Redwire Corporation will provide Croatia’s Border Patrol with advanced uncrewed aerial systems to boost border surveillance and rapid-response capabilities.
Funded by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), the contract tasks Redwire subsidiary Edge Autonomy with delivering Penguin C VTOL UAS equipped with Octopus gimbal camera payloads.
The new systems will strengthen Croatia’s ability to observe large border areas and identify potential threats more effectively. Similar platforms have already been deployed by Frontex in Poland and Greece, where Edge Autonomy’s VTOL drones demonstrated strong performance in persistent surveillance, anti-smuggling missions, and search-and-rescue operations across difficult terrain and maritime zones.
Croatia’s adoption of the Penguin C VTOL is part of a wider modernization push to enhance its aerial monitoring tools. The aircraft’s vertical takeoff and landing capability removes the need for runways, while the Octopus gimbal delivers high-resolution, real-time imagery to improve situational awareness for border personnel.
Previously, Croatia has relied on fixed-wing platforms such as the Schiebel Camcopter S-100 for coastal patrols and the SenseFly eBee for monitoring forested border regions.
The introduction of Penguin C drones provides added flexibility for long-endurance missions, rapid reaction tasks, and operations in confined or hard-to-reach areas.
This effort supports broader national and regional upgrades, including enhancements to Croatia’s maritime radar network along the Adriatic and the integration of UAV intelligence into the country’s border command-and-control system.
