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The American company Red Cat, namely its maritime division Blue Ops, has launched a full-scale mass production of Variant 7 (V7) unmanned boats. The head of this structure, Berry Hinckley, noted that the market already has a clear operational need for such complexes, so the platform architecture was initially adapted to the needs of mass production in a configuration that fully meets the practical requirements of customers. However, the final version of Red Cat’s V7 may well receive a number of specific updates, although at the launch stage the program clearly relied on a partnership with a manufacturer whose unmanned vehicles are tested in real-world combat operations on a daily basis.
In its official statements, Red Cat emphasizes that the V7 drone was designed, built, and assembled directly in the United States of America. Representatives of the company also add that the famous American shipbuilding company Hodgdon Shipbuilding, whose history dates back to 1816, helped the Blue Ops unit in the process of designing the first prototypes. From the point of view of Defense Express analysts, the V7 maritime drone can reasonably be considered a platform based on the technological line of the Ukrainian Magura V7 project, at least when it comes to prototypes and first versions of the device. When Red Cat was just entering the niche of surface unmanned systems in May 2025, it openly announced that it was working with a developer whose weapons were being tested in a real war. Moreover, the published parameters of the American V7 actually copied the conceptual features of the Magura V7.
At the same time, no details about the terms of this interaction were ever made public. However, US information sources are now positioning the V7 as a completely independent American product, despite the fact that the name and key features of the early design clearly indicate the system’s Ukrainian roots. Nevertheless, the production version of the American V7 is capable of demonstrating serious differences from its Ukrainian counterpart in several critical areas. These differences can relate to both the design features of the body and the specifics of the internal filling. Red Cat declares that the Variant 7 is equipped with a US-made software and hardware system for autonomous control, command, data exchange, and direct mission execution. The company emphasizes that during mass assembly, priority is given to parts of American origin, which strictly comply with the provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The current pace and volume of V7 assembly has not yet been disclosed. Nevertheless, Red Cat has previously shared information about a partnership agreement with HADDY, a company that specializes in advanced methods of optimizing production processes, in particular through industrial 3D printing. This cooperation is expected to significantly increase the production of Variant 7. Similarly to the Ukrainian Magura drone, the American V7 platform has a modular structure, and in this regard, the United States also seems to be borrowing from Ukraine’s combat philosophy.
In early spring, there were reports that the V7 was going to be equipped with the Bullfrog intelligent turret, which is designed to counter long-range strike drones. Also in March, Red Cat announced the acquisition of Apium Swarm Robotics, a company that creates systems for the automatic control of swarms of drones – these developments are to be integrated or have already been integrated into the V7 architecture. Earlier, Defense Express reported that the BRAWLR air defense system, which has already been tested in Ukraine, is being adapted to naval unmanned platforms to destroy dozens of enemy Shahed kamikaze drones in one sea deployment.
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