Cummings Aerospace has officially completed a series of rigorous flight tests for Hellhound™, which happens to be a turbo-jet-powered, 3D-printed kamikaze drone that can fly faster than 350 miles per hour.
According to certain reports, the stated drone arrives on the scene bearing an ability to help U.S. Army’s Infantry Brigade Combat Teams access the same lethal combat power enjoyed by Armored Brigades. The idea behind doing so is to enable precise, long-range strikes against tanks, armored vehicles, and fortified positions.
More on that would reveal how the test was conducted at Pendleton UAS Range, Oregon and included in total three separate flight tests.
“The modern battlefield demands speed, and quadcopters and propeller-driven drones are slow. In combat, our peer adversaries will exploit every second of delay,” said Sheila Cummings, CEO of Cummings Aerospace. “Hellhound’s jet-powered design ensures Infantry Brigade Combat Teams can act faster – gathering intelligence and striking critical targets deep in the contested areas before the enemy has time to react.”
Talk about the focal points of those tests, they included speed and range assessment, where Hollywood ended up flying faster than 350 mph at half throttle, while simultaneously exceeding distances of 20 km. This it also did using just 50% of the fuel.
The next focal point in line related to seeker integration. Here, the drone was able to showcase its ability in the context of conducting Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions by validating Hellhound’s seeker with live video transmission during flight.
Cummins would also go on to conduct an inert payload testing, which covered simulated strikes with an inert warhead, thus verifying the functionality of critical systems.
Markedly enough, Hellhound flew and performed reliably in very low temperatures, high winds, and snow. It further validated the airframe and key subsystems at Technology Readiness Level 7 (TRL-7), proving reliable performance in operationally realistic conditions.
Markedly enough, this successful exercise also came on the back of 12 different flight tests, conducted during 2023 and 2024, tests that established the system’s core capabilities.
Having referred to its successful test, we now must take a deeper view of Hellhound itself. For starters, the technology was specifically made to be affordable. We get to say so because it combines 3D printing with DOD-approved commercial components to reduce production costs, simplify logistics, and deliver advanced capabilities at a more affordable rate, as compared to traditional systems.
Then, we must dig into its manportable nature. This translates to how the drone’s all up round build (vehicle, launch canister, and ground control system) weighs less than 25 pounds, allowing single-Soldier deployment and enhancing Infantry mobility.
Almost like an extension of that, Hellhound’s modular design also facilitates mission flexibility at large, as it can support warhead, Electronic Warfare, and ISR payloads. Complementing this feature is facility for soldiers to field-swap payloads in less than 5 minutes, and that too, without any tools whatsoever.
Another detail worth a mention here is rooted in the drone’s precision lethality, something which helps it in engaging tanks, armored vehicles, and fortified positions, as well as minimize collateral damage.
Next up, we must get into the technology’s promise to deliver extended range and endurance. Hellhound’s loitering capability basically gets Soldiers to effectively acquire and strike targets within the IBCT battlespace, including beyond line of sight.
Hold on, we still have couple of bits left to unpack, considering we still haven’t touched upon the prospect of operational scalability. Leveraging its modular design again, the drone can support differing mission profiles as LASSO (Low Altitude Stalking and Strike Ordnance) evolves.
Turning our attention towards the future, Cummins plans on conducting more flight tests of Hellhound to bring the entire system to TRL 7. Furthermore, the company will submit a proposal formally to offer Hellhound to the U.S. Army for the LASSO program.
Beyond that, it will also perform demonstrations and test of Hellhound for other customers.
