Red Cat unveils Blue Ops USV business
Blue Ops is initially offering its 7 m Variant 7 USV, which can be outfitted for a variety of applications, including strike, ISR, and SAM carrier. (Blue Ops)
Red Cat Holdings has launched a new maritime autonomy business unit, according to a company statement on 26 August.
Blue Ops joins Red Cat's Teal Drones and FlightWave Aerospace divisions, and will âdesign, build, and deploy modular USVs [unmanned surface vehicles] to support multidomain missions across military and security applicationsâ, the statement said.
Ukrainian lessons
The decision to establish Blue Ops was driven by Red Cat's strategy to become an all-domain unmanned systems company and the âevolution of drones and cross-pollination between USVs and UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles], [which] has really taken drones to a battle system levelâ, Barry Hinckley, president of Blue Ops, told Janes on 4 September. It also builds on co-operation with several Western European organisations that have been working with Ukraine on USVs for the last three years, he said.
Blue Ops is taking lessons from this collaboration to develop its USVs for the US market. The company has announced four boats so far â Variant 5, 6, 7, and 11, with a fifth likely to be unveiled in 2026, Hinckley said.
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