Red Cat Holdings has secured a contract from a NATO member state for its Black Widow small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) following a competitive tender, with deliveries planned for this year.
Each system will include two aircraft, a ground control station, and supporting mission equipment.
The acquisition was handled through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency, which manages defense purchases and logistics.
The number of systems ordered or the total contract value were not disclosed.
“This contract reflects a broader shift toward systems that can move quickly from procurement to deployment,” said Red Cat CEO Jeff Thompson.
“NATO allies need platforms that are deployable today for use in contested environments, built on secure US supply chains, and able to be manufactured and fielded at scale.”
Black Widow
Black Widow is designed for short-range intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions at the tactical level.
Weighing about 1.93 kilograms (4.26 pounds), it has an endurance of more than 50 minutes and an operational range of up to 8 kilometers (5 miles).
It integrates an electro-optical and infrared sensor, the Hadron 640R+ developed by Teledyne FLIR, providing day- and night-time imaging.
This is paired with onboard processing and software supporting target detection, tracking, and classification, with additional tools for three-dimensional mapping and target recognition.
The system uses a multi-band radio with frequency stepping to reduce the risk of jamming, while visual navigation enables operations in GPS-denied environments.
Additional features include forward obstacle avoidance, a low acoustic signature, and a mode allowing missions to be carried out with radios switched off.
The platform is built around a modular architecture, allowing different payloads or mission configurations depending on operational requirements.
