Cummings Aerospace reveals new ISR, kinetic-kill UAV

Cummings Aerospace S4 Hellhound loitering munition will make its debut at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama, on 5 August 2025. (Cummings Aerospace)

Cummings Aerospace Hellhound S4 will be shown for the first time at the Space and Missile Defense (SMD) Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama, on 5 August, a company executive told Janes on 27 July.

The company sees Hellhound S4 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as part of a “layered defence strategy” that could support the US' Golden Dome, Sheila Cummings, CEO of Cummings Aerospace, told Janes. With a greater payload capacity and range, it could be a part of a layered defence that would protect higher-value air-defence targets during a homeland defence scenario.

Golden Dome's defensive posture “requires, in my opinion, a mix of assets to execute that mission, low-cost cruise missiles, also protecting our allied partners”, Cummings said. Compared with the S3, the new platform has an increased payload capacity and is more mobile.

It can provide intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), loitering munition and counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UASs) detection, and command-and-control (C2) data, she said. While the S3 was focused on non-kinetic payload with a 3 lb maximum payload, the S4 can accommodate kinetic kill technology with payload of 8–10 lb.

That comes with trade-offs. While the S3 has recorded top speeds of about 384 mph, the S4 is projected to hover around 300 mph. The company has not yet executed flight-testing for the platform but plans to run its first one later in 2025. They will continue into early next year, she added.