The battery-operated Nano is virtually silent and so small that it can often operate without the enemy noticing it. All this comes at a cost as each Nano, with accessories) costs about $200,000. Despite the price, over 4,000 Nanos have been delivered or are on order. Over twenty nations use Nano, including Ukraine. Russia has obtained some Nanos from Ukrainian special operations troops captured inside Russia.

The British army, which pioneered the use of Nano, saw it as a worthwhile upgrade from the larger, ten-times heavier SQ-4 quadcopter UAV they were using two decades ago. SQ-4 has some capabilities Nano lacked and, at $32,000 each, was a lot cheaper. For military users of UAVs, size matters and Nano took a lot of sales away from systems like SQ-4.