3D Printed Loitering Drone Competes for Army Contract
July 17, 2025
© CummingsAerospace.com
As of 2024, the worldwide drone trade was valued at roughly $73 billion, with projections estimating it’s going to surpass $160 billion by 2030 as demand for aerial, maritime, and ground-based uncrewed programs continues to develop throughout the protection, business, agricultural, and logistics sectors. The U.S. drone market is estimated to succeed in round $10.1 billion in 2025.
Army and homeland safety spending accounts for about 47% of the U.S. drone sector, underscoring the protection trade’s dominant position in home uncrewed programs growth. In fiscal yr (FY) 2025, the U.S. Division of Protection (DoD) requested $10.1 billion for drone-related acquisition and growth, following a peak of $10.95 billion in 2024. These figures replicate the Pentagon’s strategic emphasis on autonomous programs and drone expertise as essential parts of recent warfare, representing one of many largest particular person segments of the worldwide drone economic system.
The U.S. is accelerating developments in military-grade drone growth by means of a mix of daring coverage reforms, industrial scaling, and cutting-edge analysis initiatives. In 2025, the DoD lifted procurement restrictions to permit frontline commanders to immediately buy and take a look at small drones whereas increasing the Blue UAS program to extra quickly certify U.S.-made programs. Massive-scale initiatives, just like the Replicator program, are driving the mass manufacturing of low-cost, autonomous programs, supported by proposed laws that allocates billions towards drone manufacturing, autonomy, analysis and growth, and provide chain enlargement. Businesses reminiscent of DARPA are additionally main innovation by means of applications like Skyborg and REMA, which develop semi-autonomous loyal wingman drones and adaptive programs for working in contested environments.
One of the focused functions of this broader drone technique is the U.S. Military’s Low Altitude Stalking and Strike Ordnance (LASSO) program, which goals to equip infantry brigades with moveable, precision loitering munitions able to destroying armored threats. Developed underneath an pressing functionality acquisition pathway, LASSO’s first iteration adopts AeroVironment’s Switchblade 600, a tube-launched, moveable drone armed with an anti-armor warhead and guided by electro-optical and infrared sensors. With as much as 40 minutes of flight time and a variety exceeding 20 kilometers, it permits frontline troops to neutralize tanks or fortified positions from a secure distance. Actively competing for inclusion within the LASSO program is Cummings Aerospace with its personal loitering munitions drone, the Hellhound S3.
Cummings Aerospace is a Native American woman-owned small enterprise specializing in aerospace engineering options. Based in 2009 by Sheila Cummings, the corporate is headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama. Cummings, a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, holds a bachelor’s diploma in aerospace engineering from the College of Maryland and has a background in spacecraft thermal engineering and missile protection programs engineering. Beneath her management, the corporate has expanded its choices to incorporate model-based programs engineering, software program growth, and superior manufacturing, serving shoppers such because the DoD.
The Hellhound drone, developed by Cummings Aerospace starting in 2023, represents a big leap ahead in loitering munition expertise. This compact, tube-launched system measures roughly 4 ft in size and weighs underneath 25 kilos when totally loaded, making it extremely moveable for infantry items. Powered by a 3D-printed turbojet engine and fueled by a jet propellant system, the Hellhound can attain speeds exceeding 375 miles per hour, considerably quicker than conventional propeller-driven loitering munitions.
Its modular design permits operators to swap payloads, reminiscent of precision warheads, digital warfare packages, or intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) sensors, with out instruments and in underneath 5 minutes. The drone’s mixture of excessive pace, prolonged vary, and fast, low-cost manufacturing enabled by additive manufacturing units it other than different programs and positions it as a extremely adaptable possibility for contemporary battlefield situations.
The Military has requested over $120 million in FY 2025 to develop procurement for the LASSO program, with extra funding allotted for munitions, concentrating on programs, and operational items by means of FY 2026. This funding underscores the Military’s dedication to integrating LASSO into each its near-term power construction and long-term modernization technique, together with operational workouts in Europe and alignment with the Pentagon’s Replicator initiative.
As a part of this effort, the Hellhound S3 has accomplished key flight checks and reached Know-how Readiness Degree 7, demonstrating efficiency in operationally related environments. A proper Request for Proposals is anticipated to information the subsequent part of Military evaluations, with choice bulletins anticipated by late 2025 or early 2026. If accepted, Hellhound would carry an ultra-fast, turbojet-powered, 3D-printed functionality to the battlefield, reinforcing the U.S. army’s transition towards scalable, decentralized, drone-enabled fight operations.
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