FAA Approves Red Cat Drone ID Technology

Red Cat’s military grade small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS), the Teal 2, has received Remote ID certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The new certification means the drone can provide identification and location information to other parties via a broadcast signal.

The news comes in the midst of a wider regulatory push to equip drones with Remote ID, with the FAA stipulating all UAS’ operating in U.S. airspace must have the capability as of Sept. 16.

Teal 2’s Remote ID system sits inside the vehicle, broadcasting data from the flight control system once every second, to ensure a high level of accuracy. It also uses Bluetooth 5 to allow the signal to be transmitted over a longer distance — as far as a mile — which marks a significant increase as compared to other systems currently available. 

Red Cat’s Remote ID was tested recently in New York. Non-profit NUAIR oversaw the tests. 

“Remote ID is another great step forward to safely integrate drones into the national airspace and move the commercial drone industry forward,” said Ken Stewart, NUAIR’s CEO. “NUAIR has conducted multiple validations for other ASTM Standards including sUAS parachute recovery systems and we are happy to see Red Cat receive their certification following our successful validation of their Remote ID solution.”

Related:Teal Drones Receives $2.6M Air Force Order

According to Red Cat, in the future all Teal 2 systems sold for operation within the U.S. will be manufactured with Remote ID integrated. The company also said it will be working to retrofit 

previously manufactured Teal 2s with Remote ID.

“We've put a lot of effort, a lot of resources and a lot of capital into this to make sure that our customers won't have a service interruption,” said Brendan Stewart, Red Cat’s vice president of regulatory affairs. “For us at Red Cat, standing behind the quality of our products means ensuring that they’ll remain operational and compliant with regulations long into the future.”