Cummings Aerospace, ATRX Partner to Develop Supersonic and Hypersonic Unmanned Aircraft

The partnership looks to develop drones that fly five times faster than the speed of sound.

ATRX Air Turbo Rocket Prototype Hot Fire Test.
ATRX Air Turbo Rocket Prototype Hot Fire Test.
ATRX

Cummings Aerospace and ATRX signed an agreement to collaborate on the development of high-speed unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The companies will work together to integrate a high-speed turbo-rocket onto a proven airframe with the goal of developing affordable UAS that can fly at supersonic and hypersonic speeds.

Cummings Aerospace's Hellhound UAS:

  • An unmanned aircraft with multiple specialized variants
  • Cummings Aerospace will develop a new version designed to accommodate a hypersonic-capable engine
  • 3D-printed modular design and commercial off-the-shelf hardware
  • Rapid payload swaps in fewer than five minutes with no tools required

ATRX's Air Turbo Rocket (ATR):

  • A high-speed, air-breathing propulsion system
  • Capable of flying at hypersonic speeds, five times the speed of sound
  • Completed multiple prototype tests

The companies plan to integrate the ATR engine into a Hellhound variant designed for high-speed flight and begin subsonic and supersonic flight testing.

More in Training & Development