Puerto Rico’s Red Cat Holdings has unveiled a new family of surveillance and precision strike drones that it said to be an alternative to expensive air defense solutions.
During the Eurosatory 2024 exhibition in Paris, the drone tech firm lifted the lid on its Edge 130 Blue unmanned aerial system (UAS) capable of vertical takeoff and landing.
It can reportedly be hand-launched by a single operator to capture high-accuracy aerial imagery for over two hours.
Red Cat also showcased its FANG first-person view drone, which is still under development.
The company said the UAS can work alongside other lethal payloads and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms for more accurate and lethal strikes.
Lastly, the Puerto Rican firm unveiled its man-portable Teal 2 designed to “dominate the night” with its flight endurance of 30 minutes.
It can also provide battle damage assessment for military customers.
Cost-Effective Systems
Red Cat said its new family of drones is designed to meet the increasing global need for cost-effective UAS solutions.
It would also allow warfighters to choose the right combination of drones and payloads to support a variety of missions.
Additionally, utilizing the three new UAS will give operators access to an ecosystem of tactical artificial intelligence, computer vision, and machine learning software that can accurately identify and eliminate threats.
“The entire nature of warfare and use of drone technology is undergoing a fundamental shift, and this new family of systems will completely disrupt the traditional ISR and loitering munition systems market,” company CEO Jeff Thompson said.
Red Cat promised to further improve its drone offerings with new features, such as better batteries, command and control links, and electro-optical payloads.