DEPLOYThe reference layer for physical AI

Robot model

Teal Black Widow

The Teal Black Widow is a soldier-borne ISR rucksack quadcopter made by Teal Drones, a subsidiary of Red Cat Holdings (NASDAQ: RCAT), and is recorded in the aerial form factor as the US Army Short Range Reconnaissance program drone. A hand-launched, foldable Group-1 quadcopter for single-operator short-range reconnaissance, it carries a Teledyne FLIR Hadron 640R+ electro-optical/infrared payload, an AES-256 frequency-hopping Doodle Labs radio, and a Qualcomm RB5 AI-capable compute module running FLIR's Prism AI stack, with about 45 minutes of endurance and roughly five miles of link range. It is primarily a manually piloted ISR drone with assistive autonomy such as forward obstacle avoidance and a radio-off stealth mode, so the registry frames any autonomous-drone characterization as an overclaim. Its load-bearing fact is verified: the Black Widow won the US Army Short Range Reconnaissance Program of Record in a production selection announced November 19, 2024, displacing the incumbent Skydio. The registry cap-flags the contract scope, however: the actual low-rate initial production contract is about 12.9 million dollars per a US Army FOIA disclosure rather than the larger figures used in management framing, and the often-cited 5,880-systems number is the Army's stated five-year objective, explicitly subject to change, not an obligated quantity, with a reported Tranche 2 expansion to about 35 million dollars. The common framing of the Black Widow as a Black Hornet alternative is corrected here: it is a different and larger class than Teledyne FLIR's roughly 70-gram Black Hornet nano-UAV and replaced Skydio on the platoon-level SRR program rather than replacing the Black Hornet. Red Cat is a cash-burning small-cap reliant on dilutive financing, with fiscal-year 2025 revenue of 40.7 million dollars driven by SRR deliveries against a 72.1 million dollar net loss, and the registry records the maturity as low-rate production.

Teal Black Widow is an aerial robot built by Red Cat Holdings.

Machine-readable surfaces

Form factor
aerial
Maturity stage
production
Lifecycle
active
Deployments
0
ID
b3dee150-2b41-4bf8-bd47-817185b78938

Specs

notes
[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]
specs
Teal Black Widow: hand-launched, foldable, rucksack-portable Group-1 soldier-ISR quadcopter for single-operator short-range reconnaissance. ~4.26 lb (1.93 kg) takeoff weight (marketing elsewhere says under 3 lb / 3.6 lb - spec inconsistency, cap-flag); 45+ min endurance; ~5 mi (8 km) link range; Teledyne FLIR Hadron 640R+ EO/IR payload; Doodle Labs Hex-Band frequency-hopping radio with AES-256; Qualcomm RB5 AI-capable compute; FLIR Prism AI software; forward obstacle avoidance + radio-off stealth mode; claimed GPS-denied operation. Made by Teal Drones, a subsidiary of Red Cat Holdings (NASDAQ: RCAT; CEO Jeff Thompson; founder/CTO George Matus; subsidiaries Teal Drones + FlightWave; Salt Lake City manufacturing).
formFactor
aerial (soldier-borne ISR rucksack quadcopter; manually-piloted + assistive autonomy + AI compute; US Army SRR program-of-record)

Supply chain

No verified supply relationships on file. Supply-chain coverage is being added across the registry; check back as the seed populates this model’s suppliers.

Suppliers appear here when verified with at least two strong sources (maker-official / IR / regulatory / standards-body / verified tier-2). Sources are append-only; corrections add new sources rather than rewrite history.

Sources (7)

  1. https://ir.redcatholdings.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/160/red-cat-announces-production-selection-for-u-s-army-short-range-reconnaissance-program
  2. https://www.therobotreport.com/red-cat-wins-u-s-army-next-gen-drone-contract-over-skydio/
  3. https://www.aviationtoday.com/2025/08/07/red-cat-expects-lrip-order-soon-for-armys-srr-small-drone-aggressive-ramp-up-in-fy-26/
  4. https://ir.redcatholdings.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/172/red-cat-holdings-proud-to-announce-teals-black-widow-and-flightwaves-edge-130-selected-as-winners-of-the-blue-uas-refresh
  5. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000748268/000162828026019861/rcat-20251231.htm
  6. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/09/11/3148375/0/en/Red-Cat-s-Teal-Drones-Black-Widow-System-Approved-for-NATO-NSPA-Catalogue.html
  7. https://fuzzypandaresearch.com/rcat-army-contract-smaller-than-claimed/

Common questions

What is Teal Black Widow?
The Teal Black Widow is a soldier-borne ISR rucksack quadcopter made by Teal Drones, a subsidiary of Red Cat Holdings (NASDAQ: RCAT), and is recorded in the aerial form factor as the US Army Short Range Reconnaissance program drone. A hand-launched, foldable Group-1 quadcopter for single-operator short-range reconnaissance, it carries a Teledyne FLIR Hadron 640R+ electro-optical/infrared payload, an AES-256 frequency-hopping Doodle Labs radio, and a Qualcomm RB5 AI-capable compute module running FLIR's Prism AI stack, with about 45 minutes of endurance and roughly five miles of link range. It is primarily a manually piloted ISR drone with assistive autonomy such as forward obstacle avoidance and a radio-off stealth mode, so the registry frames any autonomous-drone characterization as an overclaim. Its load-bearing fact is verified: the Black Widow won the US Army Short Range Reconnaissance Program of Record in a production selection announced November 19, 2024, displacing the incumbent Skydio. The registry cap-flags the contract scope, however: the actual low-rate initial production contract is about 12.9 million dollars per a US Army FOIA disclosure rather than the larger figures used in management framing, and the often-cited 5,880-systems number is the Army's stated five-year objective, explicitly subject to change, not an obligated quantity, with a reported Tranche 2 expansion to about 35 million dollars. The common framing of the Black Widow as a Black Hornet alternative is corrected here: it is a different and larger class than Teledyne FLIR's roughly 70-gram Black Hornet nano-UAV and replaced Skydio on the platoon-level SRR program rather than replacing the Black Hornet. Red Cat is a cash-burning small-cap reliant on dilutive financing, with fiscal-year 2025 revenue of 40.7 million dollars driven by SRR deliveries against a 72.1 million dollar net loss, and the registry records the maturity as low-rate production.
Who makes Teal Black Widow?
Teal Black Widow is made by Red Cat Holdings, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
Where is Teal Black Widow deployed?
No verified deployments of Teal Black Widow are currently on the DEPLOY registry. DEPLOY records deployments only when verified at a named site with a primary source; absence may reflect pre-deployment, research, or manufacturer-internal use.
What is Teal Black Widow's maturity stage?
Teal Black Widow is at the production stage on the DEPLOY maturity ladder (research, prototype, pilot, commercial, production). Production stage means high-volume manufacture and commercial-scale deployments are sustained.
Methodology: Verified · 7 sources (3 primary) · last reviewed 2026-06-04

Verification posture

Verified

High confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-06-04

Maturity + lifecycle

Maturity stage: production

Lifecycle: active

Architectural position

Cohort: aerial

Sources by quality tier

3
unclassified
Unclassified source
2
primary-company-ir
Company IR disclosure
1
secondary-trade-publication
Trade publication
1
primary-sec-filing
SEC filing

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for Teal Black Widow.