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20 Nov 24. Red Cat Selected for US Army Short Range Reconnaissance Program. Red Cat Holdings, Inc. has been selected as the winner of the U.S. Army’s Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) Program of Record. The production selection was made after a test and evaluation process of Teal’s next generation sUAS, completed by the Army Project Management Office for Uncrewed Aircraft Systems, Army Maneuver Battle Lab, Army Test and Evaluation Command, and Army Operational Test Center.
“This is a powerful moment in time, coming after five years of blood, sweat, and tears put into SRR by our incredible team. The long-awaited production selection marks a new era for our company and the future of American drones,” said George Matus, founder of Teal and CTO of Red Cat. “We were selected based on soldier feedback, technical performance, volume manufacturability, and system cost. Our top priority now is to start ramping production of the next generation system, recently announced as the Black Widow and WEB, and give warfighters the tools they need to be successful on the modern battlefield.”
“Warfare has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past two years, with a significant shift towards drone technology, exemplified by the SRR Black Widow. It is an honour to support the U.S. Army by delivering the Black Widow to our warfighters. We believe this advanced technology will enable the Army to shape the battlefield, save soldiers’ lives, and serve as a powerful tool in their arsenal,” said Jeff Thompson, CEO of Red Cat. “This long-term contract will give us the capability to continue to improve the Black Widow, scale production and improve margins.”
“Both the operational and tactical levels of war and maneuver of combat elements have evolved significantly over the past couple of years,” said Paul Edward Funk II, retired Four-Star Army General and Red Cat board member. “Operational success today depends on the ability to seamlessly move data across the battlefield. From a tactical perspective, small unmanned aerial systems that are rucksack portable are playing a vital role in Intelligence Surveillance & Reconnaissance, as well as surgical strike capabilities based on the real-time needs of the warfighter.”
The SRR contract selection builds on significant momentum for Red Cat, with the acquisition of FlightWave Aerospace, the announcement of the ARACHNID family of systems, and the creation of the Red Cat Futures Initiative.
The company is focused on ramping production of Teal’s next generation system to meet the Army’s currently stated acquisition objective for 5,880 systems, which is subject to change over the 5 year period of performance. Red Cat is also preparing to meet increased demand across the rest of the U.S. DoD, federal government, and allied countries, to support operators and warfighters globally. (Source: UAS VISION)
18 Nov 24. Qinetiq Germany Delivers Uncrewed Aerial Training Services to the German Armed Forces. QinetiQ Germany has demonstrated the first successful flight of a Rheinmetall Delta B15 target drone in Todendorf as part of the German Uncrewed Aerial Training Services (ATS).
This flight is the first step in QinetiQ’s partnership with Rheinmetall in Germany in the Ground-based Air Defence (GBAD) segment.
The Delta B15 has been chosen to meet the new GBAD requirements and is continuously being updated to address emerging threats, including the widespread use of SHAHED one-way drones. The Delta B15 target drone will fulfill the requirements of NATO and the European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI) partner nations, providing essential training for systems currently deployed in Germany.
QinetiQ will use the Rheinmetall Delta B15 drone in Germany starting in 2025, with a future roadmap for operations at sea with the German Navy.
Matthias Grögor, Head of Strategic Business Development (Germany), said: “In cooperation with Rheinmetall, QinetiQ Germany can expand its market position in the relevant procurement programs of our customers in Germany. This means that we are actively preparing today for the arrival of newly procured weapon systems, always with an eye on current threats and an outlook to 2035. The cooperation is part of our holistic Global Threat Representation Life Cycle approach, which we at QinetiQ implement worldwide as a service provider in exercises from operational analysis to implementation.”
Mark Robert Henning, CEO of Rheinmetall Technical Publications GmbH, Business Unit Rheinmetall Product and Airborne Solutions, said: “We are thankful to have been chosen by QinetiQ to supply the new target drones playing an active role in the European Sky Shield Initiative. We look forward to intensifying our collaboration in this field, based on our extensive experience in target solutions for ground-based air Defense training on the one hand and unmanned systems on the other. The sophistication and diversity of airborne threats are ever-evolving. We at Rheinmetall are continuously anticipating these advances and are developing solutions to cope with these.” (Source: ASD Network)
15 Nov 24. Poland boosts drone purchases, to start unmanned aircraft inspectorate in January. Poland has ordered 52 FlyEye surveillance drones in a contract worth 100m zlotys ($24.49m), its defence minister said on Friday, adding that a drone military inspectorate being set up by the Polish army would start work in January.
“We will develop drone forces … in all domains in which drones can operate,” the minister, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said, while signing the drone purchase deal.
The drone inspectorate will coordinate strategy for the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as unify the training of their operators. FlyEye drones, produced by Polish company WB Electronics, are designed to conduct image reconnaissance from the air both in daylight and using thermal imaging at night. (Source: Reuters)
18 Nov 24. Pentagon announces new batch of drones for Replicator program. The Pentagon unveiled a new round of aerial and maritime drones for Replicator, a massive effort to fast-track the delivery of unmanned weapons systems to the services.
Included in the batch are multiple drones from the Army’s company-level small unmanned aerial system, or UAS, program. The service had selected the Ghost-X, made by Anduril Industries, and the C-100, made by Performance Drone Works.
In a release, the Pentagon said these will offer versatile weapons for the units in the field, useful for targeting or surveilling the enemy.
Replicator will also include Anduril’s Altius-600, a one-way attack drone on contract with the Marine Corps, and the enterprise test vehicle, or ETV. The latter drone has long been rumored as a Replicator candidate, with requirements like a 500-nautical mile range that fit the program’s parameters.
The Air Force and Defense Innovation Unit are considering four vendors for the ETV: Anduril, Integrated Solutions for Systems Inc., Leidos Dynetics and Zone 5 Technologies.
Wednesday’s statement marks the second — and most specific — time the Pentagon has disclosed what systems it’s buying for the program. Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks announced Replicator last year at a tech conference in downtown Washington, pledging to field thousands of cheap drones by August 2025, or within two years.
Hicks has said her goal is to deter China, which has a far larger population and manufacturing sector. In part due to that aim, the Pentagon hasn’t listed much of what it’s buying through Replicator. Before this week, the Defense Department had only publicly acknowledged one drone included in the program: AeroVironment’s Switchblade 600, another one-way attack drone.
Such furtiveness has at times chafed companies hoping to compete for funding. The Defense Department secured $500 m for fiscal year 2024, with the same amount included in the defense budget request for fiscal year 2025, which Congress hasn’t yet passed.
In Wednesday’s statement, the Pentagon said that it considered 500 commercial firms for Replicator, awarding contracts to 30 companies. A further 50 are included as subcontractors.
In a separate release, Anduril said it was “rapidly” increasing production of its Altius and Barracuda drones in order to meet the Pentagon’s demand.
“The Replicator initiative is demonstrably reducing barriers to innovation, and delivering capabilities to warfighters at a rapid pace,” Hicks wrote in the statement, which notes that other systems in the program remain classified.
The deputy has long argued that Replicator is a way of doing business rather than a discrete program. Buying and fielding systems at a faster pace has long been a challenge under the strictures of Pentagon bureaucracy, and Replicator is meant to offer a faster path for urgent needs.
The second phase of the program will focus on weapons that can counter the kind of cheap drones Replicator is now buying — a particular issue for American forces in the Middle East, who have spent the last year shooting down cheap weapons fired by Iran-backed militants using far more expensive interceptors.
To make sure Replicator drones can work together, the Pentagon is relying on commercial firms to provide what Hicks’ statement calls “integrated enablers,” or software that can coordinate “hundreds of thousands” of assets.
The statement said these will be able to resist jamming, which has destroyed countless drones during the war in Ukraine.
The Pentagon has also committed to announcing those awards at a later date. (Source: Defense News)
15 Nov 24. British Army and UK police using drones made by sanctioned Kremlin supplier. China’s Autel Robotics is accused of aiding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The army is using drones from a Chinese company that has been sanctioned for supplying the Kremlin’s war effort in Ukraine, it has emerged. The Ministry of Defence has purchased drones from Autel Robotics, which was last week added to the sanctions list with measures including an asset freeze.
Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, was last month seen piloting an Autel drone at an army base used to train Ukrainian recruits, alongside Jon Healey, the Defence Secretary.
The drones have also been used by police forces in Nottinghamshire and Wiltshire. All the vehicles were purchased before the sanctions were imposed.
Autel, one of the world’s biggest drone manufacturers, says its drones are not designed for military use, but they have been widely used on both sides during the war in Ukraine.
The Foreign Office took action against Autel last week as part of its largest sanctions package against Russia in over a year.
It said the company had been involved in “destabilising Ukraine or undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine”.
The US added the company to a trade blacklist in the summer. It said that in addition to supplying Russia with drones the company had sought to “acquire US-origin items applicable to unmanned aerial vehicles to be used by Chinese military entities”.
Widely available to buy
The Ministry of Defence said it had purchased a small number of Autel drones to help train Ukrainian troops.
“No Chinese technology is used for core MoD business,” a spokesman said.
“A small number of Autel drones have been purchased to train Ukrainian recruits, primarily to replicate the threat they will face from Russian drones.
“Significant mitigation measures are in place to protect MoD personnel and equipment that include no audio or visual recording from the drones and no connecting to MoD devices.”
The MoD said it had no plans to buy more Autel drones. Its use of the vehicles was first reported by Bloomberg.
Ms Reeves was photographed piloting an Autel Evo drone last month as the Chancellor visited the Stanford Training Area in Norfolk ahead of announcing a £2.2bn loan to Ukraine.
Nottinghamshire Police announced in 2022 that it had purchased two Autel Evo II 640T drones, used for activities such as surveillance and search and rescue operations.
The drones are also widely available for consumers to purchase in the UK.
Many police forces around the UK use drones from Chinese manufacturer DJI, which has faced restrictions in the US.
(Source: Daily Telegraph)
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