Red Cat, Arastelle Partner on Tethered Drones for ISR and Comms

Red Cat Holdings has partnered with Arastelle Drone Solutions to accelerate the integration of autonomous systems for defense applications.

The collaboration focuses on combining Arastelle’s tethered drone technology with Red Cat’s existing platforms, including its Black Widow small unmanned aircraft system.

The integration aims to provide both intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and communications relay in a single system.

Arastelle’s system delivers power through a tether, allowing drones to remain airborne longer and operate as elevated communication nodes or persistent observation assets. 

This extends endurance and supports continuous coverage without relying solely on battery-powered flight, while remaining deployable by a single operator using compact, portable configurations. 

Operators can deploy the system as a Variable Height Antenna from a backpack-sized kit, enabling communications relay and overwatch in environments where connectivity is limited or degraded.

Testing and Industry Rollout

Initial testing has provided an early indication of how tethered systems could be integrated into existing drone operations.

In a recent trial, the two companies used a Teal 2 drone to assess sustained ISR coverage and communications relay, focusing on rapid deployment and extended time on station using tethered power.

The firms are expected to further present the concept at Eurosatory 2026 in Paris, where integrated configurations will be shown as part of broader efforts to demonstrate longer-endurance and multi-role drone operations.

The project is part of Red Cat’s Futures Initiative, which brings together industry partners to test and integrate capabilities such as AI-enabled autonomy, sensor fusion, and resilient control systems.

The framework is intended to streamline integration across platforms and shorten the timeline from development to operational use.