Red Cat touts ukraine-tested drones, expands into autonomous boats. September 21, 2026 Key points. * Battlefield-tested drones: Red Cat says its Black Widow and next-generation Hellcat platforms incorporate lessons from Ukraine, including autonomous recovery and operations in GPS-denied, electronic-warfare environments. The company is also pursuing customers across Asia and the Indo-Pacific. * Emphasis on interoperability: CEO Jeff Thompson highlighted integration with command-and-control platforms such as Lattice and Palantir, arguing that autonomous drones and other unmanned assets must operate through a shared control layer. * Expansion into unmanned boats: Through its Blue Ops business, Red Cat is developing autonomous surface vessels for missions including surveillance, weapons deployment and counter-drone operations. The company says potential Navy interest and international demand could make USV sales an important catalyst over the next year. * Five stocks to consider instead of Red Cat. Red Cat NASDAQ: RCAT is positioning its drone and unmanned surface vessel businesses around lessons drawn from active conflict zones, with Chairman and CEO Jeff Thompson emphasizing battlefield testing, production readiness and interoperability as key differentiators. Speaking at a Piper Sandler event, Thompson said Red Cat was founded in 2016 through the consolidation of several first-person-view, or FPV, drone companies. The company later expanded into defense-oriented systems, including short-range reconnaissance drones and, more recently, unmanned surface vessels, or USVs. Thompson said the company's flagship Black Widow drone won the U.S. Army's Short Range Reconnaissance, or SRR, program following a competitive evaluation process. He said Red Cat prevailed in head-to-head testing during Project Convergence, though he did not provide financial details related to the program. Battlefield lessons shape product development. Thompson argued that formal military requirements do not always reflect the realities of modern electronic warfare. He said GPS-denied operations were not included in the original SRR requirements and that Red Cat has focused on testing its systems against electronic-warfare conditions in Ukraine. "We have a team that is sole responsible is to make sure that we never give a WarFighter a product that does not work in Ukraine," Thompson said. He described a recent frontline test in Ukraine in which a drone lost connectivity but returned autonomously after operators turned off the controller's web connection. Thompson said Red Cat's next-generation Hellcat platform is based on the Black Widow design and incorporates input from Ukrainian users. According to Thompson, the company is active in four theaters and has spent recent months engaging with potential customers and defense organizations in Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan. He said the company is seeking to apply technology developed for contested environments in Ukraine to other regions where jamming could disrupt conventional unmanned systems. Focus on integration and autonomous systems. Thompson said integration with command-and-control software and third-party systems will be crucial as autonomous platforms become more widely deployed. He said Red Cat has integrated with Lattice and Palantir and is evaluating an exercise with Palantir involving its USVs. "If your stuff does not work with everybody else's stuff, your stuff is kind of useless," Thompson said, adding that Red Cat also works with radar and interceptor-system providers. He said future force structures will require a mix of systems, including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance drones, FPV drones, bomber drones, logistics assets and unmanned boats. In his view, autonomous systems must be coordinated through a common control layer that provides visibility into assets and missions across a wide operational area. Thompson also discussed the Defense Department's drone-dominance initiative, saying Red Cat learned from early "Gauntlet" testing events. He said the company delivered drones early for a subsequent evaluation and worked with two kinetic-system partners. Thompson criticized competitors that, in his view, have struggled to deliver awarded drone quantities, while saying Red Cat has inventory available to fulfill orders quickly. USV business and production Expansion. Red Cat has expanded into USVs through its Blue Ops business. Thompson said the company's approach has been to begin with boat-building expertise rather than designing systems primarily around software requirements. He said Red Cat's 15-meter boat was designed to withstand capsizing and return to operation, while its 28-foot V7 platform can be configured for missions including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, missiles, torpedoes and counter-drone interceptors. Thompson said the company has demonstrated its boats to the U.S. Navy and that the Navy has inspected its Valdosta production facility to evaluate whether Red Cat can meet potential production requirements. He said the company expects USV sales to become an important catalyst over the next year. The CEO said demand for smaller autonomous vessels is growing across regions, including the Middle East, South America and the Indo-Pacific. He attributed increased interest partly to events in the Black Sea and the Strait of Hormuz, which he said highlighted vulnerabilities in waterways and the potential utility of unmanned systems. Thompson said international customers increasingly are requesting localized production arrangements. Red Cat is considering models in which it could initially supply systems before working with local partners to establish in-country manufacturing. He said the company can ship components and materials for as many as 20 V7s in a single 20-foot container, with hulls produced using 3D printing in theater. About Red Cat (NASDAQ:RCAT). Red Cat Holdings, Inc is a drone technology company that develops and supplies small unmanned aircraft systems for military, government, public safety and commercial applications. Its solutions are designed to support intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, situational awareness, and other missions requiring portable and rapidly deployable aerial systems. Through its Teal Drones business, Red Cat offers the Teal 2 and related Black Widow systems, compact drones designed for defense and public-safety users. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. Before you consider Red Cat, you'll want to hear this. MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Red Cat wasn't on the list. While Red Cat currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. A strong long-term portfolio starts with companies that can survive recessions, inflation, changing consumer habits, and shifting market leadership. This report names seven blue-chip stocks across technology, retail, consumer staples, healthcare, networking, sporting goods, and utilities that offer investors a mix of stability, income, growth, and staying power. Continue following MarketBeat

The 5 best performance review tools for small teams (2026). If you're setting up performance reviews for a 10-100 person team (its guide to running them covers the process itself), the tool question comes up fast. Full disclosure up front: Sparko is its product, and Sparko has put it first - but Sparko has kept every entry honest, said plainly who each tool fits best, and linked its detailed comparisons, which cite sources and point out where competitors are stronger than Sparko is. How Sparko judged: depth of the review workflow itself (cycles, 360s, calibration), how much else you need to buy around it, pricing transparency, and fit for a company without a dedicated HR-ops function. 1. Sparko - reviews built into the HRIS itself (that's Sparko). Every other tool on this list is a layer that sits on top of your HRIS. Sparko is the opposite architecture: performance is part of the HRIS. That one difference drives everything else: * The review runs on the real record. Cycles, 360s, and calibration live on the same system as goals, feedback, recognition, time-off, and comp - no sync, no second source of truth. * The AI drafts from evidence, not memory. Because the record is right there, Sparko's AI drafts a review from the person's actual OKR progress and accumulated feedback - in STAR format, for the manager to edit and own. The draft is a proposal; a human always reviews and applies it. That's the step that turns review season from weeks of manager time into days. * Every plan includes everything. All modules and every AI capability ship on every plan - the meter, not the feature list, is what scales - with published pricing from $5 per user per month and a 14-day free trial. No quote call required. Best for: 5 to 1,000 person companies that want one system - HRIS, performance, and AI - with a price on the website. Consider: the dedicated suites below go deeper on their specialties: Lattice on talent-management breadth, Culture Amp on people-science benchmarks, Leapsome on integrated learning. If you need a full LMS or deep engagement benchmarking, they're the stronger pick - its comparison pages say exactly where. 2. Lattice - deepest dedicated talent-management suite. Lattice is one of the most mature performance platforms in the market: review cycles, goals/OKRs, 1:1s, engagement, and compensation reviews in one talent suite. In 2026 it sharpened its focus - Lattice sunset its own HRIS and payroll (July 2026) and now partners with Workday, doubling down on talent management as the core product. Best for: teams that want the deepest dedicated performance toolset and already have (or plan) a separate HRIS to sit under it. Consider: you're running two systems - people data lives elsewhere and syncs in. Its full Sparko vs Lattice comparison covers the details. 3. 15Five - strongest on manager coaching. 15Five approaches performance from the manager's side: weekly check-ins, 1:1 tooling, reviews, and standout manager-training and coaching content. It sits on top of your HRIS rather than replacing it, and holds SOC 2. Best for: companies that believe their performance problem is really a manager-quality problem, and want tooling plus habit-building. Consider: it's a layer on your HR stack, not the stack. See Sparko vs 15Five. 4. Culture Amp - people science and benchmarks. Culture Amp built its reputation on engagement and people science - research-backed survey instruments and industry benchmarks - and pairs that with a capable performance module. Its certifications run deep (SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, and ISO 42001 for AI management). Best for: organizations where engagement data and benchmarking drive the people strategy, with reviews attached to that engine. Consider: engagement-first by design; like 15Five it sits on your HRIS. See Sparko vs Culture Amp. 5. Leapsome - reviews plus built-in learning. Leapsome is a mature people-enablement suite: reviews, goals, engagement, and - its clearest differentiator on this list - a full learning management system, so review outcomes can flow into structured development paths. ISO 27001 certified. Best for: teams that want performance and L&D in one system and are comfortable with quote-based enterprise buying. Consider: pricing isn't published - you'll need a sales conversation to know the cost. See Sparko vs Leapsome. The honest decision tree. * Don't want to run two systems - or don't have an HRIS yet? Sparko puts reviews, the employee record, and the AI drafting in one place. * Already have an HRIS you like? Lattice (deepest suite), 15Five (manager coaching), or Culture Amp (people science) layer on top of it. * Want learning and development in the same tool? Leapsome. Whichever you pick, the tool matters less than the system: a written semi-annual cycle, continuous 1:1s, one calibration meeting, and no surprises. Get that right and any of these five will serve you well.

Lattice has acquired Pando, a just-in-time performance platform, to advance its AI-native performance management capabilities. Pando founder and CEO Barbra Gago will join Lattice as Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer. The acquisition brings AI-native product and engineering talent to Lattice as companies struggle to connect AI investments to workforce performance. Pando's tools for employee progression, evidence-based calibrations, and real-time signals complement Lattice's existing continuous performance management platform. Gago will join Lattice's executive leadership team, leading marketing and shaping category strategy. Before founding Pando, she helped build brands including Culture Amp, Greenhouse, and Miro. The deal follows Lattice's acquisition of Mandala's AI-native coaching technology and the launch of Lattice MCP. Pando has partnered with more than 100 companies worldwide to replace episodic performance management with continuous, competency-based approaches.