Black Widow

The Black Widow is a short-range reconnaissance drone for small-unit ISR, built by Red Cat Aerial, the brand under which Red Cat Holdings combined Teal Drones and FlightWave in October 2026. It is designed to be carried in a rucksack, launched by an individual soldier, with optional visual navigation for where GPS is jammed or spoofed.

Its significance is procedural rather than technical. In November 2024 the US Army selected Teal as the production winner of its Short Range Reconnaissance programme of record, following a multi-tranche competitive evaluation. Red Cat states the Army’s acquisition objective is 5,880 systems over a five-year period of performance, which the company notes is subject to change. No contract value was disclosed. In September 2025 the system was approved for the NATO Support and Procurement Agency catalogue, on a three-year contract with two optional additional years, opening procurement to NATO members and partners. On 30 July 2026 the US Air Force Security Forces Center placed a $2.49 million order to assess the Black Widow as a successor to its Teal 2 fleet.

Specifications

All figures are Red Cat Aerial’s published specifications, read on its Black Widow page on 30 October and 3 November 2026; Teal’s former page now redirects there. FlightBrief has not flown the aircraft.

A note on the weight figure. The published specification is 4.26 lb (1.93 kg), and that is the number used above. Red Cat’s own NSPA press release describes the system as “under 3 lbs” with rucksack portability, and third-party dealers list 3.6 lb. These almost certainly describe different configurations — aircraft alone versus a fitted-out system — but Red Cat has not reconciled them publicly. Anyone buying against a weight requirement should confirm the configuration in writing.

The figures changed in October 2026. Teal’s former page gave 45+ minutes, 13 m/s and 8 km and a Teledyne FLIR Hadron 640R+ camera. Red Cat Aerial’s page, which replaced it, gives 50+ minutes, 18 m/s and 11 km and the Ocellus 3CP payload, which it says fits existing Black Widow systems. Ask which configuration a quote refers to.

Red Cat does not publish wind resistance, operating temperature or dimensions, and none are asserted here.

Red Cat’s storefront also lists a Black Widow AiN on the same airframe. It adds assured positioning and navigation for areas where GPS cannot be relied on, Next Generation Command and Control, and an offset radio. Its specifications are not yet published.

Use Cases

Squad-level ISR in electronically contested environments, where commercial drones fail to jamming or spoofing. Urban reconnaissance for building clearance and route assessment. Perimeter monitoring where a small, replaceable platform is preferable to committing a larger ISR asset.

Market Context

The Black Widow is US-manufactured, which keeps it clear of the NDAA Section 848 restrictions on Chinese-made aircraft. It is on the Blue UAS Cleared List: DIU selected it for assessment in February 2025, and the official DCMA list, read on 8 October 2026, shows it with a date added of 7 April 2026. See the Blue UAS Cleared List guide for how that route works.

Its closest comparison is the Skydio X2D, the platform it beat in the SRR competition. The Skydio X10 is a larger inspection and observation aircraft in a different class, not a direct rival. Parrot’s ANAFI USA remains the other established NDAA-compliant option in the small-ISR segment.

The realistic read is that the SRR win, not the specification sheet, is what matters here. A 5,880-system objective makes the Black Widow the default US Army squad reconnaissance drone for the rest of the decade if Red Cat can deliver at rate — and Red Cat is a small company whose ability to manufacture at that volume is unproven. That execution risk, rather than any competing platform, is the thing to watch.