Red Cat Holdings has won a contract from a NATO member state to supply its Black Widow small drone system, following a competitive tender, with deliveries expected this year. Each system includes two drones, a ground control station, and mission support equipment. The deal was processed through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency, though the contract value and quantity remain undisclosed.
The Black Widow is built for short-range tactical ISR missions, weighing about 1.93 kg and offering over 50 minutes of flight endurance with a range of up to 8 km.
It features the Hadron 640R+ electro-optical/infrared sensor from Teledyne FLIR, enabling day and night operations. Onboard software supports target detection, tracking, and classification, along with 3D mapping and recognition capabilities.
The system incorporates anti-jamming measures through a multi-band radio with frequency stepping and can operate in GPS-denied environments using visual navigation. Additional features include obstacle avoidance, low noise for stealth, and a radio-silent mode. Its modular design allows for flexible payload configurations based on mission needs.
