100 Small UAVs have carved themselves a dominant position in modern land warfare of late, with both sides in the Ukraine War using them for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and strike missions. The war has been characterised by demanding physical conditions, and the heavy use of electronic warfare to jam commandand-control and navigation signals, and to target enemy UAV operators. Much success has been achieved with adapted commercial and consumer vehicles, but experience has highlighted the need for robust alternatives designed from scratch that can perform reliably in hostile conditions – machines such as the Black Widow from Red Cat/Teal Drones, recently selected for the US Army’s short-range reconnaissance programme. As well as its ease of repair in the field, the Black Widow’s communication and navigation systems have a level of resilience that enable it to detect and avoid jamming and spoofing attacks, as well as AI to enhance its targeting capabilities. Weighing just 3.6 lb (1.63 kg), Black Widow is a battery-electric quadcopter with a flight time of at least 35 minutes at standard atmospheric pressure, a range of five miles (8 km) and a maximum speed of 10 m/s (23 mph). Designed for short-range reconnaissance by day and night, and secondary payload operation, it features a modular architecture that makes it quick to adapt in the field to changing mission requirements. Practical preparation Red Cat ships the Black Widow to the customer in a dedicated hard case that contains all the system’s elements, including either one or two aircraft. Designed for ease of operation, it can be prepared for flight and launched in about 30 seconds, according to Red Cat CEO Jeff Thompson. Pre-flight checks have been kept simple, as they should be for a machine intended to be operated by one person under the most difficult conditions. Before launching the vehicle, Red Cat recommends that the battery is charged and properly latched, that the props are properly installed and the arms correctly patched in the flight position. During arming, the aircraft will run additional self-checks to prevent it from doing so if, for instance, the battery state of health or charge is inadequate, Thompson says. Both the UAV and its Warfighter Electronic Bridge (WEB) ground-control system are powered by the same model of proprietary battery from Teal Drones, which can be replaced in either device in less than five seconds. Black Widow can fly in winds of up to 18 mph (and gusts up to 25 mph), although effects on performance may be noticed at higher speeds. It can also fly in temperatures ranging from 0-32 C. Peter Donaldson looks at small but powerful UAVs being used in electronic warfare Tiny armies The Red Cat/Teal Drones Black Widow won the US Army’s Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) competition (Image courtesy of Red Cat) February/March 2025 | Uncrewed Systems Technology
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