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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…

Track Teal Black Widow
Manufacturer
Red Cat Holdings
Form factor
aerial
Maturity
production
Lifecycle
active
Deployments
1
Website
ir.redcatholdings.com ↗

Appears inMilitary & defense drones

Overview

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.

Verified vs. claimed

Maturity stage
production(Full-scale production deployment with repeat customers.)
Verified deployments
1 deployment on file
Sources on file
7 sources, view all

Key facts

Weight

~4.26 lb (1.93 kg) takeoff weight

Runtime

45+ minutes endurance

Range

~5 mi (8 km) link range

Payload

Teledyne FLIR Hadron 640R+ EO/IR payload

Autonomy level

Primarily manually piloted with assistive autonomy (forward obstacle avoidance, stealth mode)

Specs

Notes

SRR program-of-record (verified) + scope correction (cap-flag): VERIFIED: Black Widow won the US Army Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) Program of Record, production selection announced Nov 19 2024, DISPLACING Skydio (the incumbent since 2021). This is a program-of-record / production SELECTION, NOT full-rate production. CAP-FLAG the scope: the actual LRIP (Low-Rate Initial Production) contract is ~$12.9M (US Army FOIA-confirmed, multiple outlets), NOT the $55M+/$80-120M management framing; the 5,880-systems figure is the Army's stated OBJECTIVE over 5 years (explicitly subject to change), NOT an obligated quantity; SRR Tranche 2 reportedly expanded to ~$35M. Reject 'billion-dollar / Pentagon-wide' framing., 'Black Hornet alternative' framing CORRECTED: Misleading as commonly stated. Black Widow (~1.9kg rucksack quadcopter, platoon-level SRR program) is a DIFFERENT, LARGER class than Teledyne FLIR's Black Hornet (~70g nano-UAV, Soldier-Borne Sensor lineage). Black Widow replaced SKYDIO on SRR, NOT the Black Hornet; they are adjacent soldier-ISR tiers, not direct substitutes., Autonomy posture (cap-flag): Primarily MANUALLY PILOTED soldier-ISR drone (WEB / GRIP S-20 ground controllers) with assistive autonomy (forward obstacle avoidance, FLIR Prism AI, stealth mode) + AI-capable compute (RB5). Any 'autonomous drone' framing is an OVERCLAIM; GPS-denied navigation is claimed with thin sensor-nav specifics., Corporate / financial state: Red Cat Holdings (NASDAQ: RCAT): FY2025 revenue $40.7M (+161% YoY, driven by SRR deliveries), net loss $72.1M; ~$167.9M year-end cash funded by ~$234M net equity + convertibles; $225M equity raise launched May 2026. A cash-burning small/mid-cap reliant on dilutive financing; company states going-concern doubt resolved via 2025 raises. Blue UAS Refresh winner + NATO NSPA catalogue listing are real but listing != fielded orders/scale., Documented exclusion (unverified short-seller claim): A 'Chinese-component' (FANG) allegation circulated from short-seller analysis of Red Cat promo photos - source is short-biased (holds RCAT short) and NOT FOIA/independently verified; NOT recorded as fact. The same short report surfaced the verified $12.9M FOIA LRIP figure, cited above with attribution.

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).

Form Factor

aerial (soldier-borne ISR rucksack quadcopter; manually-piloted + assistive autonomy + AI compute; US Army SRR program-of-record)

Data & sources

Company filings

1

Press releases

2

News coverage

1

Web sources

3

7 sources backing this record.View all →

Availability and pricing

Availability
Not sold (internal use)
Price
Not publicly disclosed
Units in field
Not disclosed
Sales model
Not disclosed
Lead time
Not disclosed

Pricing

No verified price is on record for Teal Black Widow. Physical-AI systems are often sold through enterprise contracts or operated as a service rather than at a public list price.

How DEPLOY tracks pricing

Deployments (1)

Recent activity

Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.

Full change history →

Deployment-verified media (1)

PRIMARY SOURCE
Courtesy of Red Cat

Red Cat (Teal) footage of the Black Widow short-range reconnaissance drone. A remote-piloted defense ISR platform.

From deployment: Salt Lake City

Supply chain (1)

Sensors

  • Teledyne FLIRFLIR Hadron 640R+ dual thermal-visible camera module (Boson+ 640 radiometric thermal 640x512 at 32 deg HFOV + 64MP visible at 67 deg HFOV; includes FLIR Prism AI embedded software for object detection and target tracking) -- selected by Red Cat Holdings for production of Black Widow under U.S. Army Short-Range Reconnaissance (SRR) Program of Record; bilateral November 2024supplies

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.

Regulatory filings (2)

Safety record

No incidents on record for Teal Black Widow.

Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.

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/

Compare Teal Black Widow

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.
How much does Teal Black Widow cost?
Teal Black Widow's price is not publicly disclosed. DEPLOY has no verified price on record for Teal Black Widow from Red Cat Holdings. Physical-AI systems like this are often sold through enterprise contracts or operated as a service rather than at a public list price; check the manufacturer for the latest.
Is Teal Black Widow actually deployed in the real world?
Yes. Teal Black Widow is independently verified in real-world operation on the DEPLOY registry, confirmed at named deployment sites with primary sources: not a concept, render, or demo-only.
Who makes Teal Black Widow?
Teal Black Widow is made by Red Cat Holdings, based in Puerto Rico.
Where is Teal Black Widow deployed?
1 verified deployment of Teal Black Widow is on the DEPLOY registry, including at Salt Lake City.
Methodology: Verified · 7 sources (3 primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-12

Verification posture

Verified

High confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-07-12

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.

Recent coverage

Teal Black Widow in third-party press

Red Cat Q1 Earnings Call Highlights - The Globe and Mail

May 8, 2026

Earnings call transcript: Red Cat Holdings Q1 2026 misses forecasts - Investing.com

May 7, 2026

Redwire and Red Cat Announce Strategic Drone Integration Concept to Meet Multiple U.S. Army Echelon Needs - Stock Titan

Oct 14, 2025