🔷 Hellhound

Hellhound

Speed, affordability, and scale.

That’s the idea behind the Hellhound loitering munition.

After years of supporting missile programs, Cummings Aerospace introduced its first product—Hellhound—a 3D-printed, jet-powered kamikaze drone.

Hellhound is really a series of jet-powered drones, and they are fast. Think 350+ mph fast!

• S1 was the initial concept prototype

• S2 is a small backpack-sized drone

• S3 is a man-portable drone for infantry

• S4 is larger, vehicle-mounted, and tube-launched

The Hellhound S3 was designed to compete for the Army’s LASSO program (Low Altitude Stalking and Striking Ordnance). You may have seen concept pictures of it, but our interview has real pictures and videos!

We discuss the origin story, how they approached the problem, and why they designed it for production from the beginning.

BREAKING NEWS: The S4 is a brand-new variant, and we have the exclusive scoop! This builds on earlier news that Cummings Aero partnered with ATRX to create a larger supersonic variant—and eventually a hypersonic version too.

All of the engineering leans into rapid development, modular 3D-printing, and jet power—a combination that makes Cummings Aero stand out in a very crowded market segment.

Want the full download?

We sat down with Sheila Cummings, founder, president, and CEO, to learn all about it.

If you're into military drones, cutting-edge tech, and the start-up culture of finding ways to help the warfighter—this episode is for you.

Check it out!

YouTube 

Apple 

Spotify

In That Number

0

Boeing’s defense unit reported 0 losses last quarter, returning to profitability after nearly a year of losses due to fixed-price programs.

Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg is “not claiming victory yet,” but this is great news and a sign that the doom-and-gloom of program losses might be behind them.

TRIVIA

On April 29, 1975, the US began Operation Frequent Wind—the largest helicopter evacuation in history—as it left South Vietnam. Pilots flew 682 sorties, evacuating over 7,000 people in 24 hours. What coded radio phrase signaled its start?

A) “The tiger is out of his cage.”

B) “The temperature in Saigon is 105 degrees and rising.”

C) “Midnight has fallen on the Mekong.”

On the Radar

The British Army Watchkeeper drone replacement effort has begun. Dubbed Tactical Uncrewed Air Systems (TUAS), the effort is scoped to deliver around 20 aircraft that can perform ISR for 24 hours.

• The Merge’s Take: The Watchkeeper never really lived up to expectations—it was heavily delayed and faced reliability issues before being scrapped late last year. Moving to replace it now is less about evolving requirements and more about fixing a chronic problem. The UK wants to see bidders live-fly a minimum viable product this year, with procurement ASAP and fielding by 2030. This sounds like another UK program with GA-ASI written all over it.

Lockheed doubles down on F-35: After not getting the Air Force’s NGAD or the Navy’s NGAD 6th-gen fighter programs, Lockheed Martin is doubling down with its flagship 5th-gen fighter. Lockheed CEO stated they are making plans to take the tech from the NGAD work and funnel it into its F-35 program as a “fifth-gen plus” lower-cost alternative to the future F-47. This looks to be eyeing the international market and a case for keeping the production line running well into the 2040s (2050s?).

• The Merge’s Take: F-35 Block 5+ here we come! Ok, settle down. The F-35 Joint Program Office, which oversees the program, stated: “The discussion remains entirely notional at this stage.” That said, the $16.5B Block 4 upgrade must get fielded first. Lockheed Martin just received $180M to convert 3 F-35s to flight sciences test aircraft to support those upgrades. Maybe that means fuel tanks (we can continue to hope).

Kraus Hamdani Aerospace’s solar-powered K1000ULE drone—capable of flying for multiple days at a time—is now operational with the Army. The milestone follows a $20M Army contract awarded in late 2024. OBTW, the Marine Corps is also buying them for its Small Unit Remote Scouting System.

• The Merge’s Take: The small ultra-long endurance drone’s adoption by both the Army and Marines suggests it’s filling a capability gap in small-unit awareness and low-cost surveillance. Keep an eye on how it integrates into broader kill chains and whether it eventually connects to autonomy stacks—who wants to fly something for 70+ hours manually?

They Said It

“Heat is a dominant issue. I know people say it’s Mach 5. My favorite definition is where heat kicks your ass.”

— Andrew Duggleby, CTO and co-founder of Venus Aerospace, on challenging the conventional definition of hypersonic flight

You asked for patches—we listened.

We’ve partnered with the crew at Badass Patches (@badasspatches) to bring you The Merge Patch Swap—a no-frills way to show us what you got and get your hands on some exclusive gear.

Here’s the deal:

📮 You mail us one of your patches (unit & morale, not nametags)

🎁 We’ll send you The Merge PVC patch, custom-made by Badass Patches.

1 for 1 swap. Not for sale. Not for everyone—Just our loyal subscribers.

And when they’re gone, they’re gone.

Show us what you got!

Print Your Shipping Label

Knowledge Bombs

• Raytheon signed a strategic partnership with the UAE to locally produce Coyote counter-drone systems

• Overland AI integrated its autonomous nav tech into General Dynamics’ SMET unmanned vehicle

• The Air Force plans to start installing Over-the-Horizon Radars in Oregon in 2028

• Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works and Spanish firm Arquimea unveiled an AI anomaly detection capability for EO/IR sensors doing ISR

• Saronic unveiled 2 new maritime drones: 'Mirage' and 'Cipher'

• The Marine Corps is trialing Leidos supply drones inspired by drug-smuggling subs

• Astra revealed details about its ambitious DIU project for using space rockets for point-to-point delivery of ~1,300 pounds of cargo, anywhere in the world

• Kratos tapped Rocket Lab for the first full-scale hypersonic flight test under the MACH-TB 2.0 program

• AeroVironment won a $47M deal for Jump drones in Italy

• BAE won a Navy contract to build a P-8 survivability pod

• The MDA confirmed that L3Harris' hypersonic missile tracking satellite is in orbit and functioning

• RTX was approved to begin low-rate initial production of the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS) for the Army (new Patriot radar)

💎 Free Merch! 💎 

Don't keep us a secret!
Share the Merge = earn free swag.
It's that simple.

You currently have 0 referrals, only 3 away from receiving Stickers.

Or copy and paste this link: https://themerge.co/subscribe?ref=PLACEHOLDER

ANSWER
B, “The temperature in Saigon is 105 degrees and rising,” aired on Armed Forces Radio, followed by Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas,” played on repeat. Footnote for A: Meant to indicate the U.S. Ambassador had left the embassy, the message was mistakenly taken to mean all Americans were out of Saigon, causing the airlift to halt prematurely.