AFA 2025: Beehive Industries brings 3D-printed engines to missile, UAV market

An example of Beehive Industries' 1,000-lb thrust-class engine on display at the Air & Space Forces Association exhibition in September 2025. (Janes/Jeremiah Cushman)

Beehive Industries announced the successful testing of four of its Frenzy 200-lb thrust turbojet engines on 22 September, during the Air & Space Forces Association's (AFA's) 2025 Air, Space & Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland.

Under a USD12.46 million contract awarded by the US Air Force in October 2024, and in collaboration with the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI), Beehive has accelerated development of its additively manufactured Frenzy engine, the company said in a statement.

The Frenzy was formally introduced in December 2024 and moved from the “finalisation of the production process to first engine to test (FETT) in” five months, the statement said. Since then, Beehive has tested “four individual Frenzy engines” in six months, demonstrating its “ability to compress traditional development timelines from years to months” using new design and production techniques, according to the statement.

The Frenzy family of engines ranges from 5–8 inch in diameter, producing 100–300 lb of thrust, the company said. The engine has “completed a comprehensive testing regimen, including performance and operability validation, durability validation, and environmental stress testing”, meeting or exceeding product requirements, according to the statement.

“Each engine individually surpassed better-than-target power, better-than-target Specific Fuel Consumption (SFC), and more than a full mission of operational durability; collectively, they accumulated more than 20 hours of runtime,” the statement added.