Eurosatory 2026: Red Cat unveils Hellcat UAV, tethered UAV, USV ambitions
Red Cat's Hellcat UAV, unveiled at Eurosatory 2026. (Red Cat)
US unmanned systems maker Red Cat unveiled its Hellcat unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) concept at the at the Eurosatory 2026 exhibition held in Paris from 15-19 June.
Developed from Red Cat subsidiary Teal Drones' Black Widow UAV, Hellcat incorporates feedback from an ongoing partnership with Ukraine, according to the company. Stan Nowak, vice president of marketing at Red Cat, told Janes that Hellcat was designed to act as a base platform onto which user capabilities could easily be included.
“Black Widow was purpose-built to meet the rigorous requirements of the U.S. Army's Short Range Reconnaissance program. For the development of this new platform, it's been an ongoing honor to work side by side with Ukrainian drone experts in theater, continuously transforming our ISR [intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance] drones,” said Jeff Thompson, CEO of Red Cat.
Red Cat Hellcat UAV1.93 kg50 minutes endurance4,000 ft maximum altitude64 km/h maximum speed11 km range with maintained line of sightRed Cat Ocellus-3CP wide angle/telephoto/IR camera payload optionQualcomm RB5 on board processorGNSS receiver and dual band L1/L2GNSS-denied operation from switch on, including Azimuth return to homeBackpack portable and field repairableDoodle Labs Hex Band Smart Radio with 1625-2500 MHz range and frequency hoppingWEB standoff radio supportSources: Red Cat, Doodle LabsNowak said that Red Cat's Ocellus three camera payload can be retrofitted on users' Black Widow UAVs. He added that one piece of feedback from their staff and testing embedded with Ukrainian forces meant them changing their video feeds to display in greyscale rather than black and white to improve target differentiation.
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