Red Cat has announced plans to expand its family of uncrewed systems by developing its first uncrewed surface vessel (USV), the Expeditionary Multi-Role Craft. Zona Militar spoke exclusively with Red Cat’s Vice President of Marketing, Stan Nowak, about this new project and the company’s family of uncrewed aerial systems (UASs).
The Craft is already in development. “Red Cat is preparing to start production in Q3 of a seven-meter Expeditionary Multi-Role Craft developed to meet the demands of high-speed, long-range, kinetic maritime operations,” Nowak announced.
Since Red Cat already produces a variety of drones, ZM asked about integration between USVs and UASs, namely whether the surface platform can carry onboard a Black Widow or Edge 130 Blue UAS. The answer was affirmative. The new platform “integrates seamlessly with Red Cat’s suite of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance technology and unmanned aerial systems, supporting multi-domain coordination and networked autonomous operations.”
Nowak confirmed to ZM that the development of the Craft is advanced. The “USVs are beyond prototype and have Battle-Proven Lethality.” the Red Cat executive said. The company declined to discuss orders or specific interests. However, Nowak did highlight “we are looking to sell our USVs into the US Department of Defense, US Defense & Security Agencies, and Allied Nations.”
It is worth noting that Expeditionary Multi-Role Craft is not the platform’s final name. The company told ZM that the official name is still being developed.
In an interview with the defense news agency Shephard, Red Cat CEO Jeff Thompson explained, “the 5-meter variant will be [available] as soon as we feel comfortable with the 7-meter variant, then we will go right into the 11-meter.” In other words, the company seeks to develop an entire family of USVs. The seven-meter Craft is built “for larger payloads, extended endurance, and increased firepower,” Nowak told ZM.
Zona Militar has previously covered Red Cat; in 2024, the company won the US Army’s Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) Tranche 2 Program of Record. The service plans to provide drones at all echelons, from battalions to squads; the objective of the SRR is to deliver drones for platoons. Red Cat’s solution for the SRR requirements is the Black Widow small uncrewed aerial system (sUAS).
The company is also looking to develop an Arachnid Family of Systems, which will include Black Widow; Trichon, a rugged, military-grade tricopter designed for medium-range missions; Fang, a first-person view UAS; and the WEB (Warfighter Electronic Bridge) command and control system.
In response to ZM’s question about the status of the SRR program for the US Army and the development of other systems, Nowak explained, “we are still awaiting the US Army Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) production contract and doing continuous optimization of the Edge 130 system,” adding “we are also excited to do future integration of our drone solutions with our new line of USVs.”
The company already has an international footprint. Last October, Red Cat announced a new contract and order for 12 FlightWave Edge 130 Blue systems from the Royal Australian Navy. Latin American militaries are already widely using drones. However, small drones, like the Black Widow, have a minimal presence, if any exists at all. Should the US Army move forward with the SRR program and deploy the Black Widow, Latin American military interest in these platforms may grow.
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