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Air · Reconnaissance aircraft

Penguin C Mk2 conventional-launch family

Conventional-launch Penguin reconnaissance aircraft, separated from the existing Mk2.5 VTOL profile and its operator history.

Role & capabilities

  • Reconnaissance
Supplier-reported statusSupplier-reported status
Primary domain
Air
System type
Reconnaissance aircraft
Developer / manufacturer
Redwire / Edge Autonomy / UAV Factory lineage
Origin / production countries
Latvia
Other names
Penguin C Mk2X — configuration verification pending
Variants / configurations
Not distinguished in reviewed sources
Operators / programme customers
Ukrainian Armed Forces — company filing; Latvian Ministry of Defence — company filing

Evidence & current status

Manufacturer delivery evidence and regulatory customer disclosure; Mk2X configuration equivalence remains unresolved.

Penguin C Mk2 is the conventional-launch member of the Latvian-origin Penguin family. The 2020 manufacturer release records completion of validation and commencement of customer deliveries. Redwire’s later annual filing associates the conventional aircraft with Ukrainian and Latvian defence users, separately from its VTOL customer list.

The two publications describe different communications baselines. The older release gives more than 120 kilometres, while the annual filing states a 180-kilometre line-of-sight range. The latter is displayed as the current corporate claim; it is not retroactively assigned to every earlier aircraft. A reported 25.5-hour demonstration in 2020 also involved a named imaging payload, rather than every possible mission fit.

The record preserves lineage and variant boundaries. US corporate ownership does not automatically make Latvia-designed aircraft an American-origin design. The Mk2X label requires a separately versioned technical source before its figures can be merged into this baseline, and the existing Mk2.5 VTOL remains a distinct profile.

Sourced specifications

Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.

SpecificationReported valueContext & source
AirframeConventional-launch fixed wingNot Mk2.5 VTOL. Source ↗
Launch / recoveryNot established in the reviewed public sources.Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗
Propulsion28 cc electronic-fuel-injection engine2020 configuration. Source ↗
DimensionsNot established in the reviewed public sources.Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗
MassNot established in the reviewed public sources.Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗
EnduranceUp to 25 hours, payload dependent2025 annual filing; older test reported 25.5 hours with a specific payload. Source ↗
Range180 km line-of-sight communicationsCurrent corporate filing; older release reported more than 120 km. Source ↗
SpeedNot established in the reviewed public sources.Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗
AltitudeNot established in the reviewed public sources.Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗
PayloadNot established in the reviewed public sources.Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗
SensorsModular Epsilon EO/IR family and customer-specific payloadsFit varies by generation and aircraft. Source ↗
Communications / navigationNot established in the reviewed public sources.Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗

Publication history

  • — Added in the September 2026 global coverage review, with sources, configuration limits and explicit data gaps.

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Follow the evidence

Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.

  1. UAV Factory / Redwire Penguin C Mk2 validation and delivery release, 4 November 2020 (opens in a new tab)Manufacturer
  2. Redwire 2025 annual filing: conventional Penguin and customer history (opens in a new tab)Company regulatory filing

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