Cummings Aerospace says its 3D-printed Hellhound S3 jet drone launched in pairs from a vehicle-mounted rack
TLDR
- Cummings Aerospace says its 3D-printed Hellhound S3 jet drone reaches 618 km/h with a range over 60 km.1
- Two Hellhound S3 drones launched from a Polaris vehicle in under 90 seconds during a 25 August test in Oregon.1
- Times of Defence says production could scale past 100 units a month per line, apparently a company claim.2
Cummings Aerospace of Huntsville, Alabama, has described a 3D-printed, jet-powered strike drone called the Hellhound S3, launched vertically from a canister.12 Militarnyi, citing the company's announcement as relayed by The Defense Blog, gives the drone as about 90 cm long and around 5.9 kg, while Times of Defence gives 6 kg for the aircraft and under 11 kg for the full man-portable pack.12 Both outlets report a top speed of up to 618 km/h and a range of more than 60 km, which Militarnyi attributes to the manufacturer.12
The test took place on 25 August at the Pendleton UAS Range in Oregon, where two drones left a multi-round launcher on a Polaris vehicle in under 90 seconds and flew different missions under one fire control system, with inert payloads.1 Times of Defence says one operator controlled both aircraft with a handheld unit, and that the announcement was made on 12 October.2
Militarnyi lists the roles as loitering munition, precision-strike weapon or interceptor against other drones, with modular armour-piercing, high-explosive fragmentation, electronic warfare and decoy payloads.1 Times of Defence says the payloads can be swapped without tools in under two minutes and that production could scale to more than 100 units a month per line.2 Times of Defence's figures are not sourced in its article and appear to be company claims.2
Why it matters: the test shows a low-cost jet drone launched in pairs from a light vehicle under one operator, which is the kind of squad-level strike and interceptor concept the company is pitching, but speed, range and output figures are manufacturer claims from a test with inert payloads.