The U.S. Army has started production of the short-range reconnaissance, or SRR, drones as part of its effort to modernize its battlefield capabilities.
Teal Drones, a subsidiary of Red Cat, is one of the two vendors the service selected to manufacture drones Tranche 2 of the program. The company will equip Transformation in Contact, or TiC, units with its Black Widow unmanned aircraft system to counter emerging threats, the Army said Tuesday.
Fielding of drones as part of SRR Tranche 1 began in September 2022. The Army has so far fielded the capability across 16 brigades.
For Tranche 2 of the program, the Army incorporated lessons learned from previous fieldings into the technologies.
SRR drones are equipped with sensors that integrate with the Army’s uncrewed vehicle control and Android tactical assault kit capabilities. The unmanned systems are expected to increase soldier survivability by providing real-time intelligence and target acquisition, detecting threats and identifying safe routes.
Black Widow UAS Details
Black Widow is part of Teal Drones’ Arachnid family of unmanned intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and precision strike systems.
According to the company, Black Widow weighs about 1.63 kilograms, making it easily portable, and quiet acoustic signature for stealth missions. It can fly at a speed of 23 miles per hour with a range of 8 kilometers and a flight time of over 35 minutes.
The drone is equipped with Teledyne’s forward-looking infrared, or FLIR, Prism artificial intelligence software stack to detect, classify and track objects of interest. Black Widow also features Doodle Hex-Band Radio with frequency stepping to enhance resilience against electronic warfare attacks; Reveal Farsight 3D mapping software; and Athena AI target identification, tracking and classification software.
