Teledyne FLIR Defense, a business unit of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated, has entered into a strategic partnership with STORM to integrate its Black Recon™ vehicle reconnaissance system with STORM’s Rapid Adapt and Deploy System (RADS™). The agreement, signed during Eurosatory 2026 in Paris, enables Teledyne FLIR Defense to become a RADS Application Partner, allowing Black Recon to be rapidly deployed across a wide range of military vehicle platforms.
Black Recon is designed to provide vehicle crews with enhanced situational awareness by enabling the autonomous launch, operation, and recovery of up to three compact reconnaissance UAVs. The system can be operated from fixed positions or directly from within a vehicle, allowing personnel to gather intelligence beyond the line of sight while remaining protected inside the cabin. Each UAV is equipped with electro-optical and thermal imaging sensors, delivering real-time surveillance in diverse operational environments.
Through the integration with RADS, Black Recon gains significantly greater deployment flexibility. STORM’s open and modular architecture standardises the installation of mission systems, enabling Black Recon to be mounted, removed, upgraded, or transferred between compatible vehicles within minutes, eliminating the need for complex custom engineering.
RADS supports integration across a broad range of platforms, including military pickup trucks, RADS Trailers, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), snowmobiles, and boats. The system also allows Black Recon to be detached from a vehicle and used as a standalone reconnaissance solution, providing operators with greater mission adaptability in rapidly changing environments.
The partnership also creates new commercial opportunities for Teledyne FLIR Defense by providing access to RADS-equipped fleets and STORM’s expanding global distributor network. Both companies plan to evaluate additional Teledyne FLIR technologies that could be integrated into the RADS ecosystem in the future.
Harald Sørensen, Vice President of Norway Operations at Teledyne FLIR Defense, said modern defence forces require solutions that can quickly adapt to changing mission requirements without lengthy vehicle modifications. He noted that RADS provides a standardised platform for deploying Black Recon across existing vehicle fleets while offering the flexibility to expand the integration of additional drone technologies over time.
Andreas Rist, Founder of STORM, welcomed the collaboration, describing Teledyne FLIR Defense’s decision to adopt RADS as a strong endorsement of the platform. He said the combination of RADS and Black Recon enables military operators to rapidly equip different vehicles with advanced reconnaissance capabilities, move systems between platforms as operational needs evolve, or deploy them independently, delivering greater flexibility and mission readiness.
About Teledyne FLIR Defense
Teledyne FLIR Defense has been providing advanced, mission-critical technology and systems for more than 45 years. Our products are on the frontlines of the world’s most pressing military, security and public safety challenges. As a global leader in thermal imaging, we design and build sophisticated surveillance sensors for air, land and maritime use. We develop the most rugged, trusted unmanned air and ground platforms, as well as intelligent sensing devices used to detect chemicals, biological agents, radiation and explosives. At Teledyne FLIR Defense we bring together this expertise to deliver solutions that enable critical decisions and keep our world safe – from any threat, anywhere.
About STORM and RADS
STORM Adapt Group AS is a Norwegian company that develops RADS, the Rapid Adapt and Deploy System: an open, modular, dual-use vehicle integration architecture for civil and defence use. RADS provides a fast, cost-effective and standardised way to integrate technology and equipment onto vehicles, built around the patented DockLock mounting system and the ArxLock external attachment rail. It lets a platform be reconfigured for changing roles and gives operators a new way to deploy capability and manage fleet logistics across a vehicle’s lifecycle. Through a network of certified application partners and an approved production network, RADS lets third-party technology be integrated once and deployed across vehicle fleets at scale. STORM operates through STORM Adapt AS (civil) and STORM Vanguard AS (defence).
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