Role & capabilities
- Modular observation payloads
- Communications relay option
- Portable multirotor operation
- Primary domain
- Air
- System type
- Multirole aircraft
- Developer / manufacturer
- Performance Drone Works (PDW)
- Origin / production countries
- United States
- Other names
- No additional names recorded
- Variants / configurations
- Not distinguished in reviewed sources
- Operators / programme customers
- US Army, including documented 25th Infantry Division use
Evidence & current status
Ambiguously rendered animated counters are excluded. C100X and other PDW products are not treated as synonyms.
C100 is PDW's modular tactical quadcopter. The defence version carries interchangeable equipment for observation, communications and other military support roles. The current product page identifies multiple electro-optical and infrared options as well as a communications-relay offering, making the selected payload an essential part of any comparison.
A US military publication includes a dated photograph of C100 use by the 25th Infantry Division in October 2025. This provides operator evidence beyond PDW's product claims. Subsequent supplier reporting covers further military contracts and shipboard trials, but those events should not be treated as proof that every payload package or maritime configuration is already accepted.
The current manufacturer page explicitly states 74 minutes of flight with an ISR payload and a maximum speed of 40 mph. These are separate performance claims, not simultaneous operating conditions. Animated numerical counters on the page render ambiguously in text, so they are not used as extra specifications. C100X and attritable PDW aircraft also require their own records rather than inheriting this aircraft's service history.
Sourced specifications
Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.
| Specification | Reported value | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Airframe | Quadcopter | Published configuration baseline; maxima are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Launch / recovery | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Propulsion | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Dimensions | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Mass | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Endurance | 74 minutes with ISR payload | Manufacturer's explicit prose specification; specific sensor configuration not fully identified. Source ↗ |
| Range | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Speed | 40 mph maximum | Published configuration baseline; maxima are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Altitude | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Payload | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Sensors | Configurable electro-optical / infrared payloads | Published configuration baseline; maxima are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Communications / navigation | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
Publication history
- — Added in the September 2026 global coverage review, with sources, configuration limits and explicit data gaps.
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Follow the evidence
Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.
- PDW C100 Defense product page (opens in a new tab)Manufacturer / programme
- US military C100 imagery and installation-security article (opens in a new tab)Military / operator