Blue-UAS quadcopters for defense and public safety — Teal and Red Cat’s military push, tracked.
Teal Drones is one of the American manufacturers actually winning military drone contracts rather than talking about them. Founded by George Matus and now the drone-making subsidiary of Red Cat Holdings, Teal went from the consumer-adjacent Teal One to the US-made Golden Eagle, an approved Blue sUAS system, and then into full military production with the Teal 2 and today’s Black Widow.
Black Widow is the aircraft carrying the company. The US Army selected it for the Short Range Reconnaissance program in November 2024, and in July 2026 the Air Force signed a $2.49 million contract to evaluate it as the successor to the Security Forces’ own Teal 2 fleet, an unusual contest where the incumbent and the challenger share a corporate parent. In a DroneXL interview in August 2026, Divisional CEO Mitch McDonald said the entire Air Force order was built and shelf-ready weeks before the deadline, and revealed that the Army spent a day inside Red Cat’s facility assessing AiN, the three-camera Palantir-powered navigation payload that could put Black Widow into a second program of record. The Palantir partnership dates to December 2024, covering visual-based navigation and the Warp Speed manufacturing system.
The company’s operational posture is the part worth watching: build ahead of demand, hold finished stock, ship within 10 business days, and claim the capacity to replace a thousand-system fleet in a month or two. In an industry where Pentagon procurement is actively hunting for DJI alternatives, that is the pitch the government wants to hear. The feed below carries every Teal and Red Cat story as we publish it.
Last updated August 19, 2026 — the feed below updates with every new story.
Red Cat's entire $2.49 million Air Force Black Widow order is built and waiting, Divisional CEO Mitch McDonald told DroneXL, as the Army assesses the company's new Palantir-equipped AiN payload on its own factory floor.
Red Cat's Teal Drones won a $2.49 million Air Force order to evaluate Black Widow as a potential successor to the Security Forces' current Teal 2 fleet.
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Red Cat Holdings reported explosive third-quarter revenue growth of 646% year-over-year on November 13, 2025, reaching $9.6 million and beating analyst consensus expectations. The U.S.-based defense drone manufacturer announced its Army Short Range Reconnaissance Tranche 2 contract has expanded to approximately $35 million, while simultaneously launching a maritime division and doubling manufactur
Red Cat Holdings. Teal was founded by George Matus, and it operates as Red Cat's drone-manufacturing subsidiary; in August 2026 Mitch McDonald was promoted to Divisional CEO of Red Cat's UAS operations.
Teal's current military small drone. The US Army selected it for the Short Range Reconnaissance program in November 2024, and in July 2026 the Air Force ordered a $2.49 million evaluation package to assess it as a successor to the Security Forces' Teal 2 fleet.
Advanced Imaging and Navigation, a three-camera payload packaging Palantir's visual-based navigation. The Army assessed it at Red Cat's own facility in August 2026, it is backwards compatible with fielded Black Widows, and Red Cat believes it reaches parity or better against the competition.
Red Cat builds ahead of demand and holds finished stock because some component lead times run nine months. It ships most orders within 10 business days, and the company says it could replace a fleet of one to two thousand systems within a month or two.
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