WE know the US military is downsizing, but this is getting ridiculous: Now they’re getting thumb-sized surveillance drones.

The US Army Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Centre is developing pocket-sized technologies for their troops.

Called the Cargo Pocket Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance program (the inevitable acronym is CP-ISR), it aims to give platoons their own real-time surveillance drones — without burdensome, bulky equipment.

The little helicopter, nicknamed Black Hornet Nano, is intended to help small squads of soldiers see what is going on around them without having to expose themselves to hostile fire. It carries three small, real-time surveillance cameras and can flit about inside buildings or above city streets, through woods or over rural landscapes.

It can stay aloft for up to 25 minutes at a time and comes in a package weighing only 16 grams.

It’s swift, and virtually silent. A GPS chip ensures it knows where it is.

The benefits?

Real time, lightweight for your average unit of soldiers.

Hefty surveillance drones are currently managed from afar and often don’t offer the fast, tailored detail needed by individual squads.

This one comes in a package the size of a lunch box.

But the pocket drone isn’t quite ready yet.

It has a whole host of military communications and security standards to conform to.

And then they’ll need to find countermeasures for the common household flyswatter.