Beehive Industries completes engine test of Frenzy 6 prototype, accelerating rapid development of affordable propulsion

Beehive Industries, an American manufacturer of advanced propulsion systems for uncrewed aerial defence applications, today announced the successful completion of an engine test of its 100 lbf Frenzy 6 engine prototype, marking a significant milestone in the rapid development of affordable propulsion for munitions, drones, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The milestone comes just four months after Beehive finalized Frenzy 6 requirements with its U.S Air Force customer, demonstrating the company's ability to rapidly progress from written criteria into a tested engine. First test-fired on September 23 at the company's headquarters in Colorado, the Beehive-funded prototype engine successfully completed all initial test objectives, including starting reliability, engine performance, and operability.

The achievement builds directly on Beehive's April announcement of a $29.7 million U.S. Air Force contract to advance development of the Frenzy engine family, and on the company's maturation of its 200 lbf Frenzy 8 engine. The 100 lbf Frenzy 6 prototype leverages common design principles and lessons learned from the larger engine to accelerate development of a smaller propulsion system optimized for applications requiring affordable, scalable power.

"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," said David Kimball, Chief Technology Officer at Beehive Industries. "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."

The successful Frenzy 6 test is the latest milestone in Beehive's broader effort to compress traditional propulsion development timelines and rapidly transition new engine designs from development into production. Beehive's Frenzy family is designed specifically for scalable production and applications where affordability, performance, and rapid availability are critical.

"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," said Gordie Follin, Chief Product Officer at Beehive Industries. "We are focused on helping to enable affordable mass for U.S. defence, 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."

The company has also continued to make significant investments in the manufacturing infrastructure required to support Frenzy production at scale. Beehive has announced plans to build the capacity required to manufacture more than 8,000 jet engines annually, supported by investments in additive manufacturing technology, precision machining, and expanded production facilities.

With the initial engine test successfully completed, Beehive will continue Frenzy 6 testing and shift the focus to vehicle integration, advancing the programme toward flight demonstration in 2027.