A subsidiary of aerospace defense contractor Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc. secured a $14.7 million U.S. Navy contract for a five-year maintenance period to update and maintain advanced jet-powered aerial target drones.
San Diego-based Kratos (Nasdaq: KTOS) subsidiary Kratos Unmanned Systems division announced Thursday it won the contract for drones it builds in Sacramento.
Asked where the work would occur, Steve Fendley, president of the Kratos Unmanned Systems division, said via email it is "basically, all in Sacramento. Good work for the team here."
Kratos is tied for fifth place on the Business Journal’s list of manufacturers in the Sacramento area, with about 500 local employees.
Most of Kratos’ target drones are manufactured locally at sites in north Sacramento County and at McClellan Park. The company also has more manufacturing in Oklahoma, and it has an engineering office in Roseville.
Last month, the same Kratos Unmanned Systems division got two orders totaling $34 million for jet drone aircraft, though it didn’t identify the customer.
In December, the Navy ordered 65 drones for $50.9 million. The Navy uses the drones to practice shooting down advanced subsonic anti-ship cruise missiles.
The U.S. Navy reported last week that it and the Royal Australian Navy in August practiced intercepting these very drones in the Philippine Sea, which is roughly between the Philippines and Japan.
Some of the target drones Kratos builds can fly at just under the speed of sound at altitudes from 7 feet over sea level to 40,000 feet. The drones don't land. Rather, they parachute back to earth for reuse.
Kratos’ Sacramento operations received more than $90 million in orders in 2020. 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.
