A subsidiary of aerospace defense contractor Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc. received a $4.1 million contract award from an international customer for jet-powered drone aircraft it builds in Sacramento.
Steve Fendley, president of Kratos Unmanned Systems division, said the work would be performed in Sacramento.
The company is not naming the customer.
Kratos (Nasdaq: KTOS) is based in San Diego. Its Kratos Unmanned Systems division has two manufacturing operations in Sacramento, an engineering division in Roseville, as well as more manufacturing in Oklahoma.
Kratos designs and builds jet-powered target drones that the U.S. and other military buyers use to train armed forces to shoot down aircraft and inbound missiles. Some of the target drones it builds can fly at just under the speed of sound at altitudes from 7 feet over sea level to 40,000 feet. The U.S. Navy and Air Force use them to train troops to shoot down enemy aircraft, missiles and cruise missiles.
Kratos employs more than 500 people locally, making it tied as the fourth-largest manufacturer in the region.
Most international customers reuse the target drones after they are intercepted by a non-explosive warhead, and the drones parachute to a landing. The U.S. military does that as well, but it also destroys some drones in testing with actual kinetic weapons, which is a more thorough test of defense weapons systems, Fendley has said in past interviews.
Kratos’ Sacramento operations received more than $90 million in orders last year. In 2019, Kratos took more than $100 million in a series of drone orders, and it got more than $117 million in a series of orders for tactical drones in 2018.
With the exception of the jet engine, all the major components of the unmanned systems division’s drones are built, assembled, painted, tested and shipped in Sacramento.
