Black Widow
Teal Drones · United States · also known as Teal Black Widow, Red Cat Black Widow · Updated
Black Widow is a backpack-portable reconnaissance quadcopter developed by Teal Drones of the United States, first shown publicly at the AUSA 2024 conference in October 2024. It is built for the US Army's Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) requirement, giving dismounted units a compact aircraft for close-in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Overview
Shephard Media reported that Teal Drones, a Red Cat Holdings company, displayed Black Widow for the first time at AUSA 2024 as the flagship aircraft of Red Cat's Arachnid family of person-portable unmanned systems, alongside two other in-development designs named Fang and Trichon. Teal Drones traces to 2014, when it was founded in Utah by George Matus; Red Cat Holdings acquired the company in 2021, and Black Widow is now sold through Red Cat's unified "Red Cat Aerial" product line together with sibling brand FlightWave.
TWZ reported in May 2025 that the US Army had recently selected Black Widow, describing it alongside Red Cat's longer-range Edge 130 as capable of artificial-intelligence-assisted and cooperative operation between aircraft. Teal Drones' own product page markets Black Widow as a winner of the Army's SRR Program of Record and lists it as available for order through the UAS Marketplace.
Design and capabilities
Black Widow is a four-rotor, battery-electric quadcopter weighing 4.26 lb (1.93 kg), according to Teal Drones' product page; Shephard's 2024 report on the AUSA unveiling gave a lower early-development weight of 1.63 kg, which the manufacturer's current, more detailed figure supersedes. The manufacturer quotes an endurance of 50 or more minutes at standard atmospheric pressure, a maintained-line-of-sight range of up to 6.8 miles (11 km), a top speed of 18 m/s (about 40 mph, roughly 64 km/h), and a service ceiling above 4,000 ft (about 1,219 m) above ground level.
The aircraft carries a three-axis stabilised gimbal with a thermal imager and two visible-light cameras — a wide-angle lens and a telephoto lens — for electro-optical/infrared reconnaissance, and runs on a Qualcomm RB5 processor with an integrated AI software stack for tasks such as obstacle avoidance and target recognition. For operation in contested electromagnetic environments, Teal Drones' page describes a frequency-hopping radio link, a toggle to fly fully GPS-denied from power-on, and an encrypted ground-control link with channel and band hopping. A companion wearable ground control station weighs about 3.6 lb (1.63 kg) and streams 1080p video with under 250 ms of latency.
Operational history
TWZ's May 2025 briefing coverage places Black Widow as a recently Army-selected short-range reconnaissance drone, developed by Teal Drones under parent company Red Cat Holdings. Teal Drones' own materials describe the Army's Short Range Reconnaissance Program of Record as the aircraft's anchor customer and list it as commercially available to other buyers through the UAS Marketplace, subject to US export-control requirements on end use and end user.
Frequently asked questions
What is the range of Black Widow?
Up to 6.8 miles (11 km) while maintaining operator line of sight, per Teal Drones' product page.
How long can Black Widow fly?
50 minutes or more at standard atmospheric pressure, according to the manufacturer.
How much does Black Widow weigh?
The aircraft weighs 4.26 lb (1.93 kg), per Teal Drones' current specifications.
Who uses Black Widow?
The US Army, which selected it for its Short Range Reconnaissance Program of Record, according to TWZ and the manufacturer.
What sensors does Black Widow carry?
A three-axis gimbal combining a thermal imager with wide-angle and telephoto visible-light cameras, per the manufacturer.
Can Black Widow fly without GPS?
Yes — Teal Drones' page describes a GPS toggle that lets the aircraft fly fully GPS-denied from power-on.
