Teledyne FLIR has been selected by Red Cat Holdings to provide advanced thermal imaging cameras for the US Army’s new short-range reconnaissance (SRR) drone.
Under the agreement, Teledyne will integrate its Hadron 640R+ longwave infrared camera module into the Black Widow unmanned aircraft system (UAS), the army’s newly-chosen SRR platform.
According to Teledyne, the Hadron camera will enhance the Black Widow’s night-time capabilities with its 640×512 resolution and industry-leading thermal sensitivity.
The tech is also commonly paired with Prism, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered software suite that enables high-precision object detection and multi-target tracking.
“We are proud to be selected by Red Cat to support the Black Widow with unparalleled tactical capabilities for the US Army’s SSR Program,” Teledyne FLIR Vice President Paul Clayton said.
“This collaboration provides the Black Widow with superior yet compact dual thermal-visible imaging along with AI software libraries that enable classification, object detection, and object tracking to complete the mission day or night.”
Black Widow: The US Army’s Next SRR Drone
Earlier this month, the US Army chose Teal’s Black Widow quadcopter drone as its next SRR solution following a rigorous evaluation process.
Teal is a subsidiary of Red Cat Holdings, which officially merged in 2021.
The Black Widow drone boasts a top speed of 37 kilometers (23 miles) per hour and an operational range of up to 8 kilometers (5 miles).
It can remain airborne for more than 35 minutes, providing persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities.
In addition to its SRR role, the Black Widow can support a variety of missions, including threat detection, multi-vehicle control, and the identification of safe landing zones.
“Black Widow [is] a highly capable, rucksack-portable small UAS designed for operation in electronic warfare environments,” Teledyne FLIR noted. “Black Widow’s fully modular architecture enables swift adaptation to diverse mission requirements.”