Teal Drones Wins $1 Million Contract with U.S. Border Patrol

Blue UAS drone companies—that is, companies approved by the Pentagon for use by federal agencies—are starting to make big profits from their government-approved status.

One big Blue UAS deal announced recently is with Teal Drones, a Red Cat Holdings company.

The Golden Eagle | Credit: Teal Drones

The company recently secured a contract with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to supply its Golden Eagle drones to the agency, a deal that’s worth over one million dollars—or $1,046,806, to be exact.

As a market leader in military-grade drones, and especially night-specific drones, we look forward to providing Teal’s Golden Eagle product to the government personnel who are responsible for protecting the American people and safeguarding our borders.

– Jeff Thompson, CEO of Red Cat Holding, Inc.

But this purchase from Teal Drones is just a tiny part of a much bigger deal the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has made with five drone companies, which was announced back in December of 2021. In total, that deal is worth about $90 million over a five year period, and all five of the drone companies involved in the deal are on the Department of Defense’s Blue UAS list.

How Will U.S. Border Patrol Use the Golden Eagle?

According to a release from Teal Drones, U.S. Border Patrol will be used to:

• Provide supplemental airborne reconnaissance
• Provide surveillance
• Provide tracking capabilities
• Generally enhance situational awareness for field commanders and agents in areas that lack nearby traditional surveillance systems or available manned air support.

In addition to providing Golden Eagle drones, the contract includes battery packs and chargers, propellers, gimbal-mounted cameras, carrying cases and operator training sessions, including “train-the-trainer” sessions.

[Related read: American Drone Companies: A Master List]

To meet the demand created by the U.S. Border contract, Teal Drones recently created a new factory so it could speed up production of the Golden Eagle.

Because Red Cat has invested in a large, new manufacturing facility for Teal in Salt Lake City, we are confident in our ability to meet the delivery deadline for this significant order, as well as future orders we anticipate under this BPA with US Customs and Border Protection.

– Jeff Thompson, CEO of Red Cat Holding, Inc.

The Golden Eagle is made in the U.S. and comes with both EO (electro-optical) and IR (infrared) sensors, as well as computing for advanced autonomous operations.

Learn more about the Golden Eagle:

Red Cat Holdings’ Rapid Growth

Red Cat Holdings has been on a tear lately.

Teal Drones is its defense/public safety drone company, and Teal has seen some big wins over the last six months.

Back in April, Teal Drones announced a purchase by a NATO country to be donated to Ukraine. And in June, it rolled out 4 Ship, a commercially available drone swarm that allows a single pilot to fly up to four drones at once.

But Teal Drones is just one of several companies owned by Red Cat Holdings, Inc.

In addition to Teal Drones, Red Cat Holdings owns several other drone hardware and software companies. Each of these are companies that were built up on their own before being acquired by Red Cat to form a consortium of drone-related offerings.

Here’s an overview.

Skypersonic

Skypersonic is a drone hardware company that makes drones for inspections in GPS-denied confined spaces.

Using a Skypersonic drone, inspectors can gain access to hard-to-reach spaces that would be dangerous for a human to enter. The platform also supports completely remote drone flights, allowing pilots to fly remotely from anywhere in the world.

Learn more about Skypersonic.

Fat Shark

Fat Shark has been around for years, building a name for itself as one of the most trusted providers of goggles for FPV drones.

One of Fat Shark’s most major claims is that it has extremely low latency, a crucial aspect of FPV flying. According to the company, this low latency is achieved using highly-advanced telemetry, download technologies, and regular firmware updates.

Learn more about Fat Shark.

Rotor Riot

Rotor Riot is also a veteran of the drone industry. It started a YouTube show that features the top FPV pilots in the world, and has grown into a company with a major following.

In addition to its free entertainment and educational resources for FPV flying, Rotor Riot now provides products and services for the FPV drone community.

Learn more about Rotor Riot.

Drone Box

Drone Box provides encrypted black box storage, data analysis, and data-related services for drone ops, integrating several systems into one user-friendly platform.

According to Red Cat, Drone Box was made to address the following issues:

• Regulators do not have tools to track or review flight data
• Insurance Companies need data to insure drones
• Pilots need an easy to use system to become compliant with regulators
• Fleet managers need easy-to-use analytics platforms to improve fleet performance

Credit: Drone Box

Learn more about Drone Box.