Role & capabilities
- Reconnaissance aircraft
- Primary domain
- Air
- System type
- Reconnaissance aircraft
- Developer / manufacturer
- Teal Drones / Red Cat
- Origin / production countries
- United States
- Other names
- No additional names recorded
- Variants / configurations
- Black Widow baseline; Later software / sensor configurations
- Operators / programme customers
- US Army programme; Japan Ground Self-Defense Force — order; Australian Army — supplier-reported order
Evidence & current status
The sources below establish the stated programme milestone or supplier claim. They do not independently verify every configuration, delivery total or advertised performance figure.
Role and programme
Black Widow combines a portable multirotor with stabilised day/night imaging. The specification table uses the cited investor-deck baseline rather than later interview claims about upgraded endurance. Software, camera and radio changes can materially alter configuration.
Red Cat’s April 2026 release identifies 173 systems for Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force and refers to an earlier Australian Army order. These are procurement statements, not an independently counted deployed fleet. The profile keeps system counts distinct from aircraft counts and does not treat future software or autonomy options as universal delivered features.
Sourced specifications
Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.
| Specification | Reported value | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Airframe | Small reconnaissance multirotor | Published specification for the named configuration. Maxima are not necessarily achievable together. Source ↗ |
| Launch / recovery | Vertical take-off and landing | Published specification for the named configuration. Maxima are not necessarily achievable together. Source ↗ |
| Propulsion | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Dimensions | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Mass | 1.93 kg investor-deck aircraft weight | Published specification for the named configuration. Maxima are not necessarily achievable together. Source ↗ |
| Endurance | 45+ min in cited deck; later configurations may differ | Published specification for the named configuration. Maxima are not necessarily achievable together. Source ↗ |
| Range | 8 km in cited deck | Published specification for the named configuration. Maxima are not necessarily achievable together. Source ↗ |
| Speed | 13 m/s | Published specification for the named configuration. Maxima are not necessarily achievable together. Source ↗ |
| Altitude | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Payload | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Sensors | Stabilised EO/IR Hadron 640R+ configuration | Published specification for the named configuration. Maxima are not necessarily achievable together. Source ↗ |
| Communications / navigation | Configuration-dependent GNSS and radio options | Published specification for the named configuration. Maxima are not necessarily achievable together. Source ↗ |
Publication history
- — Added a sourced global catalogue profile with configuration-specific data and explicit evidence limits.
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Follow the evidence
Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.
- Red Cat Black Widow investor-deck specification (opens in a new tab)Manufacturer / programme source
- Red Cat Japan contract disclosure, 30 April 2026 (opens in a new tab)Manufacturer / programme source