Cummings Aerospace, a protection and aerospace methods engineering agency, just lately accomplished a profitable flight check demonstrating the Hellhound S3’s extended-range functionality. Performed on September 18, 2025, on the Pendleton UAS Vary in Oregon, the man-portable loitering munition launched vertically from a canister, transitioned to its goal space, and executed tight figure-eight loitering patterns over the designated goal zone. The system carried an inert warhead and flew greater than 30 kilometers (18 miles) earlier than engineers concluded knowledge assortment. It landed with greater than 50 % of its gasoline remaining, suggesting a possible most vary exceeding 60 kilometers (37 miles).
In the course of the flight, the automobile reached speeds of 80 meters per second (roughly 180 miles per hour). This check was a part of an ongoing collection aimed toward validating the Hellhound S3’s efficiency throughout a variety of speeds and flight profiles. Utilizing modular open methods structure and 3D printing, Cummings Aerospace can quickly refine the system’s design based mostly on check outcomes and Soldier suggestions. All major check aims had been achieved.
The Hellhound S3 combines pace, flexibility, and affordability in a compact kind. It has a documented high pace of 384 miles per hour, enabling interception and destruction of Group 2 and Group 3 unmanned plane methods. Its modular design permits for fast payload swaps – equivalent to warheads, digital warfare modules, or ISR packages – in underneath two minutes with out instruments. Leveraging 3D printing and Division of Struggle-approved business elements, the system is each cost-effective and logistics-friendly. The whole system, together with the automobile, launch canister, and floor management unit, weighs lower than 25 kilos, permitting single-soldier deployment. The Hellhound S3 has reached Expertise Readiness Degree 7 and Manufacturing Readiness Degree 7, confirming its operational reliability and manufacturing readiness.
Within the months forward, Cummings Aerospace will proceed flight testing to validate automated goal recognition algorithms, develop hunter-killer operational ideas, and conduct additional demonstrations for US Military and Division of Struggle clients. The Hellhound household consists of a number of variants, with the S3 labeled as a Group 1 UAS and the S4 as a Group 2 mannequin designed to assist missions equivalent to gap-filling ISR protection for Golden Dome.
