Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles
Appendix 4: Undesignated Vehicles
Black Widow
Copyright © 2025 Andreas Parsch

Red Cat Black Widow

The Red Cat Black Widow is a hand-launched foldable quadcopter drone, which has been developed by Red Cat's subsidiary Teal since at least 2023, originally under the name "Teal 3" (as a follow-on to their "Teal 2"). It was unveiled to the general public in October 2024. The Black Widow was specifically designed for the U.S. Army's SRR T2 (Short Range Reconnaissance, Tranche 2) requirement, for a drone to supplement the RQ-28A X2D, purchased as SRR Tranche 1. In December 2023, Red Cat's design was selected as one of two finalists for SRR T2 (the other was the Skydio X10D), and publicly announced as the winner in November 2024. The Army plans to procure 540 SRR T2 drones in FY2025.

Photo: Red Cat
Black Widow


The Black Widow's primary mission payload is a very-high-resolution, mechanically stabilized EO/IR camera system based on the Teledyne FLIR Hadron 640R+. The AI-enhanced on-board software features autonomous navigation, forward-looking obstacle avoidance and automatic target identification, classfication and tracking. After a planned upgrade, visual navigation in GPS-denied environments will also be possible. Remote control is provided by a jamming-resilient radio data link, but the drone can also operate in a completely autonomous radio-off "stealth mode". The Black Widow can optionally be fitted with an attachment point for modular payloads. The drone is compatible with several hand-held GCS (Ground Control Stations), incl. a military-hardened smartphone add-on.

Specifications

Note: Data given by several sources show slight variations. Figures given below may therefore be inaccurate!

Data for Black Widow:

Dimensions?
Weight1.63 kg (3.6 lb)
Speed37 km/h (23 mph)
Ceiling?
Range8 km (5 miles)
Endurance> 35 min
PropulsionElectric motors

Main Sources

[1] Red Cat: Black Window Product Website
[2] Teal Drones: Press Release: Red Cat Holdings Selected by U.S. Army as Finalist for Short Range Reconnaissance Tranche 2 Drone Program, December 2023
[3] Breaking Defense: Army picks Red Cat’s small quadcopter for 2nd Short-Range Reconnaissance tranche, November 2024
[4] Congressional Research Service: The U.S. Army’s Small Uncrewed Aircraft Systems, November 2024


Back to Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles, Appendix 4




Last Updated: 7 January 2025