Beehive Industries has tested its 100 lbf (450 Newtons (N) or 0.45 kN) Frenzy 6 engine and wants to fly it in 2027. That engine, meant for UAVs and extended-range munitions, could power loitering munitions, interceptor drones, small strike missiles or munitions, or an analog to the Russian Geran 5 Jet drone. The company is developing the engine for the US Air Force. The Air Force is currently very interested in platforms such as the Miniature Air-Launched Decoys (MALD), Golden Horde swarming munitions, and missile trainers. All in all, it’s a versatile platform that could meet many significant requirements and support high-volume production.
The path from commissioning to test took just four months, and testing has now been completed, following a $29.7 million US Air Force program to build out the Frenzy family.
Beehive Industries Chief Technology Officer David Kimball said,
“Frenzy 8 validated how we design and scale a concept at unprecedented speed, and the learnings from that program have enabled us to iterate even faster on Frenzy 6 while introducing new technology in a cost-competitive product that is entirely U.S.-designed and built. Frenzy 8 is demonstrating class-leading performance and altitude-start capability, and we expect those strengths to carry over to Frenzy 6. Moving from finalized requirements to an engine test in just four months demonstrates the advantage of our additively enabled approach and the experience we’ve gained developing the Frenzy portfolio.”
Gordie Follin, Chief Product Officer at Beehive Industries
“Frenzy 6 takes all the great things about Frenzy 8 and packages them into a smaller form factor to help address the needs of smaller munitions, drones, and unmanned aerial vehicles. We are focused on helping to enable affordable mass for U.S. defense, and this is the latest example of our commitment to do that across all relevant platforms. We are investing and leaning forward so that America has what it needs, when it needs it, and our additively enabled approach gives us unique advantages in meeting the customer’s need for speed, performance, cost, and scale.”
You can learn more about Gordie’s thinking and Beehive in the podcast we did with him. The company recently bought over $50 million of EOS equipment, bought two NXGs, and invested $70 million in Ohio. Beehive is scaling quickly and meeting an exigent need. The US has used at least a third of its precision munitions in Iran in 40 days. Meanwhile, its bases were still attacked, as were its allies. Ukraine will make over 10 million drones this year. Clearly, the US needs to do more to counter the proliferation of low-cost vehicles and rebuild its strike capacity.
Beehive, along with Ursa Major, Firehawk, and many defense primes, is working on industrializing additive manufacturing for missile and engine production. This is one of the most important things happening in additive right now. It’s prime time. We’re not only making high-quality, critical parts, but the outcome of this endeavor could influence the US’s ability to wage war and defend itself. The US is today weaker than at any point in its history over the past 100 years. With no precision munitions and fraying relationships with allies, it really does look like the US does not have the capacity to win an extended conflict, let alone a war, at the moment. So rebuilding and expanding that capacity is absolutely crucial.
Beehive’s scalable engine family is a great solution for many different crafts. It can adapt to producing them or creating new ones relatively quickly. If Beehive scales well and meets demand, it could become an essential supplier to the Air Force and beyond. Additive is quickly becoming an essential technology in the US arsenal, and we will see continued investment by, at least, that country in 3D printing.
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